To think once someone had been off work with stress

[User10002000]

For six weeks they are unlikely to return. I've got a colleague who's been off six weeks and we are all covering their work. We are unable to start a recruitment process as they are still being paid.

Not all jobs can be done by temps. I'm not sure what the answer is tbh.

Sausage why do you think the provolones is different because it is stress.

Email the school explain you are concerned at the lack of cover and ask what their policy is for covering g absent teachers. It doesn’t matter if she is off with stress, chicken pox or a broken leg.

The protocol, not provolones!

It’s not really possible to say. If the stressor is something within Work that can be changed to facilitate their return to work, there’s no reason why not. If the stress is caused by the fact they can’t cope with or do the work and there’s nothing that can be done to change that, it’s less likely.

I’d usually suggest looking at an occ health referral in the first instance and taking it from there.

I imagine having such bitchy and unsupportive colleagues could make their return slower?

That’s not really necessary. You can feel sympathy for someone but also feel the brunt of the excess work load caused by their absence. And for all the genuine cases of work stress there are also plenty of piss takers just looking for some extra time off or trying to circumvent a disciplinary hearing, for example.

Op you basically work somewhere really shit

No wonder they are off with work related stress,
I would be interested to hear if they are actually still paying your colleague sick pay. Because they don’t have to you know.

I would perhaps check your contract and see what it says in that regard. Because often with maternity pay and sick pay, lots of employers see it as a great cost saving opportunity where they can get current employees to pick up the slack and not have to pay out anything after a certain time.

I don't care what the reason is for the absence & I sympathise with the issue.
The only difference between stress & chicken pox (as per your example) is that we don't have a rough timescale for when the teacher will return.
We have approached the school about the absence, but all parents have been told is that the teacher is expected to return "next week" which was why I was enquiring if there was a usual protocol for absences with unknown timelines.

I was off for eight weeks after losing my mother. I stayed another year and a half after that.

The problem is that work can definitely impede on wellbeing. My other half had an accident Christmas last year and almost died. I was expected to return to work 2 days after he was admitted to hospital. I had to continue with my job and do school runs which was impossible as they coincided with the time I had to start and leave my job. Told manager situation and she expected me to find alternative childcare. Friends all worked, husband ill in hospital, family live 40 miles away. This all took its toll as husband is now disabled yet no sympathy from employers. They didn't even allow time to visit husband in hospital as it was over 80 miles away (as had severe injuries that could not be dealt with at local hospital and required rehabilitation). All I wanted to do was have stability so that our children didn't suffer more than they had done. I wanted to be there for them when they needed me. As trying to keep the status quo finally took a toll on my mental health and I took time off with stress. After 3 months work still wouldn't budge on my hours so had to make the desicion to leave as it really made me ill and my kids didn't need that. I count myself really lucky as I have a job now that I love, husband is doing really well and children are very happy and have been doing amazingly well. Mental health issues aren't about having some free time off of work. Some people do suffer and it is definitely up to employers to look after their wellbeing. We don't ask to be ill.

N. B. They should look after you too OP because you don't want to be the next to get stress related illness, you really don't. If I had better support from my work, I wouldn't have been so ill. I would have managed OK and possibly not been off with stress. I hope you and your colleagues including your sick colleague get the support you need.

I've had someone be off for a month & come back. I've had a fortnight- I made it VERY clear I was returning. I did leave shortly after as I was offered a better job but I would have carried on otherwise.

The answer is that no-one should have full responsibility for a task / job / role.

Senior management should have already ensured that in the event of sickness or other eventuality, the rest of the team are able to pick up the slack.

I had five months off, and my manager and team were wonderful in ensuring that I came back to work only when I was ready, without judgement and with a return to work plan to help me reintegrate into the team.

Thank you Snapandfart and Cards

That's correct Nanna. If someone that reported to me was ill they would also notify HR and HR would arrange support for us both. I only line manage a couple of people and I know them well enough that I think I would know if they were suffering.

The cause of my stress left. No more time off.

Freewheelin I'm so sorry for the miserable time you had and thank goodness your DP is doing much better and you have a new job. I wish you all the best in 2019

Your post however is an example of why it is so easy for 'stress' to be misunderstood - your employers were absolute a-holes for not helping you juggle what you were having to juggle, especially as the classic solution in these scenarios is for the employee to 'go sick'.

It sounds like you weren't so physically or mentally ill that you couldn't then meet all your other responsibilities once you weren't having to go to work. So it's not an illness that prevented you eg from leaving the house or doing self care, it was more that you couldn't at that point cope with doing everything

I understand that completely but it's not what I think of as a mental illness, which is what a lot of PP are calling stress.

Some people can handle lots of stress,some cant that makes neither person worse or better than the other. You oviously have a stressful enviromental that has impeded on your work colleague but oviously now having an effect on the rest of you .The only way this will stop is for you all to address the issue .I feel for your fellow colleague,i worked in a job were it was rife ,it wore me down and i left in the end .No amount of money is worth your mental wellbeing .

I have asked my employer what the protocol is for when someone has work related stress, how do they make sure it doesn't affect others, and basically been told there is none.

I have been personally affected by having to carry the can for others numerous times over the years, and have been inconsolable at work on more than one occasion, but because I don't go to my GP its basically tough shit (I wouldn't want that on my record anyway).

To me this is extremely short sighted, and a sign of a poor employer who despite their faux concern actually doesn't give a shit about their staff. OP if you work for a firm as crap as mine, you have my sympathy.

Starting grid I still don’t understand why the protocol for covering someone who is off with stress would be different than covering for any other illness? I suspect your employer thinks you are being deliberately obtuse to make a point - it sounds like you think this person is taking a paid holiday, rather than trying to recover from a health issue.

Your employer should of course ensure employees are not over stretched. If you think you are being overloaded setit out in writing and ask your employer to address the situation. But stop focusing on the nature of your colleagues illness.

but it's not what I think of as a mental illness

I'm trying to find the right way to phrase this without sounding sarcastic... Perhaps your understanding of mental illness should reflect what doctors diagnose as mental illness? Freewheelin made it clear that a very stressful situation in which her husband was badly injured far away had a significant impact on her mental health and her GP signed her off. If this doesn't fit your picture of mental illness maybe your picture needs updating? I hope I'm not coming across as goody; apologies if I've worded this poorly.

Thanks for your kind word CherryGlaze. True my experience is probably different than some MH issues but it was stress by being completely overwhelmed. I know it wasn't clinical depression (I've had friends who suffer with that and it's bloody insidious). It was more anxiety related. I have always suffered with anxiety and have been able to deal with it but this situation bought it all flooding back. Am still with doctors and they are monotoring progress so that it doesn't rear its ugly head again. X

*goady ffs

Whoops should read words!!

Thanks CardsforKittens great name by the way! 😊

I agree with Cards. Your idea of what mental illness is seems to be restricted to the basic syndromes and disorders. Perhaps a bit of research and self training would be helpful?

I ended up taking sixteen weeks off work due to work related stress that had literally driven me to the point I was going to take my own life. That time off allowed me to access the support and treatment I needed. I was very lucky that I had such supportive work colleagues as I was racked with guilt about being off but they were brilliant at reassuring me. Because of that I was able to go back and haven’t had a day off sick since (5 years).
I think whilst it may feel frustrating having to pick up for the extra work you don’t know what this person is going through and my hope would be they feel suppprted to not only take the time off they need but also to come back to work.