To want to take a sick day when I’m not sick

[Charlottestar]

I’m not sick but I AM very tired. Desperate for a day to myself …

would you

Most people can’t spend their holidays relaxing. Everyone has a life outside work. You are not unique in this situation- adding stress on your colleagues is unfair, they have similarly busy lives/children/etc outside work.

Do they really though? Everybody?

I think a lot of people do and I would extend that to most people.

I don’t think most people do it a lot but I think most people do from time to time. Especially those days where you’re not 100% but you prob could drag yourself in …

I beg to differ, nobody i know does this. Maybe myself, my friends and relatives just have a better work ethic.

Yeah but not teachers. Because there's the understanding that if you do shit like that, you're effectively making life 100% harder for your colleagues. For most people, anyway.

Same here. Genuinely I don't know anyone that does this.

Take the sick day op but also try to look ahead at how you will get more 'me' time in the future. Being a working single parent is hard if you don't look after yourself who will.

but not teachers

Trust me, they do.

I refer to them as contractual sick days

And you genuinely think that managers are too stupid to spot employees doing that. Yes I have a few on my team who probably also refer to them as "contractual sick days". I know exactly who they are and how they are playing the system. I also have a term for them - reasons why you won't ever get a promotion.

Wow unbelievable comments on this thread.

OP your priority should be to yourself and your family not your job. Jobs are replaceable your mental health isn't.
If you need a day to rest then you need to listen to that and rest. If more people took time out to listen to what they actually need perhaps they would avoid burn out!

Totally agree. These are also the employees i won't do favours for. It works both ways.

I’m not actually seeking promotion, now or ever. But generally I don’t think occasional days off would stop someone advancing in their career.

Are you a teacher OP, or a TA. This would change view as to whether you were BU or not as having a term time only contract means, in my opinion, that you should be entitled to some leave anyway.

I mean, to put it another way, let’s say I really am exhausted and run down and so I contact my GP. He’s not going to do a thorough examination of my mental health, is he? I’ll be lucky if he listens to me for thirty seconds before giving me a sick note for a fortnight.

I am indeed a teacher.

OP I think a lot of people are being very harsh! If you rarely take a sick day and you feel you're not coping or not performing well at work, take a single sick day. Only you know if it's a good investment.

Teaching is a job where you have to be really energetic and thoughtful plus being a single mum.

It does sound like you could do with some strategies to get regular rest but if you're burnt out and need a reset day to get to that point then do it.

If you regularly have sick days for other reasons I wouldn't do this though.

A bad attitude towards work does though. I & many others on here don't decide whether to work or not on a work day. We just get up & go to work.

Oh shit, is that where I’ve been going wrong, I’m supposed to go in every day? 😂

Hardly vile. Get over yourself.

You've just had half term?!

In that case, if you are serious, I have much less sympathy. If you were on my team, I'd spot it a mile off.

Would you? How?

I know I’ve just had half term, and it was more exhausting than teaching. Trust me.

Am I really not even allowed a fantasy on here <sob> My lottery fantasy will be torn to shreds next and I don’t even do the lottery

I'm assuming you don't have any family nearby? Do you have a friend who would take DC for the afternoon for you at weekend occasionally to give you a break?

Does he go to nursery in your holidays too? I'm assuming you have to pay year round so can still send him when you're off

Do it. Take a day to rest & recharge. I would probably take 2 days as it looks better. School will manage. Thats why there are supply teachers

I've never pulled a sickie and never would. I think it's wrong, and even if I didn't, I'd be superstitious about pretending to be sick when I wasn't.

Be honest about it - you are lying to your employer and stealing a day's worth of pay. You may hate them, think they deserve it, and want to do that but as I say - at least be honest that you're skiving rather than pretending it's 'essential for mental health reasons'.

People who aren't well enough to work - for either physical or mental health reasons - don't have to ask/weigh up whether to work or not. In the case of mental health, they are crippled with anxiety or depression and literally unable to work. They are not considering going to their GP who 'won't be able to tell the difference' and sign them off even though they're basically fine. They are ill, just like physically ill people are ill.

You're not ill, you're knackered - which I have massive sympathy for. I was knackered at work when I had two young kids, and I was lucky enough to have a husband doing 50%. But none of this is your employer's problem - you have a contract with them, and just as you'd be furious if they decided not to pay you for a day you had worked, they have the right to expect you work for the days you're paid, unless you're actually sick. Can you not ask a friend to help you out for the day and babysit during the holidays? I'd totally do this for a single parent friend who needed help.