To be shocked at how much time off sick some people have?

[Enfys1982]

I work in a school and since I started in the sector it’s been a bit of eye opener to me how much sick time some people seem to take, and it always seems to be the same people. Days here and there, sometimes weeks on end then they come back for a bit go off again. As I said always the same people.

The last time I was off was last year when I had Covid, and I was only off because then you still legally had to isolate if positive. I actually felt well enough to go in. Before that I genuinely can’t remember when I was off sick. If I feel bad I just dose myself up and get on with it.

AIBU to think it displays a lack of resilience?

Count your blessings you haven't experience any serious illness, long term condition, injury, mental health problem, bereavement etc then since you started teaching and let's leave it at that. Hope you continue to have such good luck health wise OP

Hmmm I agree there's the odd piss take because they've had a night out and cant be arsed to work next day. But I do not have any problem with genuine health problems. At my last office 2 employees had bi par disorder and they could be fine for months and boom the down would hit unexpectedly and we wouldn't seem them for a few weeks. I had no problem with that vmbecause they were both hard workers when they could work and I say hats off that they came to work instead of laying about at home

Well it’s not unlimited but yes public sector does tend to have more reasonable sickness policy and thank goodness for it. I have had staff members going through months of chemotherapy who have been able to stay in work due to the sickness cover provided, others with long term health conditions like epilepsy and ibs and they have been able to keep in work where they would no doubt be managed out in other sectors and have to survive on benefits. As a result the public sector does end up with a higher proportion of people with health conditions and often the headline level of “sickness” reflects this.

We only get one life. Work to live, not live to work.

Lucky you, a few years ago I got pleurisy and was told to stay off work by my GP, then actual food poisoning where I threw up constantly for a week, then severe conjunctivitis so I couldn't see out of one eye. I was clearly having bad luck, but I suspect you would prefer me to ignore my GP, go to work vomiting or not be able to see anything at work.

I think it displays an ethical attitude, decency and consideration for others in not spreading illness. You're probably the one who made them ill, bringing viruses into work like that.

Yanbu, there are people who have a terrifically low threshold for what constitutes being unwell - basically being at less than 100% and they are off.

I used to work with 3 people like this, who at various points were put on monitoring for absence. In all cases they managed to magically improve to a high degree when on monitoring.

I agree, some people take the piss. I once had the misfortune to have an assistant who habitual had Monday's off, particularly Mondays when we had a particular client to go to. I looked at her time sheets and she barely had any other days off, it was nearly always Mondays. Presumably wanting a "duvet" day after a weekend of drinking/partying. It's not fair to other team members who have to cover for them.

Some people take the piss, no doubt. And no that doesn't mean that many people off sick are genuinely sick and deserve support from employers. Both things can be true at the same time.

I think it has to be down to management to sort the wheat from the chaff. Management need to grow a pair and deal with the malingerers, and that applies in both the public and private sector. Though, of course, in the private sector, it's the shareholders who pay the price, whereas in the public sector, it's the service users/taxpayers.

Yes, I worked through having covid.

School staff are particularly bad at soldiering on when they’re dying in my experience. If Im I’ll, I don’t get in. I told my head of department if I wanted to soldier on, I would have joined the army. You’re not going to look back on your life and think… I’m so proud of myself for going into work with laryngitis.

That example was not ~"excessive" though!

I had a staff member who was only sick on the day before or after a weekend. And Always on the day before or after his holiday or a bank holiday weekend. Always smelled a little fishy - like it was statistically impossible...

It REALLY bugs me when people come into work sick. Then everyone gets sick and sometimes some people can’t just come in and they end up being off. If you’re sick, stay away and get well before you come back and spread it to everyone else, some people won’t bounce back as easily.

Of course this isn’t possible in all jobs, but it’s so frustrating when people are spreading their germs because they think they think being ill is ‘weak’ yet no one is impressed and they’re a hotbed of germs.

I am so tired of points of view like the OPs that think they’re superman for working through it all. I think people’s health and well-being is so much more important and that work places need to start putting this higher rather than just bloody money. Yes there will be exceptions and yes people being unwell can add pressure to others, but maybe if we put the well-being of staff before everything else things in society would be better in general.

Very few self employed people take time off sick as it's completely unpaid.

