to wonder what people think is acceptable during sick leave?

[jjkkllmm]

I am currently on sick leave after an op, and feel guilty when I go to the supermarket to buy bits with my dh. Should I be housebound? AIBU to feel guilty?

A friend on wonderful FB is currently on sick leave with a bad back, and is posting photos of going to parties, cinema, restaurants etc. AIBU to wonder why she thinks she can do all that stuff whilst being off sick?

I live in fear of being repremanded whilst on sick leave.

What do people think is reasonable?

I think if you are recovering from an op' it's fine to go shopping with your DH for bits and pieces. I think if you have a bad back which isn't bad enough to stop you from going to parties, the cinema and eating out then actually you should be at work unless your job involves lifting.

I have a very bad back, two bulging discs in my lower back which I have to manage and do special exercises for. Sometimes my back has a very acute phase which means that I am in a great deal of pain. I get to the physio asap, take volterol (a very high dose) and use heat pads. In the last five years I have had three days off sick because of my back and on those days I literally could hardly get one foot in front of the other. My GP has never signed me off for back pain (and I have been advised that I will need surgery eventually) and I have never asked.

IMO if you are well enough to get up and get dressed you are well enough to go to work. With the caveat that I am office based, can get up and have a walk around and have a very good and supportive chair at work. In fact sometimes I have gone to work rather than stay at home because my work chair is so supportive.

If I find myself off sick without actually being really really sick sick (you know violently ill, runny bum etc).

I like to curl up on the lounge and play on the xbox.

Best couple of days ever when I had an operation.

Kids at daycare, DH at work and no-one expecting anything of me.

I rang in sick to work once and then bumped into a colleague later that day at the supermarket when I was with my twin toddlers buying necessities. She clearly thought I'd been skiving and reported me as I was called into the office to discuss it. I was mighty peed off.

I once walked into a director on my way into M&S with my children at about 3pm (they were little then and I live very locally). She made a cat's bum face and I simply smiled. My boss told me that she inquired about me the following day. It was the week before Christmas and I was taking a couple of days' annual leave . I enjoyed that.

Assuming she was on official leave as well then, Married??

I need people’s advice. I was sent home sick on Tuesday due to not being well with anxiety. Yesterday I went to GP. Been told to try to carry on as normal. Today I went wedding dress shopping with mum. I pleased. Just wish I could have enjoyed it more. I did buy my dress today on my day off. I posted on Facebook about it. Nothing big though. I don’t know if I feel up to going back to work Monday. If I don’t go back to work will it look bad on me as people know I got my dress. What is acceptable when off sick?

Bad back and on a ski trip? No.
Depression and on a sunny holiday. It’s actually fine but really don’t got posting on SM.
Virus and out at the chemist / food shop. Fine. No one wants you to starve.

My mum was an a&e nurse, so in our house unless you were unconscious, projectile vomiting, bleeding from an artery or a limb was facing the wrong way you went! So I've grown up thinking you're not actually ill unless you're half dead, and I have really struggled in the past with this when I have been off sick. I always feel like I shouldn't be physically able to leave my bed, or maybe for a couple of days recovering, the house. This attitude severely slowed down my recovery from a breakdown related to PND, I needed to be out, mixing with people, doing things I enjoyed again to help my recovery but I was terrified to even go to the shop in case I was seen and got into trouble.
I have got better, and being a single parent I've had no choice to nip to the shop sometimes when ill -DD is old enough now to go for most things. I've kind of made my own 'rule' that if I can do something that I'd be expected to do at work, for the same length of time, then I shouldn't be off sick. If that makes sense!

IMO if you are well enough to get up and get dressed you are well enough to go to work.

Please tell me you don’t work in HR.

Maria1986

You need to start a new thread. This thread is from 2013.

I don't live in the UK and according to my contract, I have to be at home for most of the day (can't remember the exact hours) and they can (and do) send someone to check that you are actually ill! It's a stupid system. I was off for a month with a badly broken arm and my doctor told me I should swim every day to get movement back - but I wasn't allowed to!

Sorry - zombie thread!

If you are on sick leave, you can do whatever you want, including going on holiday.

If you’re off with stress, a holiday would do you the world of good.

If you have a bad back, there’s a world of difference between going to the shop or the cinema and spending 8+ hours at work.

People are so judgemental.

I think it's very unfair that people who are off sick are constantly judged as not sick if they so much as leave the house. Unless the thing they've been 'caught' doing is identical in nature to an 8 hour shift, 5 times a week, every week, forever, then it's not comparable. For instance, the job could be very stressful and the person can't cope; no reason they can't have a month in Oz. The job may require being on your feet for hours; no reason the person can't spend all bloody day at the cinema if they can afford to. We need to butt tf out of other people's business.

It isn't dissimilar to the whole 'I was verbally abused for using a disabled parking bay but I really am disabled' thing. Who do these people think they are, judging what complete strangers can and cannot do at a single glance

Darn - also caught unawares by the zombie thread!

It depends on the illness. A broken bone is very different from a viral infection. However, I agree that there are some people who seem to be off for longer than necessary. If they are stupid enough to post such things on Facebook (and you happen to be on as well) then I have no sympathy if an employer chooses to take a dim view, as long as they are consistent and it is not an excuse to get rid of only certain people.

I think it's fine to have some short trips out after an op, it's very different to a commute and a full day at work!

Generally, getting up and about at a slow pace aids recovery from operations. Plus, a bit of fresh air generally does people the world of good!

Some ladies have hysterectomies which can involve 3 months off work - are they meant to stay in for all that time?!

I would say it very much depends on the nature of your illness and work. It is also a fact that occupational health can actually over rule a sick note as they are more aware than your gp of what adjustments can be made to enable your return to work.

I once had a colleague who went off long term sick with depression and anxiety caused by work
Clearly Not that depressed tho as she was working somewhere else while off sick