to think being certified off work sick doesn't mean you can't leave the house

[Swansandducks]

A colleague has been out of work on a cert for the past two weeks. Someone saw her yesterday apparently collecting her niece from a ballet class and is now going around saying our colleague is 'throwing a sickie'.

AIBU to find this annoying? The woman in question has had a very bad chest infection and is due back in work on Monday. Surely it is normal that on the last few days of her illness she is capable of going out and about for an hour or two a day, which is very different to facing a long commute and a full day at work?

If someone is off work with stress or depression they would be actively encouraged to get out of the house and do things whilst on sick leave.

I see this very recent nosey Parker OP has not been back.

Yes, I noticed that echt. Wind 'em up and watch 'em go.

As understanding as I am of colleagues illnesses, that would definitely make me wonder whether they couldn’t have managed a few hours of work if they could manage that.

You're clearly not that understanding then. First off, how do you even know that they work in an environment where doing "a few hours" would be approved or logistically possible? Secondly, to make the point again I made upthread, how lazy must you be when at work that a quick trip to collect a relative is in any way comparable to the effort you put in over "a few hours"? Thirdly, it's none of your business.

I have recently returned to work after 18 months “off sick” (hate that term) with an autoimmune condition. During this time I was largely bedbound however I developed huge anxiety about leaving the house even for medical appointments in case I was seen by colleagues. There were odd cases where I could do favours for family (waiting in for gas engineer, for example) or go to a shop for essentials (loo roll etc). You don’t know the circumstances behind someone’s illness so please don’t judge if you see them out and about. Although I agree posting on social media is a bit insensitive.

I'm off certified for just coming up to two weeks now. I am well enough to venture out but must rest and absolutely no lifting/carrying under any circumstances....
Unless you are a qualified doctor then you actually can't comment or pass judgement.

As understanding as I am of colleagues illnesses, that would definitely make me wonder whether they couldn’t have managed a few hours of work if they could manage that.

What job do you have where a 10 minute pick up requires the same amount of effort and energy as a few hours at work?!

Also we don't know if it was an emergency situation where the person was the only one available to collect her niece for whatever reason.

Last year I broke my ankle, I was signed off work for 2 weeks. By week 2 I was going stir crazy just staring at the same 4 walls 24/7.

In the second week a friend's grandfather had been taken into hospital so I offered to pick her daughter's up from their drama class and bring them home so she could spend more time at the hospital. The only reason I was able to make that offer was because I live a minute walk (5 minute hobble on my walking boot and crutches) from the bus stop which took me to the bus stop literally 5 steps from the door of the drama studio. Once I picked the girls up it was a quick return journey to my house where they played in the lounge while I rested my ankle until their mum collected them.

A half hour round trip to collect my friends kids due to an emergency was not equivalent to a 6hr+ shift at work on my feet.

I would ask your colleague when she passed her medical degree.

Someone was funny with me and hinted the same when i was signed off for two weeks. They were told i was unwell and signed off, that was all. I had miscarried and been operated on a few days previously. But i dared go to Boots with my husband to get out of the house for half an hour

Of course I’d know whether the work they did could be done on a phased return etc as I’d be working with them! My reference was based on MY workplace not a hypothetical one.

I’m also not talking about stress or a broken limb because that’s not what the OP was discussing, I’m talking about someone off sick with a chest infection.

I stand by my comment that if someone is well enough to be out and about on a non essential errand (collecting their niece from ballet) five days before they were due back at work that it would make me wonder if they were well enough to do a few hours at any point during the next five days....that’s not being nasty or unemphathetic, it’s basic common sense.

Snapped you sound like an idiot and thank god you’re not a doctor who is able to sign people off fucking hell.

Lots of people still have to do stuff when they’re sign off sick, eg people with stress/anxiety it will do them thenworld of good being out of the house rather than sat in.

If you’re signed off with a chest infection etc chances are towards the end of your sick note you’re going to want to leave the house. Cabin fever comes to mind.

Some people don’t use the brain they’re born with

‘It would make me wonder whether they were well enough’ doesn’t matter what any of you wonder, if a doctor doesn’t think they’re fit enough to work that’s that really, or do you all have medical degrees too?

Melj1213. It all depends on the individual I suppose. When I broke my ankle I had three days off (one day back at trauma for proper cast to be fitted and then two days off getting on top of any pain and resting up).

My GP offered to sign me off but I didn’t need to as, whilst I couldn’t drive I was more than capable of getting a lift with a friend and was able to sit with my foot elevated and just did office based duties for the next couple of weeks. I’d have been bored rigid just sitting at home.

Clearly if your work can’t offer alternative duties then you might need to be off but it seems to me that its sometimes seen as the easy option to just get signed off and there’s little attempt to consider what duties you might be able to cover or if you could do a few hours work instead of full time for eg.

