Do you ever call in sick when you are not?

[DriedFig]

Just a thought really. I'm sometimes tempted to call in sick, but would feel too guilty. Is an occasional sickie acceptable?

@wheresmymojo

No.

Most of my sick days are related to mental health though as I have bipolar disorder and it still often seems that this isn't as 'acceptable' as a physical illness.

Am sorry that's the case. It's wrong.

And to answer the op, no. It's stealing.

Never because I just fancied having fun, but yes if I just hadn't the energy or nerve to go in. I see now that they genuinely were sick days - days when depression prevented me from functioning. At the time I felt guilty that I wasn't physically ill but now I realise depression is a physical illness - a malfunction of a key bodily organ, the brain.

Yes...in last few years of teaching before retirement....one awful class on a thursday for 2 hours....just horrendous....everyone dreaded teaching them....on some scheme so if they didnt attend class they wouldnt get paid some allowance etc....they only came for the money they got...rude, sometimes violent....i probably skipped this twice a month and never felt guilty as managers would never support or provide double staffing as per regulations !!

No I never have. We have very generous holiday for a start and I only work part time now. My work ethic has always been strong.
These days I will have time off if I am at all poorly whereas before now I would have often gone in sick.

No never

How sad that people think working when they are actually sick is some kind of badge of honour, or something to be proud of. I hope at least it isn't when you are working with other people and have something they could catch from you.

If calling in sick is theft (ffs!) then is not paying hours worked over and above your contract and not paid also theft? Or does taking the piss only work one way?

But to answer the question, I've taken one sickie in 30 years and that was 25 years ago.

I have done in previous jobs - particularly when I was a student. I’ve also taken sick days for interviews when I had no AL left. Now I work as a lecturer and it causes chaos to be off sick, you have to upload work to the online platform, someone has to cover, and it’s a general headache. There’s also a return to work meeting which feels like an interrogation, plus a referral to HR for more than two sickness periods in six months. Managers at least do have discretion on that - I was off with a chest infection, went back before I should have, and my manager counted it as one illness when I had to be sent home.

It will be interesting to see if things change when we go back to face to face teaching. Pre-Covid there was an unwritten rule that you went in unless you were actually dying, which meant people could often be unwell for weeks with something that would have been seen off by a couple of days in bed.

It's a bit sad reading this thread about how many people work when they are sick or feel they have to hide the fact that it is a mental health problem rather than a physical sickness. Especially when you count all the unpaid hours of work most people give their employers.

Duvet days aren't a legal requirement but a great many firms offer them to their employees and a quick google shows why employers think they are a good idea.

I've had plenty of sick days in my time. Some actual sickness, some where I just couldn't face getting out of bed in the morning due to a long term chronic condition. I never felt guilty. I've had frequent long periods of hospitalisation since I was a child and my health has always been more important than any job.

DH has just retired after 50yrs of working and he only had 6 sick days in all that time. He just never gets ill.

Yes a few in my 20's and 30's. Utterly exhausted was the reason

Yes occasionally in my old job. I hated the job and had an absolute horror of a boss so I really didn’t care less. I’m self employed now so sickies are a distant memory.

Yes I have.
Year in, year out of trying to cover 13 weeks school holidays and child sickness with 22 days leave.
I used to take the odd day as unpaid but my boss, the HR director(who had a full time Nanny plus her parents on tap) was snooty about it.
Fuck this thought me. It was the Bradford factor so I became an expert on just flying below the suspicious level.

I haven't but I have bent the truth. A lot of my sickies were for mental health, but if you have to ring in and tell your boss that.. what do you say? So I had a lot of migraines instead.. when the truth was I was having a breakdown. My old workplace was terrible if you had MH issues.. no understanding at all. I got suspended for a texting my friends about what the perceived to be a cry for help... some happened to be colleagues.

I do not understand this culture of being proud for having no sickies in xyz years. Did you take your head cold in to your workplace and infect other people for the sake of pride?

When I was doing my ODP training, my link lecturer allowed us a couple of duvet days per placement. She understood that being on placement for 40 hours a week, with doing assignments on top, along with sometimes working a part time job on days off, took its toll. Students are (or should be!) supernumerary anyway. Taking a day off wont put pressure on staff.

No, because I'm a nurse with clinics full of patients and one of my colleagues has to be called in on their day off to cover. It's bad enough having to do that when I am ill! Like the teachers posting, it's not a job that can just be left for a day or covered by the existing team as everyone else is already doing their own classes/clinics.

It's a bit sad reading this thread about how many people work when they are sick or feel they have to hide the fact that it is a mental health problem rather than a physical sickness. Especially when you count all the unpaid hours of work most people give their employers. I agree. In my case it wasn't that I didn't think it would be acceptable to the boss to take a couple of days while I was struggling. It was that saying the words of why I was struggling right then was too difficult. I couldn't say it without crying, I could barely think about it without crying, I definitely couldn't have coped with the pity and understanding, caring looks when I went back. I didn't want people walking on eggshells so as not to upset me. But I did need a couple of days to get my head back together.

I do agree that we should all be more open about mental health struggles. But sometimes it's just too difficult to say it, and it's less complicated to say something innocuous and everyday, like a stomach bug or a migraine.

And same HR director, before my change of attitude begged me to come in to cover some training when I had a truly terrible stomach bug. I had been off the Monday and Tuesday. Dragged myself in for the Wednesday and then was off on Thursday. She insisted it was marked as 2 absences. Cowbag. Another reason for my change in attitude.

I had one to go for an interview, but I had done 840 hours of unpaid overtime over the previous 12 months (hence the new job), I felt no guilt.

My counsellor spoke to me about this - just last week. She said I was showing signs of burn out and perhaps I should take some time off sick.
She said mental health is important and sometimes you need a break.

Once, to do my driving test. (I failed, serves me right). It’s frankly too much hassle to call in sick when you’re a teacher. It’s more work than just dragging yourself in.

No l haven't. There have been occasions when l could have dragged myself in.

Never, I hate the thought of being dishonest. I’ve phoned in sick with MH issues a few times, and indeed been sent home from work with them.

Also had an employer that routinely sacked people with a poor sickness record - and you can’t predict when you might be genuinely ill.

@cravingthelook

My counsellor spoke to me about this - just last week. She said I was showing signs of burn out and perhaps I should take some time off sick. She said mental health is important and sometimes you need a break.

Your counsellor is right. Burn out can be terrible. If you need some time off, then take it.

Only in family emergency situations

Not just to stay home for the sake of it

Only twice. Once for an interview and once to go on a first date with the man I eventually married. To be fair, I was covering someone else's shift the day I went on a date.
But generally no, lying feels awful.

I used to have 2 or 3 a year, but my job was immensely stressful and the culture included lots of unpaid overtime. I was definitely more than owed them.

Ooh no, for me the guilt would totally spoil the effect of lying in bed, it wouldn’t be relaxing at all. I have to call 2 people aswell and would feel compelled to put on ‘the poorly voice’ which would be embarrassing.
Plus in my job it just puts pressure on someone else.
I’ve had about 3 days off in 6 years, 2 down to me being ill and one of them to look after ds who had been sent home from school with a bug.
I wouldn’t call in sick unless I actually couldn’t get my arse out of bed.