How do you go on sick leave?

[BeautifulStranger2]

Hi,

Sorry if im posting in the wrong place. My head is all over the place at the moment and I need some guidance ! How do you tell your employer that your going on sick leave ? In an email? In a call?

ill try keep it brief. I work for a corporate-ish company and I’ve been there 15 months. I’ve been unhappy for a while as my manager is unbearable, checks every little thing me and my colleague do and is very unhinged. I am permanently remote, but I wake up dreading work every day. I don’t want to login and it’s affecting my family life. I have three small children to look after. I’ve checked my contract and I’m entitled to 12 weeks full pay on sick leave. I already know I don’t want to go back.

can someone please advise what I need to do here and how to tell them?

But she is ill? Stress and associated poor mental health are illnesses.

However, OP if you know you don’t want to go back what I’d do is self-certify the first 7 days, during which you see your GP and the stress and anxiety and ask to be signed off. Then you spend the signed-off time applying for new jobs or coming up with a plan to leave/change something. You might not get 12 weeks, though I did work with someone who was off six months with stress – unpaid, obv. I say work “with” – worked next to an empty desk!

Completely agree.
Op make a GP appointment to discuss your mental health. Be honest with them about your stress levels and specifically say you would like to be signed off work for at least 2 weeks.

Cant believe some of the posts on here.

If it’s affecting your life then it’s making you ill. It’s not about entitlement to sick leave. It’s about being ill. You’re work is making you unwell and they are responsible for your h and s.

Go off sick and discuss it on your return to work meeting if you can’t face it now. It will have to come out at some point.

GPs don't just sign people off with stress for fun! Mental illness is still illness

Have you discussed your work load and the role with your line manager? What was the outcome?

As PP have said you can self certify for 7 days then you need a doctor's note. Just "not liking it and having a mad colleague" isn't a sick leave situation. It's a resign situation!

If you're feeling that bad can you take some annual leave?

You also need to speak to your manager

As others say 12 weeks paid isn't without some hoops to jump through.

You need to be signed off by a doctor for anything over a week, you can self certify for a week. I get 6 months full pay from my employer, a lot of employers just pay SSP, which is v little, so it is good to know that if I am seriously ill I will not be financially impacted, I am v lucky (and this was part of the reason I chose this employer).

Sick leave is not for when you are unhappy in a job, in that case you need to search for a new job imo.

@BeautifulStranger2
What steps have you taken already to address the issues??

Is being “unhappy” an illness now ?

Speak to your manager first, you haven't even given them the chance to address it. Update your Cv, get it out there and look for a new job. Go to GP and get signed off for a week if need be.

If you under two years you have more limited employment rights. You call/email on first day and self certify. After 5 working days you would need a gp note which can sign you off for a period or advise you can only work under certain circumstances. If the issue is your manager there will be a grievance process among the policies. Do you have performance reviews? Are you sure the twelve weeks full pay applies to your level and service period?

To everyone saying stress is an illness, yes it absolutely is and is being taken more & more seriously but the OP hasn't said she's stressed. She has said she's unhappy and doesn't like her manager.

First steps are to address the situation with work and pin point the issues. If we all took 12 weeks off every time we were unhappy or didn't get on with a colleague the country would grind to a halt.

Are you unwell though? Sick leave us for sickness (including depression etc) but it’s not clear if you are or if you just fancy some time off work.

Honestly it's people like you op who give other genuine workers a bad name with regard to sickness leave. You're not sick. You're unhappy in your job ( which I know is a crap feeling) but yiou feel that you think you'll take 3 months sick before you leave . In my company after two weeks you'd be referred to our company doctor who is surprisingly good at seeing the genuine cases versus the chancers.
If this reflects your genuine attitude to work I'm sure your employers will be happy to see the back of you.

@BeautifulStranger2 I am not going to comment on whether you are stressed or just unhappy, that's up to a doctor to diagnose.

You do though need to think about what you want to happen. Do you think your company will change your role? Are you job hunting? Do you need to work?

Taking any sort of leave just delays having to resolve the issue.

You’re not sick. I do have sympathy that you are not enjoying the job but it is people like you who do this and see it as entitlement that get it removed from everyone else.

There may be limits on how much paid sick leave you can claim per year and performance reviews for those who exceed a limit(which may be lower than the twelve weeks). Maybe consider implications and use other avenues unless you are unwell, physically or with mh.

Are you actually sick, or just not happy with the job. Have you spoken to your manager to try to resolve the issues?
Sick leave should be for when you are actually sick. Will your Gp sign you off?

I think if OP’s dreading it every day there’s a significant level of mental/emotional impact.

Frankly, a GP will sign you off super easily, OP. I’ve actually had to argue not to be signed off several times.

The time I did get signed off due to my crippling insomnia I just asked to be signed off and it was done with no fuss. I did only take 2 weeks - which wasn’t really long enough but it was all I felt comfortable with at the time - but I could easily have gotten another note.

The GP will be able to talk it through and decide if it's stress and making OP ill or just OP doesn't like her job

I would call and email your manager stating how unwell you feel. Give it a week and see your doctor.

However, if you are very unhappy you need to start job searching as soon as you are able.

After 15 months you may not be able to take so much sick leave.

I was off with stress from my job for 7 months and it honestly took that long to feel half better. I was then moved jobs after long negotiations with the business.

You are fundamentally misunderstanding what paid sick leave is, I think.

The fact that you’re entitled to 12 weeks’ paid sick leave doesn’t mean you can just tell your boss you’re taking three months off. You can have seven days without a doctor’s note - although you will probably need to check in daily and have a conversation about how you are, and you would have to tell them what was wrong with you - then after that you would need a fit note from your doctor outlining what work you were or weren’t capable of doing. There would also probably be appointments with occupational health and a return to work plan.

It doesn’t sound like you are ill. It sounds like hate your job. It is unlikely that your doctor will sign you off for 12 weeks, especially with no other treatment, on that basis - a week or two for stress, maybe.

You either need to tackle the issues at work head on or find another role. As plenty of pp have pointed out, the 12 weeks will refer to how much you will be paid for, not what you can take.

Having a job you dread is very demoralising, either try and change what happens at work or find a role you will be happier in.

Good luck OP

I think we are getting bogged down in whether or not the OP is actually sick. Whilst these may be relevant points, it pretty much doesn't matter. In my experience if someone goes to a GP and says they are stressed at work, they will get signed off.

But getting signed off doesn't solve the OP's problems. For starters they won't just be allowed to sit around looking for another job - the employer probably has sickness absence policies and Occupational Health, and these will kick in almost immediately with the intention of getting them back to work. Then, whether is it fair or not, there is the stigma attached to mental ill health and stress at work - like it or not some employers will not touch the OP with a bargepole after what they hope(?) will be three months paid sick leave for a mental health problem. And then add the short length of service to all that - potential employers are going to wonder if a few months work and then lengthy sick leave is on their horizon too. All that is before factoring in that dismissal for just about any cause is easy before two years service, and the employer may well be one of those who don't really care about niceties when the law is on their side. And then there's the pesky reference issue.

"I am taking my bat and ball home" is a dangerous strategy for an employee. If there really is an insurmountable problem and you can't face work, then resigning gives you the opportunity to spin that resignation to your own tune. Or if things aren't that bad, that is what a grievance process is for - assuming you've already tried the obvious strategy of talking to the manager if that is possible.

But the OP needs to be realistic, and for many employers short service, lengthy sick leave and mental health issues is the recipe for not appointing someone. If the OP is fine with that, then it's on their own head if that is the choice they make and it plays out badly. Living on benefits, especially now, is not a prospect to look forward to.