Colleague permanently off sick

[Littlejuice]

Colleague at work, forever coming to work for a fortnight then being signed off for a month or 6 weeks with anxiety - there is always something : currently it is her boyfriends uncle died, last time it was her cat died, time before she was upset about her boyfriend not proposing when they went on a holiday where she was convinced he would propose

Team I work in all sick of it. Have got to the stage where we just never expect her to be in and cover her work, but genuinely now getting so pissed off

Said colleague has been off for 3 weeks currently as she can't cope, but has plastered.many many pictures all over Facebook this weekend of various parties, BBQ, trips out. Rest of us working extra on call shifts to cover her because she's too stressed to work

I know I'm being judgemental, I know I am, but has made me rage - surely at some point she just has to accept life has its challenges, come to work like the rest of us?

@Universe1969

Explain to HR it is making you stressed having to take on extra work load and get a temp.

This. Make it thier issue so they deal with the pisstaker. I cannot stand this, it makes things worse for those with genuine issues that come after her.

@Hugasauras

It's for HR etc to deal with. Perhaps they are already going through the process. If she's really off so frequently then she may end up being dismissed if she's unable to do the job and they've offered reasonable adjustments. Most companies have quite clear thresholds and processes in place.

Not really in 2022. It should be the manager dealing with it with HR support.

@PAFMO

Have you always been scathing of mental health problems OP, or is it something new? There but for the grace of God eh? (perhaps you should ask HR to remind your colleague that being signed off requires them to stay locked in the house, preferably confined to bed, on a drip/life support machine, etc)

🙄

Why on these threads is there an assumption that ‘HR’ should be dealing with these issues? It’s for the manager to deal with following policy / HR advice.

If you’re a manager and you think HR should deal with your team issues then you ought to look at whether you want / have the skills to be a manager. A good manager doesn’t hide / blame things on HR.

And to the OP - delete / block her on Facebook because seeing her posts is upsetting you. Talk to your manager about the workload issue. Don’t make it personal about your colleague. They’ll know what the issue is anyway.

Good luck.

This sounds hellish OP. Complain in writing to your manager about the extra shifts.

Definitely block the often-absent colleague on social media. Seriously why are you interested in her life other than to escalate your rage if she’s just a flaky colleague.

Are you paid for the extra shifts you cover?

Are you in the public sector because this sort of thing is rife. Unfortunately so is people milking the mental health card like a dairy herd. ( both public and private sector) sadly mental health is the 21st century equivalent of the bad back, and yes I am prepared to have my arse handed to me

@LetHimHaveIt

I fully, fully agree with you *@Littlejuice*, but you'll get your arse handed to you on here, where it's apparently fine to have huge swathes of time off for the most nebulous of reasons.

Yep and you'll get them flooding onto the thread, desperate to tell you that they had a genuine reason, but it wasn't for their colleagues to know or even if the reason seems trivial, it isnt.

Thing is, op knows the reasons, and they are trivial. If she was this anxious about life, how can she cope with multiple parties? She is a piss taker, plain and simple.

Bugger all you can do though op. You are stuck with it, unless you change jobs I guess.

Yanbu it’s annoying but you really think her employer is going to be ok with her taking time off just because her partner didn’t propose? . Come on no employer will put up with that !
So what can you do complain about the work that you need some help as colleague never in . Leave your employer to deal with her reasons not your problem but you should complain about the constant covering of her job .

It’s not actually that easy to not cover someone else’s work.
It’s fine to get a temp or supply in but by the time everyone has them up to speed you’ve got behind with your own role.

I have a close CF friend who has milked time off with every (fairly senior) job she has. She genuinely can’t see the problem. Her mental health issues actually revolve her being self absorbed. It’s all about her, so whilst very real in her head she’d actually have less problems if she worked on the bit of doing stuff for the right reasons and having a sense of duty.
It’s a self fulfilling prophecy; time off for MH means she has a “problem”,which then means she can please herself,, which then means work is really hard to return to. Yes I’m judgemental and yes we’ve discussed it. She still thinks it’s fine and it’s her right. Which I guess it is.

Her sickness and absence is confidential between your colleague & management. You don’t really know the true situation and nor should you . No doubt they have invoked a sickness disciplinary procedure but they shouldn’t be discussing that with you or other employees
She is insensitive by putting her social life on social media where her colleagues can see so unfriend her if it bothers you.
Express your concerns about the workload to your boss and explain the pressure it’s putting on you - hopefully you will get some support soon , but don’t expect any info about your colleagues employment situation other than “it’s in hand “ as they really can’t discuss this with you

Her boyfriends uncle? Jeez, what a cf

This is a management failure
Your team needs to go to management and say you can no longer cover this person's work and they need to get a temp in or the work will go undone.

I’m guessing this is a public sector organisation?

Your colleague may actually be too anxious to work. The problem is your employer

YANBU, but this is MN, and therefore have to suck it up as you have no idea what’s really going on.

This isn't an issue for HR to deal with. Your manager should be dealing with it, it's their responsibility to manage the absence of their team members. HR are there to advise and support.

Ime she'll make a miraculous recovery when the enhanced sick pay runs out.

The ‘excuses’ sound like gossip. Unless you’re her manager you have no idea why she is off sick. If her work isn’t being covered that’s a management issue.

Who is telling you why she is off? If it's not her directly you shouldn't know.

Your issue is with your workload so speak to your manager about that. Her employment status is nothing to do with you.

sickness should be private
why is her sickness and reasons for it such public knowledge?

Totally agree with you OP. Speak to your manager and HR. They need to do something

My oh had one of these people, they couldn’t prove it but knew she was gaming the system

The stress it places on an organisation or the team is awful.

If HR know about her FB activity you have to leave it with them

Whether she's genuinely unwell or not, it's having a negative impact on you and your team. You should approach HR or your manager to ask how her work is going to be covered.

@Littlejuice

In your previous threads you say you work as a senior manager in the public sector and in an ITU of a hospital.

As a senior manager are you then somehow part of the line management for the absent person?

Are other HCPs brought in to cover the absence (presumably in ITU also?) Or are you saying that people in the NHS aren't being paid to cover shifts?