How many sick days are you allowed to take?

[Abigail47]

In my last job, they didn't really care that much about sick leave. They would let people take up to about two weeks uncertified sick leave, and if you were certified for sick leave, you could take months of sick leave. They also didn't do return to work meetings for sick periods of less that five days.

I only took about four days sick leave in a year in that last job.

I started a new job seven months ago and I'm in shock.

I've taken four days sick leave in the whole seven month period. Two different periods of two days. I was sick. They were uncertified (as I had moved to a new area and hadn't registered with a local doctor in time) and I didn't get paid.

After each period I was called into an office with a manager and made to do a return to work meeting.
I was told in each meeting that too much sick leave can leave to contract termination.

My colleague just took five days certified sick leave, and on her return they said the same to her, that too much sick leave can lead to contract termination.

Aibu to think that four days sick leave in a whole year is not a lot.

Like we are going to get sick . Everyone does.
In one of my sick periods I totally lost my voice with a chest infection. I couldn't speak at all and I have a customer facing role.

What is sick leave like in your organisation?

I'll tell you one thing.

I won't be staying with an employer that I see as abusive.

I do think that some of the managers in my current role , really enjoy belittling and humiliating their staff

I'll be voting with my feet and leaving

I’m in Canada and the men I know and have had kids in the past 10 or so yrs, have all taken at least a few months paternity (parents can share here). Two of the men I know took almost the entire duration of 1 yr as the wives did their share with the first child and with the second was the dad’s turn (also one of the moms had severe PND and wanted to go back to work asap).
when I read on here about the majority of the useless ‘dads’, I struggle to relate it to my reality. Majority of men are very involved parents here; I remember when my kid was a baby and I went to a playground with him for a walk one of the first times, I was the only female parent. And has happened many times since (my DH also does more than his fair share).

Return to work interviews are designed to support the employee as well as the employer. Each case on its own merit, in line with a robust and supportive absence policy. The word ‘allowed’ is not helpful.

i would presume most public sector roles you need to earn that though. My role does 1 month full pay 1 month half pay when you first start increasing by 1 month each year until you reach 5 full/5 half.

I was off sick recently for two weeks ( with a sick note after being admitted to hospital with a serious respiratory condition) never been off sick in the last three years,l. I now face a formal warning and have to attend a hearing next week. Absolutely shocking .

Some really daft employer behaviour being mentioned here.

People get sick. That's a fact of life.

People might need sick leave because they have accidents, need surgery, develop cancer or have long term health conditions or disabilities.

I wonder how many of these employers end up in front of an employment tribunal when they try to discipline someone with a disability/protected characteristic for needing sick leave...

Being in the public sector does not protect you from this! I used to work in the NHS and they were hot on policing both the frequencyand duration of sick leave. I have a long term condition which is a recognised disability and leaves me prone to slow recovery from any viral infection. I left partly because of the stress of the rigid enforcement of the sick leave policy, which often felt like harassment, despite the fact I was supposed to be entitled to reasonable adjustment to my disability.

Being in the public sector does not protect you from this! I used to work in the NHS and they were hot on policing both the frequencyand duration of sick leave. I have a long term condition which is a recognised disability and leaves me prone to slow recovery from any viral infection. I left partly because of the stress of the rigid enforcement of the sick leave policy, which often felt like harassment, despite the fact I was supposed to be entitled to reasonable adjustment to my disability.

They should have adjusted the triggers.

So if it was 3 absences in 6 months, 4 in 12 in the policy we might have adjusted to 4 in 6 and 5 in 12.

Or increased the 10 days absence in 12 months to 15.

occ health would have advised.

Not lost a tribunal case yet.

a disability doesn’t stop you from being dismissed if the organisation can’t accommodate your absence.

Sounds like most places now

Yep, they should have done. I asked for something along these lines and was declined. I had other reasons for wanting to leave so didn't pursue it. Thanks for replying.

People can get ill and I don't begrudge anyone being off sick, if they're not taking the piss, but your thinking that 2 periods of sickness absence over 7 months in a new job is "nothing" is well wide of the mark.

People are trying to tell you this but you just keep saying you disagree.

In that case, crack on with taking plenty of sick leave but don't be surprised when you get binned off.

I'm pretty sure I'd end up getting rid of you within the 2-year 'no reason needed' period.

