To go off sick again

[Thecherrytree12]

Hi, I am a child protection social worker and after a career of 16 years with no time off for stress I was absolutely broken by coronavirus, 2x bereavements and a critically ill child. I had a month off with stress and anxiety. I have returned to work for 6 weeks now and I feel in exactly the same place. I've been given case after case after case, I've told management I'm struggling, I'm working all day and all night again to keep up, in my team we are 5 social workers down as they are all off with stress and we are carrying dangerous caseloads. I've said over and over again I can't cope, this is risky and no one listens. The final straw being today I've been asked to give evidence in court tomorrow at 9am on a case I dont know as the social worker is off sick. This means I will need to spend all night reading the court bundle and my own work just continues to build. I feel like I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. So, my AIBU is -

Would I be unreasonable to call my GP and get signed off for another month? In hindsight I shouldn't have returned so soon as my GP wanted me to take more time but I felt I was letting everyone down and needed to return. In this time I will need to focus on my own shredded mental health and get some therapeutic support. I can't sleep, I can barely eat I am so stressed.

Is it ok to go off sick again after only returning for 6 weeks since I was off? Could I get sacked? I work for the council.

Any advice much appreciated!

Are you in a union, can you join one?

This is a systematic failure you need to take care of yourself as it's clear your managers are failing the team and therefore the DC you are trying to protect.

Nothing is more important than your health, OP. You can't do your job or help these families the way you are now.

Go off sick for a proper length of time this time and get the help you need. Your boss has absolutely nobody to blame but themselves for not listening and not taking care of you.

Yes get signed off. I also work for the council in social care. I am not a social worker but work along side them and I know how stressful it is when you have case after case thrown at you and then covering other people's work too. This time last year I was at breaking point and had a complete meltdown at work. My manager was great and made changes to try to help but just after that I was diagnosed with cancer. My type of cancer was something to do with your DNA make up as it was a blood cancer. im convinced it was the stress of my job that triggered it. I worked through my whole treatment but behind the scenes mainly doing admin and queries so did not have actual cases but I have just gone back to it in the last couple of weeks and had forgotten how stressful it can be. Your health is more important, take the break that you need and speak with your managers about reducing your work load

I was in a similar position a few years ago. I ended up ringing Ofsted to report the dangerous practice. Quite aside from my own mental health, children were being put at risk.

You absolutely need to look after yourself and should get signed off sick. If you left, the management would soon forget you and move on to grinding down your replacement.

I ended up getting a new job, best thing I could’ve done.

Go off sick NOW.

Write to manager expressing the precise reasons you are off sick and ask for it to be treated as a formal grievance.

Attend any meetings they invite you to if your health allows.

Consider resigning and claiming constructive dismissal depending on outcome.

Go off sick and start looking for a new job - and I'm a senior prac. Don't kill yourself for managers who aren't concerned about your wellbeing.