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?

I hate this attitude that no-one's really sick unless they're on their death bed, how dare they be out and about, why aren't they at work etc.

I had pneumonia (whilst pregnant, working full time and looking after a toddler - that was fun!) and "powered through" due to being a member of a tiny team. I phoned my boss from the depths of it, having had about five days off, and she told me that if I couldn't come in that weekend then the film festival (tickets sold out, guest speakers, big event, blah blah) couldn't go ahead. So no pressure then. I went in but I shouldn't have done. The GP wanted to sign me off but I felt too guilty (why??!). Guess what, I got worse. Five trips to the GP, two sets of antibiotics, a chest x-ray, an overnight stay in hospital, and was THEN signed off (forcibly) by the GP just as I looked like I was recovered. I wasn't. I coughed from 3 months pregnant until my daughter was 6 weeks old. And I never went back to work after maternity leave. Fuck 'em, they clearly didn't give a toss about me. Never again.

God, I hate this 'must drag yourself to work unless you're dead' culture.

'Taking the piss'? Like bosses/companies don't do that all the time?

Fuck it. Popping out to pick up a kid at the end of some sick leave isn't taking the piss. It's being an adult human being who is able to decide what they're well enough to do, and if they're not well enough to sell their time and energy that day, tough.

Dorset can I ask why you think a GPs job is to mediate someone’s tasks? Why do you think everyone has a job where this a medium? Finally, why do you think you know more than doctors because
You still haven’t said.

& no doctors don’t just write notes willy nilly

Because that’s the law on Fit to Work Certificates and if you look at one of those certificates there’s a section on it which prompts GP’s to do exactly that.

We have moved away from sick certs to GP’s having conversations with their patients to see if there’s a compromise.

No one is saying that people should drag themselves into work if they’re not well enough. However, as I said before it’s common sense that illness isn’t always black and white (100% fit to work or 100% not fit) and you don’t need to be a GP to understand that.

There’s very often an in between where people could do SOME work in some circumstances and many people do exactly that (I.e can’t drive but can easily get a lift, can’t do physical duties but could do some admin, can’t do a full day due to tiredness but could do a few hours in the morning....)

Dipping. Yes GP’s frequently DO sign people off “willy nilly”! Sometimes because the individual is determined they will get a fitness to work certificate or possibly because the GP is under pressure etc etc.

You’d have to be very naive to think that didn’t happen.

I used to at a very popular bakery chain and was signed off for 2 weeks for 'rest' when I was 4 months pregnant as I'd had severe back pain and been in hospital and they were worried about the baby as the job involved a lot of heavy lifting, and long long shifts.

When I went back to work my manager asked me in for a meeting to see how I was, and then said 'some staff have told us you were having a party at the weekend, is this true? Have you been throwing a sickie? You know how understaffed we are!'

For one thing, I was pregnant and crippled with nausea so I definitely was not having a party! But on the other hand, it's no fucking business of theirs. Even if I had been having a party, having some friends round and a few glasses of wine is very different to the 10 minute walk, 20 minute jam packed bus journey, 5 minute walk, then 12 hour shift + same commute back again it would have taken to work!

Why shouldn't she pick her niece up? If it was the beginning of her illness then, yes she is pulling a fast one, but she is due back on Monday so is obviously feeling better. A quick trip to pick up a child is nothing like a full day at work.

Yanbu.

I was brought up to believe that if you can put one foot in front of the other you go to school/work unless you are contagious (in which case you shouldn't leave the house unless seeing a healthcare professional). When I'm unwell I put a sign on my office door saying enter at your own risk! (I'm the only person who does my job and time off means catching up later, my same reason for not taking much annual leave - working for a charity is very different to corporate but work ethic is important for both)

I think its simplistic to say if you can walk then you can go to work. My parents had the same ideal which is why a car was almost written off once!

It may work for some but depends on the job and the commute. I have colleagues driving upwards on 1.5 hours on awful motorways. No one wants one of them driving if under the weather, even if they can walk/drive round the corner/ grab some food.