Exactly. Yet according to many people here, the piss takers don't exist, because 'no-one would ever invent illness', which strikes me as incredibly naive. Many people here personally KNOW piss-takers, and yes we do know their health/circumstances etc, which is why we know they are taking the piss. I have a relative on SSP, nothing the matter with them, they assure me. And yes, I've suggested they get a job.

I don't know how I feel about this to be honest, because on one hand' my husband's friend uses his allocated paid sick days every rolling year, he says they're an entitlement so effectively uses them as extra holiday days, so I know these people are out there, but they are the minority.

On the other hand, I do HATE those people who come into work poorly and then make everyone else poorly, it's really frustrating - this happened to me last year around Christmas, I had annual leave booked and spent most of it with a stinking cold, because some martyr came in - did no work just moped around telling everyone how poorly she was, but she came in as it 'wasn't fair' to the rest of us if she was off 🙄

You are of course completely ignoring the fact that when people are off sick - they're not actually taking the piss, which is the case 99.9% of the time, people have health conditions that you don't know about, also that your manager isn't at liberty to tell you about 'flu' could mean anything, it wouldn't be ethical to be told the ins and outs of someone medical information. You don't need to know why someone is off, all you need to be told, is they're off sick today - you don't even need to be told the reason.

People are moving away from work being the be all and end all of their lives now, they are taking their physical and mental wellbeing a much higher priority than burning themselves out for a job - which I think is amazing! You have a really old school attitude, which is thankfully becoming more and more defunct.

Probably a bad day for me to be answering this post but dh is at his colleague’s funeral. People were wondering about him over the last year and more recently. He was diagnosed with mnd only 8 months ago. Most people thought he was taking the piss until he got an actual diagnosis

I think we're all conditioned into thinking we're somehow better people if we struggle into work when we're not feeling great.

But when I'm lying on my death bed and looking back on my life, what am I likely to be thinking:

A) I'm so glad I dragged my arse into work on those days when I felt a bit shitty. Slogging through the day when I felt rotten was worth it.

OR

B) I'm glad I took the time off to rest and recuperate when I didn't feel very well. I'm glad that I made taking care of my well-being a priority.

Quite apart from the fact that going into work when you're unwell spreads germs and could infect others (compromised immune system or not, it's still a shit thing to do)....there's also the fact that what is it about "showing resilience" that is so important? All it means is that you didn't care enough about yourself to take time to recuperate and rest when you weren't feeling well. A heavy cold is a very good reason not to go into work.

I agree people throw the word "flu" around too easily, and I do find that irritating. But I think that's because there's a social pressure to make any illness sound terrible because otherwise people will judge you for not soldiering on.

And I say this as someone who wasn't off sick at all during 11 years in an office, apart from 2 weeks for a miscarriage. I was pregnant with twins, and carried on going in and working extra hours even though I was throwing up constantly all day long. I ended up giving birth prematurely (thankfully the DC are fine now, many years later). But I was stupid and it's taken me years to realise that there's no prizes for not putting yourself first. And for the majority of us who work for companies - rather than doctors, nurses, teachers etc - all you are doing is prioritising their profits over your wellbeing.

I've been self-employed for 13 years+ now and I still have to master the art of taking time off when my body is telling me I need to take a break. But bollocks to resilience. I'm working on looking after myself better and actually I think that's important. Everyone should be encouraged to put their health and welfare first without being shamed. We're shit at encouraging self-care in this country.

That’s so sad.

The problem is people can’t mind their own business, they get salty about everything even if it doesn’t affect them. People always make assumptions.
I work for myself now so do as I please but in a previous job I had someone who everyone called lazy - they were battling a serious mental health disorder, but none of them knew so they were awful behind their back.

Yes some people do take the mick. I know a paramedic that has been spending half the year off for the last 15 years, how the hell she gets away with it i don't know. Her last period of 2 months and 29 days off sick she spent 3 weeks in florida

I had hoped that if the covid pandemic taught us anything it would be to not drag yourself intro work if feeling ill (for everyone's sake). Stupid me.

You have a very high and mighty attitude OP. What business is it of yours if people are off sick? Unless you're the manager or HR department shouldn't be any of your concern surely? You can find it annoying or think it shows a lack of resilience all you like but just wait until you're on the other side. Life can change very, very quickly.