I got a sick note to go on holiday

[Marleymerm]

Last month I worked at least 40hrs of overtime when my boss kept asking me to "stay late" or "just come in a few hours at the weekend" as we had a deadline approaching. I worked it and wrote it all in my time sheet, I work in an office so we don't have clock ins or anything.

Anyway, I got paid last week and got nothing for my OT, I asked my boss who said he only asked me to stay to help, he never actually agreed to pay me for it and he was asking me to "help the company" like we all should be doing.

I thought about fighting it but people in my office are petty and those above me would probably make things difficult for me. So instead I got a sick note from my doctor for 6 weeks for stress and booked a holiday. I've been honest with my work that I've booked the holiday and said it's to help with my stress, now my boss is saying this is clearly out of spite and he'll be giving me a written warning. However if he does that he'd have to formally admit to not paying me OT. I do feel nervous after realising I actually get full pay when I thought I'd only get SSP and now I'm worried my boss is going to take it further.

It’s not at all surprising that poor treatment from a manager and fear of raising it would cause stress. Not sure why posters think that’s so unlikely.

OP is not going to come across as a slacker. She did 40 hours OT unpaid. She has a manager that isn’t treating her fairly - either refusing to pay and allowing her to fall under NMW or threatening a written warning. I’d be stressed with that too.

Not in my opinion. The OP was burnt out after a ludicrous amount of unpaid overtime on top of her 40 hours a week, and from being treated like shit. She was/is stressed and probably depressed, and got time off for this, via a sick note from the GP. The GP and the OP have done nothing wrong.

The 'boss' is a butthurt little toad who is pissed off that one of his subjects who he shits on and treats like dirt all day/week/month has 6 weeks away, and won't be at his beck and call. So he is spitefully saying she has 'done it on purpose' and threatening her with a disciplinary. There is absolutely no proof she has done this 'on purpose,' and IMO he has no case.

As for booking a holiday on the sick leave, maybe not the best idea but I doubt he will be able to sack her. As a pp suggested, she needs to speak to ACAS.

I’d relax and enjoy your 6 weeks off and in addition to that make two complaints:

1. Your boss did not inform you that the overtime you worked was unpaid and that doing an additional 40 hours and losing days off have severely impacted upon your mental health, not to mention taken you under NMW
2. Now you have been signed off with stress your boss is worsening the problem by insinuating that the 40 additional hours were acceptable and that you are only off with stress as ‘revenge’.

I think your boss may well end up with more to worry about than you.

If anyone at my work wants to see me as a slacker after the hours I put in last month then that's their problem, but I know it's not the case.

Yes, it's a huge added stress to be several hundred down on my wage I was expecting and had worked hard for. Had I been paid for it I wouldn't have gone home crying and spent the whole night up feeling like all the evenings I'd missed with my family and days off I worked were for nothing. We all work for pay, not for fun. Most of us are stressed at work, but we do it for the money. When money isn't paid for our work, it's a lot more stressful.
I've booked my holiday for me and my family and gone on sick because I feel like I might end up losing my mind if I have to go back into that place anytime soon!

40 hours overtime in a month is not a huge amount but it is ridiculous to take six weeks off sick. What on earth were you thinking of ? Maybe a week to get your time back. Have you even thought about how sick time might look on your record or if you go for another job ?

I don't think a doctor would sign someone off sick for six weeks straight off. maybe two and then review how things are. Sounds like things have been blown up and could have been sorted more easily.

This is not my first time having sick leave for stress or getting a sick note for it. In the past there were shorter amounts of time initially but they've increased to what my GP believes appropriate.

The OP is not 'down' several hundred pounds. She got her regular full paycheck. Evidently, she don't need that money, because instead of fighting for it, she is apparently spending hundreds if not thousands more on a holiday trip away. And the fact that your doctor has a history of giving the OP what seems to be regular and increasing amounts of sick leave seems very odd to me.

Geez. When I was working I had to be sick as a dog to get a 2 day doctors certificate. 6 weeks is huge. Won't someone else have filled in your job while you are away ? They may want to keep it. Why do you stay if you are getting stress leave all the time?

