To warn my friend to be careful about going on holiday while on sick leave?

[rebsemmie]

One of my dearest friends has been off work for the last 4 weeks because of a digestive fungus. Her health is not great in general, she tends to catch bugs and viruses very often, so she has taken quite a bit of time off work in the last year, but nothing unreasonable. She has a relatively entry-level professional job at a big company.

Yesterday I called her to ask her how she was, and she said she is not doing well at all, in fact she is getting worse and she has terrible issues with extreme fatigue and headaches. As a result, she decided to take another 2 weeks off from work, for a total of 6 weeks off. She hopes she will be able to go back to work at the beginning of May.

Then she told me she is going on holiday to Greece next week as she thinks unplugging under the sun will improve her health. Honestly, I don't know if going on holiday will improve her health or not, but I am bit concerned that she will post on social media from her holiday (she is very active on social media) and that she might have serious trouble at work if her colleagues see that she went on holiday while being on sick leave. I know for sure she is connected to several colleagues on social media.

If I was her manager and I found out she went on holiday, I would seriously question whether she was really sick or just taking the piss. In fact, at my old job a colleague received an official reprimand because she took a sick day to care for her sick child and then posted a pic on fb on the beach with her child. Her manager assumed she lied about her child being sick and that she just wanted a day off.

So, AIBU to warn my friend to be careful about posting from her holiday? Or should I mind my own business? I am concerned she might take offence and think I am criticising her for going on holiday, when in fact I am just really worried there might be serious consequences if she is not careful.

Not a small employer I guess. Every time someone is on sick leave, let alone cancelling holiday to take sick leave, it comes straight out of my pocket. We are very very good employers but this would be damaging to the trust between us and our employees, legal or not. As I mentioned we have someone on long term sick leave atm and another one off with a very unwell close family member and I don’t expect them back for months. We are straining every sinew to support them.

Mention to her manager it's under doctors advice.

Don't post on social media.

WTF is a “leadswinger”?

@tittygolightly you’re right about the costs of sick pay in the NHS, of course. I wonder if we’re thinking of different scenarios. In the scenarios I am thinking off (LT sick) a 2 week holiday wouldn’t upset planned OH reviews etc as they happen at most monthly. I wouldn’t expect someone to claim what would effectively be extra sick leave to take a holiday and avoid a return to work, not least because they’re GP shouldn’t just continue to sign them off if they’re fit. In that case of course annualnleave should be taken because they are using it to effectively dodge the process. If, on the other hand they are recovering from planned surgery and take two weeks away when off sick when they have no planned reviews etc then I still don’t really see why this is holiday. I suppose you could argue - in line with Stringer - that it is being used for rest and relaxation, primarily, but I think that depends on the case and from my experience would rarely be the primary concern. The person would usually still be, to my mind, primarily too unwell for work.

There is a massive difference between getting ill whilst on holiday and arranging a holiday whilst on long term sick leave (4+ wks).

WTF is a “leadswinger”?

Someone who swings the lead. 🙄

We have someone who is off sick whilst a grievance they have made is investigated. In 3 months they have been on holiday for a fortnight twice on long haul trips. They haven’t mentioned it to the manager and as only 1 weeks notice is required for a meeting under the absence policy (taking place roughly once a month) they failed to turn up (as request was sent at start of their leave and they advised after missing the meeting that they had been away. They were put onto annual leave for the period. The second time they got the request but said they would be abroad on that date and couldn’t attend. They were offered the chance to apply for leave and said they wouldn’t. They were told the meeting would happen in their absence if they didn’t show up and weren’t on annual leave (can’t have it both ways). They checked with the union and submitted a leave request.

Occ health generally need a few weeks to hold a meeting, but sometimes have cancellations and will offer them to those waiting.

It’s always best to be honest. You will get found out otherwise.

@tittygolightly - there are always those that take the piss aren’t there! In the example you give I would convert it to annual leave too. As you say, if they aren’t contactable then they’re on leave. I swear the NHS attracts more of these than any other employer

It does. Ironically the grievances are almost always about how short staffed they are and work pressures and they go off apparently unaware of the impact they’re having on their colleagues!

