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?

OP, i would be sacked in your work places.
Last winter my immune system was crap, since October till March I had back to back chest infections, colds etc, and in every new off set of infection I had to take couple days off. So that was around 12days off sick in 6months.

But my employer is very understanding as long you are all absences are genuine.

4 days in 7 months is nothing.

I’m quite surprised at the responses because I assumed my company was normal but perhaps not. It’s fairly relaxed at my workplace. If you take a day or 2 off sick at a time there is no formal process or meeting, the manager simply says “ok hope you feel better soon”. It doesn’t get recorded anywhere. Generally employees are trusted and it’s fairly rare that anyone abuses the system.

You would never be expected to use AL for medical appointments, you would simply let your manager know about it and continue working when you’re back.

That's the kind of employer that I want.

I think I'll try to be more careful about checking out employers a bit more thoroughly before I do interviews again.

How is it a huge amount? Adults get sick 2 - 4 times a year (talking about things like colds and the flu) on average. 2 times in a 7 month period sounds about right.

3 days paid sick leave each year. Back to work meeting after every day or half day of sick. I thought that was all standard. I'd never take a day off for a cold...I get them all the time. I just take lemsip all day and go in.

In most of my jobs you are allowed max 3 periods of absence in 12 months and then it's straight to disciplinary meeting.

I’m a small business owner, I have taken 2 weeks off sick in 30 years, and that was to recover from a major operation, otherwise not a day off sick. If I’m not in I don’t get paid and I let people down.
As a boss, I used to pay 10 days sick pay, and everyone took 10 days sick!!
With new staff I now only pay ssp, and the sickness days are averaging 4!!

Yes, likewise in my workplace (which is not public sector). I trust my staff and my boss trusts me not to swing the lead. If someone’s clearly taking the piss we deal with it.

I’d never cope with being only “allowed” three sick periods a year. In the past year I’ve had Covid, flu, surgery, and a couple of migraines so that’s me done for starters. And I couldn’t have worked through any of them.

I don't think it really helps the organisation to have a really unreasonable sickness policy, either. I had one day off work last month when I had a high fever, went back to work the next day when I wasn't really fit honestly (see previous comments about SSP) and had to have a completely pointless dishonest and intrusive 'back to work' meeting with my manager. Who took up loads of my time, during which I was hacking like mad, and then she had the audacity to say I was 'behind' on some tasks. Erm... I've been sick, maybe we could skip this charade to save me some time? I had to work very slowly as felt so ill. If I'd had an extra day or two off, I'd have come back refreshed and worked harder.

It's about ticking boxes and not about people. It was obvious I wasn't really fit to work so all the 'are you fit to work' questions were clear bollocks, I probably infected loads of others (destroying productivity overall)

I definitely feel very differently about my company since I found out their sickness policy. I won't be doing unpaid overtime from now on for a start and I'm looking for another job.

In contrast DH genuinely loves his job and feels valued and that the organisation would have his back if anything really awful happened (and has done for others). He works very hard, weekends and evenings. A little human give and take seems much better. People aren't robots, some get ill.

Surely some of the sickness policies on here are disability discrimination too? Some people get sick more than others. It's not their fault.

Again I'm not sure it was a cold.

I call all viral infections that I get "a cold".

Some colds that I get are way worse than others. Constant coughing sneezing fever feeling dixxy. Feeling really awful

Too many people see "sick days" as an allowance, like annual leave. My FIL was like this, he'd often say "I'm due some sick days".

4 days in a 7 month period is a lot OP, especially in a new job.

A year ago, I'd had 6 days off in five years. (not all taken at once! one or two a year) I reached the 'tipping point'. I was told for a whole year I couldn't have a sick day. I've just completed that year, going in with laryngitis, broken foot, you name it. My father was v sick and I had to use holiday for that as I spent weeks at his hospital bed.
I work for a well known, huge world wide retailer!
They are generous on some things. This is not one of them.

Your manager sounds reasonable.

