Would you be off sick if you weren't being paid?

[MakeMineALarge1]

I work for the NHS, the sick package is very good, full pay for 6 months then half pay for another 6.

I know that its very stressful at the moment in acute care, sickness in our department is currently at 30% with up to 6 members of staff off per shift.

Lots of people citing stress etc, needing time out, and this is granted on full pay.

If you were self employed or hourly paid, would as people still be off with stress and still need "time out"

It seems a lot of threads on here start with "my anxiety" or I have PTSD or I am depressed. Is it too easy nowadays to ring your GP and be signed off on this basis?

There are a lot of chances out there unfortunately who have no shame and spoil it for the genuinely ill people. If you don't have a moral compass, it's easy to take advantage. I know someone who makes up illnesses for time off, gets signed off as it's now a 'chronic issue. No shame whatsoever.

Before I retired I was a nurse in a NHS hospital . I had a couple of long periods on sick leave for approximately 5 months each . One was a major operation and the other was when my husband died suddenly.
I had very few sick days other than these . I would go in with a migraine, I would go in flooding off my feet along with really bad period pains . I wasn't asking for a medal , all the other staff were the same . We all knew that if we took a day off they might not have someone to cover us so the ward would be short staffed and there would be so much more stress on the rest of the nurses .
My daughter is also a nurse and was in ITU of the hospital that she works in last November with covid . She has been back at work now for a few months but she has been diagnosed with PTSD . She is just getting on with it .
She didn't need to go back when she did because her illness was workplace acquired and she would have been on full pay as long as she needed it . She is not the type to take advantage so as soon as she was physically strong enough she returned to her job .
I can see the stress in her face each time she comes home from a shift .
Not everyone is a piss taker in the NHS , in fact very few are .

I read in some training for a new job that since they brought policies and procedures in Acts of Parliament for Safety and manual handling at work, mental health illness absences soared. However, in the social care sector, time off for mental health and burnout issues are very real.

If people get paid for sick leave they will take advantage! I bet the statistics would show self employed people take far less sick days for this very reason.

@CityMumma78

If people get paid for sick leave they will take advantage! I bet the statistics would show self employed people take far less sick days for this very reason.

Not true. I have never taken sick leave and nor have most of my colleagues.

@CityMumma78

If people get paid for sick leave they will take advantage! I bet the statistics would show self employed people take far less sick days for this very reason.

And if people don’t get sick leave they will go to work when they shouldn’t, potentially spreading viruses to their colleagues. As demonstrated by the covid 19 pandemic.

My self employed friends probably do take fewer days sick leave. They also have far more control over their work and can juggle it about and reschedule to manage periods of sickness, so it’s not really a fair comparison.

I work in the 'gig' economy/freelance/self employed. I do not get paid if I do not work or to put it another way, I am only paid for the service I provide. If I cannot work, I do not get paid. What is more, any work that would have been allocated to me, will be allocated to someone else. I can have a holiday or break (unpaid), if I let the company know. So, for example, if I needed minor surgery, I could let the company know that I would be unavailable for a few days, but it would mean I would 'lose' money. I However, if I am unavailable for work for too long, the company will cease to use my services.

I fear becoming too ill to work. I often work when I am not really up to it and my performance is not too good. This also worries me because performance and quality are monitored.

I am lucky because I do not have young children who may need caring for, although I do have two adult sons who have serious MH issues.

So, in answer to the OP's question, no I would not take sick leave if I did not get paid, and, in an increasing number of work based situations, there is no such thing as sick leave. This is a huge step backwards in terms of human rights.

@winnieanddaisy your poor daughter, that's awful, no wonder she is traumatised, also working in the ITU where she was a patient. She will have great emapathy for what the patients are going through.

I also do bank around child care, kids going to school so lost some money when off sick as not able to work but at least get sick pay in my part time post, so grateful for that.

Work Shy Britain!!
Fine if it's genuine but a lot just aren't. I could never call in sick when I'm not as I'd be feeling guilty all day.

I remember another girl I worked with who was always ill on a Friday and Monday, literally without fail. It fell on the rest of us to pick up her work as it had to be done and couldn't wait for her to get back. It wasn't until she dated a colleague who spilt the beans once they'd broken up about it not being genuine off sickness, she left soon after.

Being signed off when you know you're not ill is not dissimilar to people who would rather be on benefits than work.

My partner's NHS colleague also went off sick the week before her holiday and flew out during the 'sick' period. She then worked from home during her first week back, logging in from her holiday destination. If that isn't taking the pass I don't know what is. She's a known case who when she had to self isolate, took 10 extra days 'just to be sure'.
It's everyone else who picks up the slack including tax payers in some cases. Unfortunately sick fakers are too selfish to care.