Wow some of you have really understanding employers
It would not go down well at all at my place
If you’re well enough to go out. You’re well enough to go to work
And going on holiday on sick leave would be utterly unthinkable - even if you had a doctors note it would be viewed with deep suspicion ( and long remembered )

Ime. You come in anyway and they decide if you’re Ill enough to go home
I once went in with d+v because I was expected to And Threatened with the sack because I had a day off for a cold

When I was recovering from a serious operation my boss asked me whether it was possible to get a way for a week ( to get some sun back in my bones!) There was no problem

I have a colleague that is off work with stress and he has posted about his half marathon run, his triathlon event and an outdoor swimming event he took part in. That is not going down well at work at all!

I work for a council. I'm almost positive that when you're off sick, you are not allowed to go on holiday abroad during sick time, and that you have to be available for contact at all times, whether by phone, home visit, or asked to attend occ health etc

wouldn't swear to it, but I think I'm right.
I'm a local authority worker. Our head of service had a hip replacement after Christmas. There was some complications but she went to her apartment in Portugal to recover

My manager broke her leg and had a long weekend in France..

A colleague had depression and was in Canada for two weeks befor a phased return.
Nothing was hidden. HR and other managers were aware and it was openly discussed ( not in a negative way)

Titty I am a native English speaker but I have still never heard the phras “swings the lead” before. I appreciate that my question was put a bit bluntly but why be so sarcastic in your response? Anyway I’ve Googled it now. For anyone else who doesn’t know this expression it means a shirker and has its roots in sailors pretending to be doing a job that involves measuring water depth using a piece of lead on a rope by (I think) swinging the rope instead of lifting the weight up and down. It’s pretty archaic.

notacoldad isn’t exercise a proven therapy for stress and anxiety?

I watched a documentary once about a doctor trying to reduce prescription of drugs for chronic anxiety conditions and one woman was encouraged to do regular open-water swimming. It worked for her for a while.

Your colleague is a bit silly to post about it on Facebook though.

notacoldad isn’t exercise a proven therapy for stress and anxiety
Absolutely!!
However not everyone sees for positive link between mental health and exercise. my personal opinion is that there are many reasons why one may be unfit to work but that doesn't prevent them from doing something else, especially if it beneficial to their well being.
I don't think it is a great idea to post pictures having a cocktail at your villa in the sun during your suck note period while everyone at work is battling through snow. Sometimes a bit of sense and discretion is called for!

she needs to 'rebrand' the holiday and refer to it as a period of convalescence

Jessie It’s pretty archaic.
Most of our idioms are!!!
However the stories behind them are quite interesting!

But the problem is the people who are taking issue with it. Not the person on sick leave.

I have a mental health condition. When off sick the very worst thing I could do would be to stay indoors. Same when I was recovering from surgery. I wasn't well enough to go to work and do a full day, but I was well enough to meet a friend for a coffee. I'm a runner, running is good for my mental health.

The problem is people who think these things are bad, not the person off sick. If someone is off with stress then the employer should spend more time thinking of how to resolve that, than worrying about someone running when off.

Yes there will always be piss takers, but deal with those individuals. I advise people off sick as part of my job (union) and we tell them that there is a big difference between being fit for work and being fit to go to the shops, or a family event or even an interview. Usually they have the GP's blessing as it is the workplace (and the obsession with presenteeism) which is the problem.

Personally speaking I think it's quite cheeky. Because quite often colleagues have to pick up the slack for people who are off sick. Greece would be the last place somebody with a dodgy stomach should go on holiday I'd say.

I advise people off sick as part of my job (union) and we tell them that there is a big difference between being fit for work and being fit to go to the shops, or a family event or even an interview. Usually they have the GP's blessing as it is the workplace (and the obsession with presenteeism) which is the problem.

I agree. But you aren’t talking about the same thing at all.