Is this an acceptable amount of sick leave?

[MaddenA]

One day in Feb 2023 with a cold and accompanying fever.
10 days in November 2023 with bronchitis which I was hospitalised for.
1 day (so far) in March 2024 with covid.

I think I've been so pressured in previous jobs to be in work when I'm unwell that I have no idea anymore what an acceptable level of sickness is...

I mean with the reasons you give above I dont see how anyone could argue it.

I wouldn't blink at that, perfectly reasonable imo. Not like you're pulling sickies every other month.

noone would bat an eyelid at that were I work.

If you’re ill then you’re ill. Surely there’s not really an ‘acceptable’ amount of time off sick, if you’re unwell enough not to be able to work then so be it 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sounds justified, but on paper 12 days in 5 months is quite a lot. If you didn't have any sick leave in the 6 months before though I think it's fine. Also depends if you are part-time or full-time.

It's 12 days in 13 months.

Perfectly reasonable OP.

Our HR do the after you’ve been off ill ‘Return to work’ meeting after even one day of sick leave these days and have a policy for longer sick periods or more than a certain amount annually. But I don’t think there would be any concerns other than for your health if you had a hospitalisation amongst those days. They have to follow a procedure/protocol but it’s aimed more at catching out those topping up their leave with the odd sickie not someone unwell.

It's not 5 months though?

I've had 8 days in 12 months.

1 day for an allergic reaction to seafood, 5 for a chest infection that had me in bed all week and 2 for a sinus infection. Nobody has said anything to me about it

Well it’s high but you can’t really help the hospitalisation one which has obviously affected your figures massively.

To compare I’ve not had a single day off in the past 4 years but that’s down to luck more than anything - I have only had colds etc that I’ve been able to keep working through.

I don’t think it’s an unreasonable amount of sickness but I wouldn’t be surprised if it triggered an automatic HR note to your manager - nothing to worry about, just a check.

Going to work when you're sick isn't something to be proud of

13 months, not 5

The only unreasonable thing is if you went back to a place of work after one day with Covid. Otherwise fine.

It is quite a lot but none of it could be avoided.

It's higher than mine - I've had 2 days off in 18 months but then that's because I've not been ill enough to require time off!

If you're too ill to go to work then you're too ill.

It only raises eyebrows for me when people have days off because they just feel a bit under the weather. We all have days like that.

Managing sick leave is about more than how much you've had. Or at least it should be. It's about is there a pattern (lots of Mondays or Fridays), is there something the employee needs support with? It's about the employees thresholds for calling in sick too.

Ultimately it's about are you fit enough to do the job.. but it's very unlikely in a big organisation and with service you'd be sacked.

It's acceptable to be off work if you are too sick to work. There isn't a number of days that relates to.

Yes, if you are long term sick, the company can eventually take steps to end your employment but it's not very easy to do so.

However if you have been there less than 2 years, you have few employment rights so it is possible for companies to terminate you much more easily.

Your company may have a policy of an HR "return to work" call if you are off sick. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - they also can ask if there are any adjustments you need eg if you've been off with a broken leg, you might need to not be put on a shift involving a lot of walking but could do a desk job.

In general, HR are more likely to be concerned with regular one day absences than you being off for two weeks in hospital. It's the frequency of sick days rather than the number of them that can be a trigger (it's called the Bradford score). Looks much more suspicious if you are regular off for a single day Vs off for three months after major surgery

This.

In my role lots of sickness would often signify burnout and stress due to the nature of the job. Ultimately if you're sick you are sick.i wouldn't bat an eyelid at that as a manager especially given the reasons listed. If someone had patterns of illness or lots of very short illnesses and one off days here and there then I'd start to question if something else was going on.

If I was your manager I wouldn't bat an eyelid at this. You can't exactly work if you're in hospital.

If it was 12 single-day absences within 13 months I'd be far more concerned.

As a manager, it isn't about how many days you've had, or if that's an 'acceptable' amount of sick leave. Sick leave is for when you are sick. That means either
a) Being ill prevents you from working - covers a lot, including physically unable to do job, too groggy/grotty to do job effectively, risk of spreading disease to colleague/customer
b) Working prevents you from getting better - this can be really important for some physical injuries and mental health issues where returning to work too early can be incompatible with recovery

The 10 day period when you were in hospital presumably had a fit note rather than self certifying, so I wouldn't bat an eyelid at that.

Well quite, that’s why I said it’s down to luck that I haven’t been ill enough to be off ie you can’t compare figures easily between people.

@Familiaritybreedscontemptso you said you went in with colds etc. well done. You're the type of person who spreads serious illnesses round your office

That's not a concerning amount to me

It's not the number of days it's the frequency.

3 periods of illness, one of which was hospital-bad would be fine where I work.

If it was a day or two every month that works be something entirely different.

Sorry OP didn't read the years properly! Perfectly reasonable then.