to have called in sick this morning

[N1ghtshade]

Because I didn't feel like commuting to kindergarten, ds who is 4 says she never wants to go back. my laundry needs major attention, house is a mess, my hair is a mess too, nothing decent to wear because.. laundry.

More importantly I don't want my just turned 10 year old DS to come home to an empty house --and watch tv all afternoon

Also in my team, two have left, one starts maternity leave in a week, and the remaining person apart from me has his contract ending next month with no guarantee of renewal--

DH has a well paying job, i earn about half of what he does but mine is contract based and only guaranteed until Jan next year. I had to reapply for my own position to avoid redundancy in April.

We are not on the housing ladder yet, and our goal this year was to save enough for a deposit. ( I'm probably being naive but I think we could save this amount by me staying home on sick leave for the rest of the year) 3 other people men have done this and basically got full pay for half the year until they quit. I've worked at this job for over 6 years now with no scope for promotion or variation of work, and I'd like to work for myself as a web developer, or online marketer.

AIBU to stay home for the rest of the year?
DS has dyslexia and is in the final year of primary school. DD will be starting school next year and I feel like I should be bonding with her before that begins, and DS 2,5 needs potty training which isn't happening in kindergarten setting.

I think you sound stressed and like you have a lot on your plate which you're not necessarily managing very well. Can you look for a job that makes you happier? Talk to your dp about whether you could get some help around the house? I know when you're in a job you hate it can really get you down. Take today to think about some positive steps forward if you can.

Me me me. What about the impact on your employer and colleagues? The example you give to your children? The effect on insurance policies as you will have 6 months of a fake "illness" on your medical records.

Do your laundry at the weekend or your day off. Iron in front of the tv. And go to work. You are not ill

You would be very unreasonable to take a year off sick when you aren't ill. It's fraud.

What will you be telling the doctor when you have to see them for a sick note every couple of weeks?

You don't need to phone in sick, you need to sort your life out. Organisation and considering whether you want a job that fulfills your needs better than this one.

It is still fraud to claim sick pay when you're not sick. I assume wherever you are you'll need some form of sicknote from the doctor for long term sick pay. What will you say you have?

If your job is so crap then why have you been there 6 years? You're not getting any compassion because you are suggesting fraud. Irrespective of the way the company works out their sick pay, I can't imagine the T&C allow for long term sick leave because you can't be arsed any more.

The sick pay is an entitlement that is payed for by an internal tax pulled from my salary since I began. I'm not joking, and this would be a last resort. Except for just quitting obviously.

How are you going to convince your doctor to sign you off? You're not sick.

By all means quit your job in the right way.

But I don't have any sympathy for people who claim to be sick and aren't. Someone has to pick up your work in your absence and they might be feeling just as stressed as you and now have additional workload to deal with. Not on. At all.

hopefully management will think about things op.

Thanks Jenny witch et al for reminding that this is not just an ethical question but ok fraudulent. Did not think of that in this way.

Thankyou for the practical tips also.

I will try reducing hours and if that is declined then I will quit to do a specialized course and start up on my own.

I appreciate the dose of reality from all the more biting responses too.

What everybody else said - it's fraud, YABU. And dishonest, and stealing. You should be ashamed.

leave it til next week op, when it really hurts

Is this your first post on MN? Or have you NC?

Yes YABU to call in sick when you're not. But I think you know it really. If you don't want to work, you should resign.

X-post - well done OP for doing the right thing. I hope reduced hours works out for you

I didn't quite realise from your first post just how under pressure you feel with your job, which puts a slightly different slant on it all. Although sadly still doesn't equate to being able to take long term sick leave if you aren't actually sick.

But it sounds like you have the sort of job where your skills will be in demand, so it isn't a hopeless situation. I hope things work out for you. It is miserable being stuck in a stressful job that you don't enjoy.

I think you should take today off as sick as you sound stressed, tidy the house, get laundry done. Then tomorrow, return to work and begin to formulate a plan for the future. Once you are in control and have a plan of action, you will feel much better.

agree with Frazzled,
formulate a plan

Take a little more time, and as you are currently doing. You do sound stressed and a little down as somebody has also mentioned.

I don't see how you could manage to get signed off for 6+ months though if, by your own admission, you're not unwell.

To echo every poster.
YABU to call in sick
YANBU to flag your concerns with management/ request reduced hours / resign.

From what you've said it sounds like you'll be the only team member left soon, how realistic is it they'll grant you reduced hours in light of this? You need to request a meeting with managers when you're back in and tell them your concerns and nd ask them for reassurances that you won't be left doing 4 people's jobs. Been there. It's shit. You have my sympathies but staying off sick doesn't resolve the issue.

YABU but you know that.

The point about your job not being guaranteed beyond next January - I've been through redundancy rounds before where time taken off sick is used as one of the scoring criteria. That's a possibility you might want to consider if you're not planning to find another job before then, before taking sick leave when you're not actually sick.

But if you're feeling this hacked off with your current job, it's probably worth taking some time (outside of work hours) to consider options for moving on to other jobs.

YABU. I'm currently not working due to chronic, long term,debilitating illness and I'd love to be able to go back to work.

OP, consider this if you will.

Five years ago after a 25 year career in the same organisation I became ill. Properly ill that is, as in multiple hospital visits and surgery. I was off sick for a long time. After several months they got fed up and followed their sickness policy to the letter.

After 10 months they fired me. I was waiting for another operation which could have helped me but they wouldn't wait.

It was the most traumatic event of my life. I won't ever recover. I also didn't recover from the surgery.

So yes, YABVVVU and totally disgracefully arrogant and disrespectful to the truly sick for whom sick pay was arranged. Paying into a fund isn't your own personal sick pay fund.

Go to work or resign, I don't care. And have my first ever .

You have taken all the comments on here constructively and listened. Rare on aibu! I second what others have said. You have already called in sick today so not much you can do about that. Use today as a catch up / mental health day. Write down some goals to change the things you want and need to change including the job you are not enjoying anymore. Tomorrow start again knowing you are working towards some positive changes and that this will not be forever

Calling in sick won't solve your problems.

It might get the laundry done, buy that will pile up again.
You need to sort things out long term.
Good luck.