AIBU to be pissed off at sick colleague

[RoseElla]

This might sound bitchy, have name changed and will change some details so it’s not too outing to the person, as I’m just looking to vent and see if it’s reasonable as my other colleague is so OTT sympathetic to the point it winds me up.

colleague has been working at company about 18 months. Has had around 10 episodes of sickness with the last one being a week long. The company don’t seem to be following regular sickness rules (we go by scoring) and she is so far over the threshold it’s unbelievable. She has said it’s all for the same stomach issue and it’s under investigation and our manager has basically told HR they don’t ever need to flag it.

im just shocked tbh never have I had an employer be so unbothered. In my last jobs they would be trying to get her out and I get that sounds harsh but it affects every one, especially me. We are in an office role so we are sitting down all day I’m sure there could be some adjustments made just so the workload is taken off me a bit, even doing some from home but it’s just nothing.

AIBU to think 10+ episodes is silly in 18 months? Or at least silly for a company to still entertain it?

You are covered by the equlity act if you have something that effects your capabilities to work for more than 12 months

By maw your company has to make reasonable adjustments for anything that is covered by the equality act 2010, I for instance have invisible disabilities and am way over the standard trigger but they have to make reasonable adjustments. Also I work my ass off when I am in work and buy additional holidays to cover some of the days I need off. The whole point is to ensure equity for all and that means different people require different support. You cannot penalise someone for a disability

It doesn't just cover physical disabilities, it covers ALL disabilities

Exactly, I have an invisible disability that had a major effect on my life for over 20 years before I got a diagnosis as I was living with the effects untreated, that was harder than knowing what was wrong and having a plan to learn to live to ammange and live with it. Thankfully my employer is awesome though I try to mitigate sickness by buying additional holidays even though I have 60 sick days saved up.

Quite. But the OP here isn’t talking about any kind of mental impairment - it’s a physical one.

Yes, that’s true, but this poster is referring to the OP’s colleague, whose disability is physical.

Actually it’s something that ‘substantially’ affects your ability to carry out day to day activities and lasts for more than 12 months. The Act applies in areas outside of the work environment too, such as access to leisure activities, shops, etc.

Can I also point out that there is no legal right to adjustment to the triggers regarding sick leave. A lot of employers will allow disability leave for sick leave connected to a specific condition, which isn’t counted and so doesn’t trigger a review or further action. But this is recommended best practice, under the Act, and not part of legally required reasonable adjustment. It would only attract legal recourse if it resulted in discrimination. The best examples of this are candidates for redundancy or promotion where sick leave is a contributing factor in the decision to select/eliminate. If no mitigation has been applied to sick leave directly due to disability, it could be considered as indirect discrimination.

You are judging her because you are resentful of her because she is taking a lot of time off of work whilst you are stuck in work.
But if you had what she is suffering with,would you be upset a colleague was posting on sm about how you should be let go for taking time off?I
Look at your work position ,if you are unhappy with your job or workload do something about it.
We each have our own life path to tread.Looking at other people's lives and judging them,being envious or whatever is pointless as they are on their life path you are on yours so concentrate on making yours the best you can and leave everyone to do the same.

You are not listening to anyone on this feed. THE PERSON IS NOT TELLING YOU WHY SHE IS ILL BECAUSE IT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS AND SHE DOESNT WANT TO TEL YOU . HR KNOW THE TRUTH AND ARE DEALING WITH IT CORRECTLY. The ‘stomach issues’ is enough information she is willing to give you. Not all disabilities are visible.

@Smilencuddlesthenstab shouting at an OP who hasn’t posted for 3 days is a little harsh. I think the fact the op has stopped posting means they got it a while ago.

You are right. I apologise to all.

I was managed by someone who was in and out of work with episodes of illness non stop and I mean non stop. I once realised she’d not worked a full week in 6 months. I knew she had health problems because she told me but I never probed unless she offered. Not once did I think about moaning about her online or to others in person. I requested additional management support and it took quite some time but I did get it. I never felt entitled to her medical history nor to query her ongoing employment - none of my bloody business. It did affect me and I resolved it by requesting additional manager 1:1 sessions with another teams manager. I didn’t go in whining “oh Emma is off again, whyyyy?”. I simply explained I was not receiving the correct supervision and it was rectified.