-4 days off sick in 7 months is a lot.
-Most probation periods are 6 months so 7 months would still be a new starter. Time off sick/incidents of sickness may well be grounds to extend probation

I do think employees need to be treated as individuals with regards to sickness and people can be unfit to work for a whole range of reasons at any time. This is something that would likely get covered off in btw interviews, also to weedle out those taking the piss vs genuine sickness.

I may well be wrong as I've never worked in management but I've always got the impression it's actually quite difficult to terminate someone's contract due to sickness. It seems op's employer has a general culture of high staff turnover and high sickness and perhaps this is the reason for the strict sickness policy 🤷 though from what op has said management do seem particularly obnoxious so that won't be helping the situation..

It would be interesting to know what company sector op is in

If you're sick you need compassion, not threats of job loss. It's much easier to concentrate on getting well again when you're not worrying about losing your job. Also this kind of policy leads to people not taking time off when they should and spreading their illness around their colleagues. I'm a bit shocked by some of the posts here. My company has no limits on sick leave. They are so great with compassionate leave. I don't have to call in sick often but when I do there are no questions asked. I had to take some time off for my mental health last year and they were brilliant. They even paid for my therapy sessions. I love my company. They are really decent and treat us with respect and compassion always.

I used to manage a supermarket cafe and every employee had a return to work interview after every absence.

I bet you're far more willing to put your all into your job when you're there too.

This thread is eye opening. There's some statistic about people with chronic illness who are out of work in the UK I've seen in the past, it's a lot, I think it was in relation to long covid, but a lot of people have some kind of chronic illness and these policies effectively exclude them from the workplace.

Epilepsy, migraine sufferer, IBS, arthritis, fibromyalgia all these things could result in a few days off per year. What I'm hearing is that there is no expectation that UK firms have to make reasonable adjustments for this.

Have to say I'm amazed by the responses here and feel very sorry for most people who seem to have managers who treat them like children. I've taken 6 periods of sickness in some years (usually 1-2 days, so two weeks off) and in others I've had zero. My manager knows I'm an adult so trusts me to behave like one. He also would be appalled if I came into the office snotting everywhere. I can work from home (and do if I'm slightly ill) but if I'm ill enough I'd need to work in bed I would never work. We are paid for up to 13 weeks of leave a year, if that makes a difference.

I get the idea of being suspicious if you're managing teenagers in a retail job but I suspect most of the posters here don't fit that bill. In a serious job you should treat workers like adults and maybe they'll act like it. Sickness doesn't come in neat patterns.

I'm surprised you think it's normal for people to get multiple colds in a year - I manage a large team and that's not the case.

While you may not think your sickness levels are high, enough people have replied on here to say they do consider it high, which may give you more insight into how your employer feels.

That sounds normal in places I have worked. No sick pay either!

Yes, I work very hard and am happy to do so.

In my previous employment, I had 1.5 days sick in 10 years. Then I needed knee replacement surgery. We were only allowed 8 weeks sick leave, so I returned to work before I was ready, otherwise I wouldn’t have got paid.
in my current job, I had 4 days in 5 years. After five years service, we get six months sick leave at full pay. I recently had major surgery and took ten weeks off. I was probably ready to return after 8 weeks, but my manager insisted I take at least another two weeks off. Then I went back to work on a phased return, starting with half days and increasing it by an hour a week until I was back full time. On my return I had a back to work interview and had to have a fit note from the doctor.

As a working pensioner in a physically tiring job, if I feel really ill I am going to stay home and recover. My colleagues don't want my germs either,some of them are vulnerable or have vulnerable family members. We don't get paid if we're sick ( unless we are off long enough to get a fit note, for ssp)
I've already had 2 weeks off this year,for Covid then flu,both of which knocked me out. I had to fill in a return to work form but no meeting. That is quite a long time for me, both times I would have liked a bit longer but had already lost quite a bit of money.

I used to work for the NHS, which is very generous with sick leave.. but once you are on whatever sickness track thing it is called... it is hard to get off it again.
I also should have had protection (was told this by Occy Health) under some disability act... but I was managed out. In the end, I was fired for calling in sick when I was due to do overtime.... I am not sure if it counts as sick absence if it as overtime.
Doesn't matter as it was 14 years ago now. I was treated awfully.

You cannot just dismiss someone for three periods of sickness. If they are doing that across the board, it's likely illegal.