AIBVU, to go sick (background included for context)

[user40816]

This is more of a question of "is this particularly unreasonable", as morally it is somewhat unreasonable regardless.

I work for a private ambulance company, my maternity leave ends May 1st. Request for flexible working (1/2 my normal hours) was declined. Taking my annual leave at the end which takes me up to July 1st, but was hoping to be off till September 1st with PT.

I'm not planning on staying. I've been studying my entire maternity leave to mean I have an extra qualification allowing me to work in a more advanced healthcare role. The course is due to finish in August and I have already secured a provisional offer of employment elsewhere, hence wanting my annual leave to take me to September so I can leave and take a new role in a different setting.

I made the decision that I wanted to leave during my pregnancy when my employer tried to sack me for not wanting the COVID vaccine whilst I was pregnant, even though I was WFH in an admin role with no physical contact with patients or colleagues, and the "law" explicitly excluded the requirement for circumstances like mine but my employer didn't care and tried it anyway. The working conditions before I got pregnant were getting worse (shifts lasting 2+ hours longer than they should, getting grief off of the control centre because we were stuck at hospital, not getting proper breaks, etc), and aren't any better now from what I've heard.

I've suffered with postpartum hyperthyroidism and so have lost a huge amount of weight and am still struggling with insomnia. I do not feel I'd be physically fit enough to manual handle in any case and I'm not interested in taking a clinical telephone role.

So, the AIBVU... to take the two months I was intending on taking as annual leave, as sick, due to the fact they won't allow me to drop my hours?

Just resign, surely?

So you want your current employer to pay you for two additional months of work, which you won't work, until your new job starts?

YABU

Sorry but it’s very unreasonable. It’s a shame they won’t give you reduced hours but you need to resign not pretend you are too unwell to work- especially if there is a non clinical role you could do.

This

I would ordinarily say YWNBU, but given there's a perfectly reasonable alternative open to you - the clinical calls - that you just don't fancy doing, YAB completely U. Why should they pay you for two months because you can't be arsed?

Why don’t you resign?

@RedCarsGoFaster I will be, but I don't want to have to take two months unpaid (I'll get hit a lot heavier on tax taking the same amount of annual leave over two months than four).

@Agreeable I want my employer to allow me to work part time so as my annual leave covers four months rather than two, but in the event that they won't allow that (despite there being others on part time hours), then yes that's what I'm suggesting.

@MatildaTheCat I'm not pretending, I legitimately couldn't safely lift a 20 stone man down a flight of stairs anymore. As for the telephone role, the amount of responsibility that comes with is way more than being face to face. You're there to decide if people need an ambulance based on the questions you ask them, without being there to actually assess the patient yourself. After not having assessed a patient for nearly two years, there's no way I'd feel comfortable doing the role when I know people who have gone to coroners court over their judgements on the phone.

@user40816 for the telephone role, you'll clearly require additional / refresher training before they can put you in the calls - I say that having done 999 calls for 12 years. Just take the role and suck it up.

If you don't want the responsibility, you don't take the job. That's not being sick, that's not wanting to work and get paid for it. And that's out of order.

You can't have it all.

As I said above, not "can't be arsed" at all. "Don't want to risk everything I've been working for to make a mistake due to being rusty".

Oh god no I had post partum hyperthyroidism, mine turned out to be Graves, and I cannot stress how awful I felt. Are you on medication? Probably worth you stabilising your thyroid and then seeing how you feel, when I was hyper my anxiety, snappiness, restlessness was horrendous. Take care of yourself OP.

I think you're taking the absolute fucking piss.

You know you're leaving, but still asked for part time hours and now want to go off sick. So they can pay you while you do something else.

Would the GP even sign you off for 2 months? What happens if you got caught training while signed off? You're putting your course provider in the shit as well by doing that.

YABVVVVU!!

Just hand in your notice if you don't want to do the alternative role that they've offered you.

She's well enough to have done a course on maternity leave and to work in September though.

Resign with effect from when the accrued holiday runs out.

If you had been able to go half-time, you'd have been paid half the amount, so the amount of pay you'd get wouldn't be any more (other than a bit of National Insurance because the pay would be spread over four months).

If you've resigned, you might also have the option in August of doing the odd shift of agency work or similar, if you wanted to boost finances a little without the commitment.

Telephone role after refresher training would seem to be the reasonable way forward.

This
You are being very unreasonable and very selfish. Either work the extra two months or give your notice in. Think of your team mates

If you're not physically fit enough how are you planning to do new job

Sorry but I despise people like you

Just leave or work. You are not sick so .... (going off sick would be v unreasonable!)

YABU.
Either suck it up and do the clinical call role until September or quit.
It's not your employer's problem that you don't want to do the job anymore but plan to start a new job in September and want them to pay so that you don't lose out on cash while waiting for the new job to begin.

You are being unreasonable.

just take the 2 months annual leave and then resign.

your tax will balance out over the year anyway so you’ll still take home
exactly the same but without fucking other people around

This is the most sensible suggestion. You were presumably budgeting for half the money through September so just finish at the end of your leave and stretch your pay over August too.

You aren't sick though? You are saying you can't do your previous job but not interested in any of the adjestments they would or could make for you. If you want to reject all those, then you should quit.

I am surprised anyone would be willing to sign you off in these circumstances. Why can you not take it as AL as you hand planned? Surely you will have loads accrued?

You've really outed yourself by posting so many details...

Another vote to say you are being unreasonable. Sorry OP I understand you've been ill, but your work place would make adjustments for you, so there's no reason for you not to go back to work. You need to resign if you're not happy to take a non clinical role. What is your new job doing? Can you start that job any earlier?