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

You're certainly not unreasonable for wanting it OP. Most parents would want a day to themselves.
But you just have the reality for a lot of working parents of young children.

I work 3 days a week and when mine were that age every day I was not at work I had them with me .I only get 5 weeks holiday so we usually went away. I had to take mine with me if I wanted to go to hairdresser during week!
Otherwise I arranged it when DP was around to look after them. It seems like your biggest problem is lack of support

Vile is a bit dramatic and sacking you for having a disability would be illegal so probably an exaggeration.

Sorry to be pedantic, but that's not what I claimed. I said I could spot flakes due to the patterns of their behaviour over time. That's a professional skill in all management roles. I wouldn't judge someone on a single sickness incident and I wouldn't rely on my judgement alone before acting on any conclusions.

Got to agree with @Hobbi . Colleagues, parents, students all start to notice this. Meanwhile, the marking isn't done "because I was off sick" and the meeting is missed, and information not communicated/ understood, responsibilities and duties picked up by others. The cost of the supply teacher picked up by the already overstretched school budget. And without wishing to o state the obvious, the old "the boy who cried wolf" story means you miss out on sympathy and understanding when it is genuine.

It is perfectly legal to sack someone if their disability causes them to have significant time off and no reasonable adjustments can be made. So no, it's not probably an exaggeration.

I think it depends on your sickness record to date and how bad you really feel. The issue I have with sickness days for tiredness is what happens if you get really sick in a few weeks and then actually really need the time off?

Take two days - looks better. If you are exhausted and run down, taking a couple of days to get your energy levels back up is quite reasonable.

Not actually RTFT but you've been discussing this since 1.25 today about pulling a sickie in 2 days time cos you are tired. FFS get off tinternet and sort yourself out for Monday.

some of these replies are ridiculously dramatic. It’s one day.

I wasn't planning on doing it 🤣 have had a few staff off & wondered if it was a possibility.

Honestly, colleagues who take a sick day when not sick really piss me off no end.

My school has no money for outside supply, so if I'm on a "free" (e.g. actually able to do my various managerial roles) I'm being taken for cover and will lose the ability to actually do my job, a lot of which requires me to be present while my colleagues are in the building - line management meetings, learning walks, liaison between staff and parents etc. There is only so much I can do from home.

You being off is directly impacting on the workload of your colleagues.

Add in to that, that when you come back you'll feel even worse:
-cover will likely not actually have been completed to a decent standard
-your room will be a mess
-equipment will have gone missing
-when you need an actual day off for illness or emergency childcare, you have one less absence to play with - it's 4 absences in my school before we're being pulled into HR

But I can see from your posts that you don't really see anything wrong with what you do anyway, so crack on I guess and karma might just catch up?

I would have to be beyond exhausted if there were no other physical symptoms

I’m 45 years old and at the top of my career. My ‘terrible sickness record’ has never caused me any problems professionally, and I wouldn’t begrudge a colleague or an employee for having a day or two off a year because they were fucking knackered.

Calm down.

You can see that from my posts can you, @ThrallsWife ?

Try again. Far be it from me to drag a sooper important member of SLT from their work though.

@Bettyboop3 - I read the thread. No, you didn’t.

Yes, your post makes this obvious. It has an air of entitlement written all over it.

Try again, by the way, I'm not SLT, just a department lead with two decades' experience of watching people pull this shit while I, as a single mum who has actually brought a toddler up by herself without help while working, am picking up the pieces.

I'd do it if I was brave enough. We don't spend enough time taking care of ourselves in this country. Look after yourself so you can take care of your toddler ❤️

@ThrallsWife - I’ve said more than once I won’t be doing so.

I have asked if I am unreasonable to WANT to do so, which has made you, a Very Important Department Lead need to do Very Important Learning Walks, which you won’t be able to do because of terrible shirkers (which isn’t me, by the way.)

So pick up the pieces by all means but please read my posts as you do so.

By the way, your toddler was not a toddler for two decades, conceded it feels like that sometimes.

I agree. Sometimes you just have to have a mental health day. Don't do on a Friday or a Monday unless really sick. They will get noticed.

God, can we stop with the pile-on? OP I'm a teacher too, and I worked all through half term and am absolutely shattered. I don't know how I'll make it to the Christmas holidays. It's not just the timing days always being 'on', but the endless marking and planning in the evenings. I have two pre-schoolers and know what you mean about never getting any respite! I wouldn't feel like this is the teaching workload was at all sustainable, but it's bleeding people dry. This combined with low pay, is why teachers are walking and people's children are being taught maths by geography teachers 🤷‍♀️

Well if it’s 1 day and you’ve not had any other sick days in the last 12 months and you genuinely feel bad enough then why not. It’s not something I’d do but I’m not going to suggest you’re ruining your entire teaching future or ruin some kids GCSE’s because of 1 day. Your best bet would be sorting out the problem that is your DH so you’ve got a bit more help with said toddler. It is exhausting parenting young kids and working. Mine are teens now, and 1 is late 20’s. Life is much easier, but it felt like a long time getting there!

You are absolutely not unreasonable for wanting a day off lol. Also if you're exhausted, and it's making you feel unwell, take a sick day. What you're suggesting isn't really 'pulling a sickie'. Pulling a sickie is feeling fine and having a day to spend drinking / doing something fun / etc.

amazed at the people who are so outraged by this (ONE day off as a total exception). I'm pretty sure some workplaces have the possibility of staff taking a 'mental health day' exactly because taking preventative action (ie day off when beyond exhausted) is likely to prevent longer term sickness.

Teaching (and indeed any job that requires you to be 'on' for all your hours when you are there (retail, care work, medicine, social work) is brutal. I hope things feel easier soon

Absolutely. Take one day. And think nothing of it. Burn out is real .

No, I genuinely have never done this in 20+ years of working, not because I have a halo, but because others would have to do extra work in my absence. The difference with annual leave is that you are entitled to it, and there is more likely some notice of it happening.

& how long is 1 day going to last before it feels like another day is needed?! I'm sure a lot of us would love to take more time for ourselves but stopped playing truant many years ago.

OP - ignore all these martyrs and take a day off for a 'stomach bug.' Hell, take two or three. The world won't end and you'll get a rest. (I'm a teacher - I get it).