Despairing at stupidity of people who think that a quick trip out of the house means you’re automatically ok for work. Either that or they lazily do a non-job idling a desk.

Oakenbeach. You’re misunderstanding my point. I’m not saying that at all, I’m said that the point of Fitness to Work certificates is to explore what work/duties/hours you MIGHT be able to do.

That might be getting a lift to work, reducing your hours/days, changing your duties for a period or working from home.

Of course there will be illnesses or work situations which mean it’s not feasible but there are also plenty of times when it would be possible but the easy option is just to get signed off completely.

Of course there will be illnesses or work situations which mean it’s not feasible but there are also plenty of times when it would be possible but the easy option is just to get signed off completely

Having to worry about someone being sent home , spending all day wondering how much a person will he leaving for sone one else to do, or having to check of they are logging in at regular intervals, and trying to sort out a means for them to get in sounds far more stress than letting than have that extra couple of days and returning as fit to work.

Giles. That sounds really mistrustful, if any of my colleagues were working from home I’d trust that’s what they were doing and even a couple of hours work is more helpful than none so I wouldn’t find it stressful in the least.

This isn’t about an employer requiring someone to work when they’re unwell, it’s about an individual wanting to do that.

Giles. That sounds really mistrustful, if any of my colleagues were working from home I’d trust that’s what they were doing and even a couple of hours work is more helpful than none so I wouldn’t find it stressful in the least

Well if you trust them that much then why question them being signed off

No OP UANBU to be annoyed!
I have been off work for a long time and have beaten myself up about it to the point where i have had to attend councelling to convince MYSELF i am ill BUT ACTUALLY ALLOWED to leave the house because of not only other peoples attitudes but my own! (Old fashioned if you are off you arent allowed out outlook)
I have days or weeks where my illness is bearable and i get the old " But you look amazing" from people & then there are periods like today where im lying in bed unable to make it upstairs to the bathroom without shouting for someone to help me, in pain, crying, greasy hair, & looking like i feel. Its only on these days that my anger bubbles through when i read these posts. (Anger at my own ridiculous attitudes as well btw) I think its an in grained thing from how you where brought up and its hard to break!
Luckily i have lovely colleagues who keep in touch but i still wonder what the others think if they meet me out having tea (because its easier than standing cooking a meal that day).

I've just come back after being signed off for 5 weeks and after seeing some of the responses on here can say I'm glad I don't work for any of you.

Giles I also didn’t say I had a problem with someone being signed off, again you’re not reading my post properly.

If someone needs to be signed off then there should be a conversation with their GP to see if there’s anything they could do if certain things could be put in place.

That’s not me being unsupportive or mistrustful, it’s the current system because we now have Fitness to Work certificates not sick certs any more.

If someone needs to be signed off then there should be a conversation with their GP to see if there’s anything they could do if certain things could be put in place

But people should he focussed on getting better not making themselves worse doing stuff that although may he reduced duties could still well be taking far more energy than they have and prolonging them feeling unwell.

And let's face it woth the nest intentions in the world it's not really feasible to have some one back but not back in many circumstances .

I was signed off for several weeks, pregnancy related issues.

I went back 2 days after they told me my baby could die bit because I was ready. How can you be ready after that. But because I was worried that someome somewhere would assume I was exaggerating or it was "just pregnancy " or I could be back sooner of I just did this part if the job.

Fact is everyone still needed lunch breaks so I was left unattended. People had to stay unpaid so I wasn't alone due to the gap between shift changed.

Customers didn't know I was in pain and bleeding and that's why I was slow.

I was more work being back than I was off sick. And it makes you feel shit being a burden.

Giles. Sorry to hear that, sounds as though you had a horrible time.

I’m not in any way suggesting that people don’t sometimes need complete rest/time away from work and it sounds as though that’s what you needed at that time too.

However, our system is now set up so that when someone is being signed off by their GP they are meant to have a conversation to see if there is any work they could do. There may well not be anything they could do in some roles or in some organisations who can’t make the necessary arrangements and, as I said, in some circumstances it’s not in the interests of the individual to be doing anything other than rest and that’s absolutely fine.

It’s the ‘in between’ cases that this thread was originally about.

But "In between" is still recovery though isn't it?

You don't go from being too ill to move to waking up the next day and functioning. The whole point is taht although you feel a bit better your body and mind is still regaining it's strength. You are still working up from being unable to do anything to attempting small manageable steps to allow you to be able to go back in a position where you can do your job.

A phased return after a long term sick leave is one thing.

Still on the two week recommended by the Dr because if a sever chest infection which even when you start to feel better still drains you for a period after, is another.

no, in this case in between means not an illness that requires you to be signed off totally but not 100% well enough to be at work full time or on fully physical duties.

Therefore you agree an in between role/hours with your GP.

Illness isn’t always as black and white as all or nothing.