You have to treat people like human beings.

Did you see that spain brought in three days of paid menstrual leave for women per year.

I wonder if the UK will ever do that.

Yep I've had this kind of shock before! I actually got to my 40s before I found myself somewhere with this attitude. I left and work for a much better employer again now.

I'd like to think they were just flexing their muscles with you being on probation period, but judging what your colleague said I'd def be out of there asap. I've no time for employers who don't support their staff. Yes, be firm with slackers and fakers but you're asking for high turnover and long term sickness through stress with these kinds of attitudes.

I would have definitely been sacked if taken what you had off

Four days. Hmm.

One of my colleagues took three months off work sick .

re the laryngitis, I couldn't speak, and I am customer facing... shop floor, making orders etc (not on tills)

I agree it's not an 'allowance' but what if someone's really sick? They get penalised for taking the time they need? In theory it should average out - some years you take none, some years you take more.

I don't understand how companies can get away with treating people so differently and how it's not disability discrimination in certain cases? Certain disabilities have - for example - flare ups every so often.

What about if someone has cancer, needs an operation, the doctor says you need bed rest for a week afterwards. Can they be got rid of for that if it breaches the policy not to have more than X days off per year?

I don't really understand the "as an aside". I'm not trying to be a dick, but as someone with long-term, significant health problems which were not caused by anything I did and have massively impacted my life it feels like a weird and totally arbitrary boast. I perhaps shouldn't read it that way, and hopefully you didn't mean it like that, but from an ill person who couldn't have avoided it - honestly - there's no talent in being healthy. It's actually the much easier option.

I’m a teacher, we have amazing holidays but we all feel pressure to be in unless really ill (at my school anyway). I can think of two occasions where I’ve had a head cold and have felt so ill but have been at work. If I have a stomach bug then I am off for 48 hours. Im lucky I’ve not had any time off work for the last 2 years.

I don’t really agree with menstrual leave, though. I’ve always had heavy and sometimes very painful periods (until the miracle that is Mirena) but I dealt with them and now they’re very light and not an issue. I really would be taking the mick if I had any time off for them, and so would the many women who either due to luck or treatment have periods that don’t give them a moment’s trouble. If women are suffering with their periods so badly that they can’t work this is a medical issue and needs treating as such (and I know doctors can be really bad at taking menstrual issues seriously, but a lot can be done in many cases as in mine) including sick leave where needed. Most women are fine to carry on as normal.

We have a ‘3 instances in a rolling 12 month period’ rule which will trigger a meeting with your line manager for a discussion but not necessarily lead to any action being taken. If they think you’re taking the piss then you’d get a warning but that’s usually if they see a pattern (only ever take Fridays or Mondays off etc). We have a return to work form we have to fill in if we’re ever off sick and it is logged in the attendance system with holidays etc so they can monitor how many instances but there is no limit of how many days. The sick pay decreases the longer you’re off up to 6 months then it’s just SSP. My GP won’t give a sick note until you’ve self certified for 7 days so no idea how people are getting them after a day or so.
I personally don’t get sick often and would never call in sick with a cold but absolutely would with a vomiting bug. Thankfully I tend to only get them once every 2-3 years. I do however have to call in when my children are sick but this does not go again my sick record and I usually put an emergency holiday in anyways.
Appointments are usually covered by TOIL and they’re happy for you to work it back retrospectively if you don’t have enough at the time.
I tend to find them fair really. When I had hyperemesis I was signed off sick for months and they didn’t bat an eyelid nor did it go against my sick record as it was pregnancy related. They just said I could work as and when I felt I could.

Well it was useful when I needed 4 weeks off after an op. Otherwise I wouldn't have been paid at all. We don't get sick pay.

It is what it is. Now we've left the EU there has been mumbling about taking away rights. No AL, hire and fire at will. Think I'd prefer it the way it is now.

My probation period was 6 months and I had bronchitis in that time and went in. Most people fail that period if they take any sick time.
Crap I know...