I’ve done placement in 3 GP surgeries so far (currently in the middle of one actually) and not on of them signed people off willy nilly.. you obv know best though with all your knowledge on primary care .. really wish there was an eye roll Emoji

If people are that determined to get a sick note they are willing to lie and play doctors, then it will be a pattern in their worm ethic. It is pretty obvious to spot. We have had many different people off sick and HR easily spotted those who potentially we piss takers. Mainly because their biggest tell is to ask for leave and if it can't be given then they go off sick. And usually nk self certs are needed.

Work ethic even.

I was off work with depression, and felt really guilty when someone from work saw me doing a food shop.

My sick record has taken a battering this year and my work have been very supportive, thankfully!

Developed epilepsy last Sept - GP signed me off for a month while they got the meds sorted (was having 4 ish fits a week). Lots of hospital admissions and appointments later they discover I have multiple sclerosis- which caused my epilepsy = emotional trauma on already existing anxiety diagnoses. Mixture of sick days for anxiety/MS symptoms.

I try not to get signed off because being at work is better for my mental health.. but some days I just can't manage it.

Broke my wrist yesterday at work, been off work today to attend hospital (fell because I can hardly feel my legs due to MS).. but I'll be back to work Monday. Two weeks time I've been pre signed off work for at least 5 weeks (going into hospital for treatment for MS).

I feel.awful for every day I've had off over the last year and if I thought people were judging me for it id be very upset.

Who has time off for a chest infection? I've always worked through illness, I have reacurring bronchitis and work 13 hours shifts. She needs to get a grip.

Fowles94 Someone asthmatic or with such a severe one they can’t walk five metres without being so out of breath they have to stop? Like ones I’ve had? Aren’t you brave 🏅

having read a number of work-related threads recently I must say MN does seem to be home to some particularly unpleasant managers and employers. Luckily I have never had to work for any of these types, thank fuck.

How lovely that someone who does claim to work in primary care has to resort to silly name calling to try and make their point.

As I said before it’s incredibly naive to think that GP’s are never pressured into signing someone off when they’re genuinely well enough to go to work. It’s very hard for a GP to argue when someone says their back pain is so severe they can’t work as it’s not exactly something they can diagnose via an X-ray or a blood test. it’s not hard to see why MSK issues are one of the top reasons for being signed off work.

Equally I know (from having seen the email evidence) that certain GP’s in one local surgery are well known for being an ‘easy’ option and will sign you off without blinking an eye.

I’ve also myself been very readily offered a fit certificate when I clearly said I didn’t want one.

Dear god your office sounds miserable.

What unpleasant gossip.

I haven’t read all replies. But if I’m sick I still have children to feed, food shopping to do, school run etc etc. So I guess I’d be accused of pulling a sicky, but life goes on. My dh gets a chest infection every year (drives me potty with coughing) he usually ends up with 6 weeks of antibiotics. He’s a farmer though, he can’t take time off. He works a full day every day. Maybe that’s where he’s going wrong. He should stay in bed 🤣😂

I think 2 weeks off for a chest infection is a bit much (unless she's being in hospital or similar). I would have thought after 3-4 days after starting antibiotics she would be well enough to work.

I know someone who says she has ME and general exhaustion and therefore hasn't worked for the past decade, which is in itself fine. But in her case she still manages to do exercise classes and nights out and long-haul foreign holidays with full-on itineraries on a regular basis, so I do think she's really taking the piss to claim she can't even manage some sort of part-time fairly sedentary work.

I had to check this wasn't me ! I was off sick this week with a bad chest infection, 2 doses of antibiotics and its still hanging in there and eventually I stayed home. I had an awful cough, a leaky bladder as a result and little sleep. My office has a new Dad and a co worker with a sick son who also really did not need to catch anything from me.
Despite having a cert I did do some work from home but on Wednesday DD forgot her change of clothes (Was in gym after school) so I drove them up to her. I stopped off at the service station on the way back to badly use the bathroom and there was my boss standing in the fast food line.
Thankfully, he is not a shit, and we had a nice lunch together (whilst I tried not to cough all over him).

Personally it really annoys me when people come into work with a bug and give it to everyone. So no, you are not being unreasonable. People should mind their own business; they don’t know what the doctor has advised!