Go on your holiday. Rest. Then look for a new job with an employer who isn't expecting you to work for free. The cheek of it!!!

And IMO 40 hours over a month isn’t that much

So youd be happy working 40 extra hours for FREE? Give over

OP If your gp has signed your sick note then I'd take your time off and enjoy it. So what if it was done through "spite". I'd be throughly pissed off at working all those extra hours and not being paid for it. Your boss has done you over there and he knows it. Enjoy your break x

It’s done now, so fuck it and enjoy the holiday!

I doubt he will take it further.

My dad had 6 months off work from stress,

If you have a doctor's note saying the time off is for medical reasons, I don't really see that your boss can do anything about it.

I would report him and the company for not paying NMW. As the poster above said, he might then find he has more serious things to worry about.

Indeed. Good luck to him explaining that "oh no it's fine, I just assumed she'd work for free" 🤣

I got screwed over by a manager a few years back on overtime. Refused to let me take time off for overtime worked. To cut a long story short, after a division wide timesheet audit covering a couple of years, they owed me nearly 4 months overtime. Such a shame. I may or may not have been the instigator of the timesheet audit...

As I tell people on my team - I don't work for free and I don't expect them to either.

I thought about fighting it but people in my office are petty and those above me would probably make things difficult for me. So instead I got a sick note from my doctor for 6 weeks for stress and booked a holiday

Sounds like the OP is patting themselves on the back at how "clever" they thought they were to get signed off as a way to claw back the OT they feel they were due.

poor move, OP, MN can't resolve you making an ill advised move when what you should have done was

a) discussed openly with your boss when you saw the OT was going to build up each time you were asked to stay late, go into the office at weekends, and

b). negotiated some agreed time off at a future time which would have been with your boss' support and not jeopardised your employment by lying pretending to be sick.

40 hrs OT is not the same as the 200+ hrs you've claimed on your sick note.

If this post is genuine perhaps OP is naive who would tell their boss they are going on holiday? Don't tell your work place tour business.

Was you the only person to stay and do OT? I would be looking for a new job your boss is taking advantage why would they assume you was helping and not want paying. We all want paying!

Taking any time off sick when you're not sick is lying, even if it's a day off.

The way to deal with unpaid OT is to have the proper conversation with management and gain agreement for time off in lieu, especially if it's an ongoing trend. Or be paid, with prior agreement if that's what's in the contract.

the OP didn't communicate and then lied to redress the situation. A poor move that could risk their employment

I'd look for a new job, your boss will be finding ways to remove you on your return, performance etc.

I expect they won't make life easy for this move, not sure why you didn't joust say no to the OT if it was really causing you stress.

You sound young and a bit drama about your hours, and maybe need to think about what you'd like from your work and long term career as the stress 6 weeks and revenge thing sound very immature.

It sounds perfectly fair to me. Shitty employers deserve everything they get. Your managers actions are illegal and I think you should mention that to hr. You didn’t volunteer, he asked, and companies cannot get out of paying minimum wage by choosing not to pay for hours worked.

I don’t even know why you’d even tell your workplace about the holiday, it just makes things more difficult for you

I would start looking for another job during your 6 week break.

If your manager tries to give you a written warning for going on holiday while you are unwell then you should fight it. Contact your HR and your union and if that doesn't work, you might need to speak to a solicitor. Assuming your doctor's note is official and from a real doctor etc, then they do not have the right to question the doctor's note. Going on holiday when you are stressed sounds perfectly reasonable.

40 hours overtime during a month really isn't that much though and I think you should spend some of the time you are off sick researching and planning things you can do to help you manage your stress better. Perhaps look into establishing some routines and habits which would help you. You could focus on establishing them now so that they are automatic when you're busy again. In virtually every school in the country there are many teachers (like me) who are doing 20 - 30 hours of unpaid overtime per week. You have my complete sympathy because it's horrible when you're feeling stressed and exploited, but there are things you can do which could help and with 6 weeks off, now could be a good time to figure out what would help you.

Just how much time off would you say you've had? Is this a pattern of significant absence?

How wedded are you to this job? It might be time to start afresh