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 have a chronic illness and I have been off for a few weeks currently but it is the first time since January last year. If you are ill with whatever you are ill with, if you need time off, then you need time off.

To be fair to PP, colds will commonly lead to sinus infections for me and ear infections for my child, not just the sniffles for everyone! And that’s ignoring the end of the world for the baby who then won’t sleep for 4 days when he gets it!

I always cringe when someone I’m meeting has a cold. I know the next 1.5 weeks will be miserable at home..

If you are sick you are sick.

@Workhardcryharder a "sniffle" nearly killed my mum and dad this month so

How exactly does one be less ill? People don’t have control over whether they catch things or get food poisoning do they.

I doubt it.

Are you aware that being overweight impairs your immune system?

You are spouting unbelievable BS and outing yourself as a judgmental arse to boot.

Previous employer, I knew people keeping records so they know when to take sick without triggering action and claim it as mental health/anxiety . Employers' hands tend to be tied. It drove me mad as a manager as it was predictable.
New employer, sick policy seems very haphazard. I don't actually know how many days/ incidents would trigger action and can't get anyone to tell me. Handbook is vague.

My, my, my how mumsnet has changed from the hysterical days of Covid. Ppl on here were acting insane over a something that often didnt even have symptoms. But now, when you have the flu and feel like shit, you better go to work because its just "the sniffles". 🙄

If Im ill, Im ill and I sure as heck take time off. If my employer has an issue with that they can talk to my union.

Wouldn't be an issue where I work (NHS) because it isn't more than three instances in a 12 month period. Even then there's flexibility and your hospitalisation episode would likely be disregarded following an informal meeting with your manager. You've just been unlucky.

Work policy at my place says to attend work with covid if you feel well

i work at a hospital

I had 3 years plus with no sickness. Pure luck.
Then had tonsillitis, tonsillectomy and Covid in the space of about 6 months. Then about a year clear. Then a gynae op. With an infection afterwards that meant no way could I be in the office, but was able to log in and keep things ticking over.
My work haven’t batted an eyelid, all good reasons. I will say that generally our sickness rates have plummeted since we all work from home 3 days a week. Fewer people in the office, bugs going round, and if I wake up feeling crap I can still do some work at least from home - just have a quieter day. If I was having to commute and manage symptoms in the office would be more inclined to take the day off.

I manage a team of 12. It’s interesting to note that since the pandemic and the fact we now predominantly wfh, with only face to face meetings once a week, not one of them has had any time off sick.

It sounds like they both have very serious health problems. Unfortunately, when you have chronic and serious health problems, you need to take extra precautions and you cannot expect the whole world to jump around for you. I am immunocompromised and a cold will go to my chest and I require 2 weeks intravenous antibiotics, sometimes needing intensive care or HDU. I don’t expect the world to stay at home with a cold.

As a manager (assuming not on your country) that wouldn’t trigger anything from me. Generally speaking I throw any hospitalization out of my personal equation because yeah it was bad.

I can’t claim my approach is in any way scientific… but if I start to notice absences then I’ll start to take a closer look… like I said, I’d generally throw out the hospitalization… and only bring it back into consideration if an employee hit’s the ‘black cloud’ threshold. They are the ones that for whatever reason bad things keep happening to them. Again…it’s not scientific and an employee with a solid history generally gets a ‘that sucks, what can I do to help’ during a bad patch but an employee without a good track record will get extra scrutiny.

You wouldn’t hit my radar with that history if there isn’t anything else going on.

But if someone comes to work, passes on a cold, you end up in hospital for 2 weeks do you happily accept that you will end up with disciplinary action against you when it happens 3 times in 6 months (because everyone should come to work and spread germs around), and your sickness record is terrible? That is what happens to disabled people because of these stupid policies.

But not in the nhs….I’ve worked nhs for years….no one cares how much sick time you have …..as long as you are signed off…..I myself have had 2 years off in the last 6 years …..and 3 years in the last 10 years

Oh the policies are ridiculous and discriminatory in some places of employment. I agree with you there. I blame the employer not the employee.

Good question! I think if I were blasé about being sick and "it just happens get over it" I think my employer wouldn't be pleased. However if I acknowledge their concern, talk to them about what I'm doing to stay well especially if I had a chronic illness (which I do) so if I explain I've taken advice from doctors, I take xyz medication or vitamins blah blah I think it would show my employer I'm trying - might buy me some time before getting formal warnings and stay on the right side of things.

No one should be being quizzed by work on whether they are taking vitamins ffs. It’s a place of employment not a secure unit.

People get ill- some more than others, and it isn’t within anyone’s control. The idea that you ‘aren’t allowed’ or ‘can’t’ be ill for any period of time is utter bullshit.

@MyMotherThouArt I had a week off with what I think was a hormonal headache/migraine. When completing my return to work my supervisor asked me why I wasn't on HRT!

How is that if they were only unwell for one day? It's not unreasonable to go back to work once you're well.

@MyMotherThouArt "
But if someone comes to work, passes on a cold, you end up in hospital for 2 weeks do you happily accept that you will end up with disciplinary action against you when it happens 3 times in 6 months (because everyone should come to work and spread germs around), and your sickness record is terrible? That is what happens to disabled people because of these stupid policies."

To be fair most people wouldn't be hospitalised with a cold. We literally cannot stop the world because of colds. There would prob be 50% of the world away at any one time. If someone has a disability that makes their immune system low presumably the employer would be aware and take that into account if they've been off. If they just have a low immune system there are things you can do to improve it.

Ive had no days off the last year but only because I can WFH so I usually suck it up and stay in bed with laptop if ill.

In my previous job, over 4 years I had:
2 days for DS being sick
1 week for covid (we could WFH but I was really ill)
8 weeks for anxiety/burnout at the end before leaving for another job

However, in that 4 years there was plenty of times I went to work unwell as it was a very high pressured environment. In one instance, I had broken my foot and spent all night in the A&E, got home and immediately got changed and went to work on no sleep and my foot still aching. My family etc all thought I was absolutely mental for not taking the next day off to catch up on sleep. Glad I got out of that toxic work environment.

If someone has a disability that makes their immune system low presumably the employer would be aware and take that into account if they've been off

That would be nice. Doesn’t always happen though- not all conditions are covered by equality legislation which means there is a vast amount of variation in sickness policies and how they are implemented.

Clearly if someone has a cold but feels well enough to be in work then they can’t be expected not to, or as you say the world wouldn’t function- my beef is with the attitude that ‘it’s only X, that doesn’t/wont affect anyone badly’- stuff can seriously affect disabled people and it’s a great help when everyone recognises that because it makes it harder for employers to be abusive.