To ask if you can be off work for more than six months for mental health problems

[User499988]

With a doctors note? Or would you need to give up work and go on esa?

It would depend on your employers sickness policy

It depends on your employers sickness policy.

Also you can be still employed and claim ESA once your sickness pay runs out.

Six months off would be serious and I suspect that your ability to carry out the role would be in question so your employer might try and terminate your contract. The question would be could you carry out your role if you returned.

As others say it would depend on your employer but I was off for 9 months before I was well enough to return to work. I had occupational/statutory sick pay and was then able to claim ESA.

Depends on your employer

As others have said it depends on employer/contract. If, for example, a public service employer, decision to continue employment contract if employee on long term sick would be influenced by occupational health referral/advice and likelihood of the employee to continue to carry out the role.

We would be looking to terminate after 6mo unless there was an imminent date for a phased return to start.

You must check your employer's sickness policy very carefully so you know what you are entitled to and how it's calculated. Ours is a rolling 12mo period, so if you've been off sick earlier in the rolling period, this would also be taken into account.

without knowing youre employer and its sickness policy we cant say either way

Back again??

Back again??

Just what I was thinking.

I have up to 28 weeks pay but my psychiatrist thinks I may need up to a year off.

My job role is six months full pay, six months half then statutory after that.

It depends on your employer to be honest.

Depends on employer, not many would continue with long term sickness for 6m without beginning capability proceedings before that point.

I’m coming up to a year off about to drop to no pay.

It tends to be the NHS that are able to do the six months full six months half thing. A great deal of private employers stick you on SSP asap

Totally depends on the employer - have they been in contact and asked what they could do to enable you to get back to work? That kind of conversation kicks in around the 4 week point at our place, depending on the reasons you are signed off for.

Really surprised at a psychiatrist putting a timescale on it for you. My mum's would always say it takes as long as it takes, probably not putting a clock on it because a) no one can possibly know how you'll progress, it all depends what comes out and b) timescale = failure if not achieved