To ask if anyone deliberately plans/uses their sick leave as part of their entitlement?

[OneOpenRedShaker]

I know some people who treat sick leave as an entitlement and plan/schedule when to use it, even when they’re not seriously ill. I’m curious to know if anyone else does this, or if most people reserve it for when they’re genuinely sick. Do you view sick leave as a right to use as needed, or is it something that should be used sparingly?

Can’t vote as you haven’t said what yabu/yanbu means here.

Taking sick leave when you’re not ill is totally wrong. It’s not an entitlement to extra days off.

Pre-covid I probably averaged max 1-2 days sick per year - some years I never took a sick day. Ended up having a month off the first time I had covid and a week the second time but then I was genuinely too ill to work! As should be the case for everyone who takes sick leave.

FWIW I only use sick leave when it's genuine - even then I feel bad about it.

The number of anecdotals about NHS staff "using" the 6-months paid sick leave is actually shocking. No wonder the NHS doesn't have enough money. These scroungers need to shape up or ship out.

Obviously, sick leave is for people who are genuinely sick.

Quite a weird question, when it's obvious you shouldn't lie and take sick leave when you're fine.

I only use it if I'm sick sick. So not able to get out of bed, off the sofa.

People actually do this?? I'm not known anyone who does?.(Or maybe they have but how would.i know?)

I sometimes take a couple of days when I’m mentally and physically exhausted, to prevent myself burning out

if I’ve had too much sickness though I’ll suffer along

Why surprised? I think 90% of my sickness is "period pain"
I use the term loosely as it's not standard period pain as in take some paracetamol and carry on but that's what I'm off sick with

I know some people who treat sick leave as an entitlement and plan/schedule when to use it, even when they’re not seriously ill.

Many years ago I worked in a small showroom with no more than eight staff, one of whom was even overheard on the phone to head office asking "how many sick days I [she] had left" for the year.

She was well known for taking off as much time as she could, and then whinging every single time about the company rules being that our weekly individual commission minimum threshold was still worked out against the full 39 hours we were supposed to work (when taking holiday, the threshold was lowered to reflect the hours spent in-store and therefore available to make sales; when off sick, no such adjustments were made).

It never ceases to amaze me how people who are playing the system often have to tell the world about it. It's a common phenomenon in my experience. A few years ago, I did an access course at college, and one of my fellow students was exceptionally vocal about how she used a loop-hole in the marking process to allow her more time to rewrite some of her assignments. And of course, when it caught up with her and her grades were delayed because some of her work was still to be marked, meaning she almost lost her university place, I heard all about that too.

I'd have more time for people who take the pi*s if ( A ) they didn't tell anyone all about it, and ( B ) they took responsibility for any consequences.

Interesting… in the US so we do things different here. But I will say the amount of sick days my team (I’m a manager) takes in a year can probably be counted on one hand. I have had a few coworkers out on short term disability (which sounds similar to your system of getting signed off work) but that’s generally rare.

Honestly I’ve probably taken the most days off sick on my team. Some days I just can’t work with a migraine. But even those days I generally end up working some even if it’s attending a meeting or two. I think I average maybe 1 day a year.

We have PTO which is a combined sick and annual leave bucket, so most people work sick so they don’t have to ‘waste’ a day of their paid leave.

Our short term disability (paid at 60%) is similar to your longer leave but is not anything that is common to use. It can be supplemented with PTO to receive 100% of pay. Then we have long term disability which pays 40%… the only people I’ve known to take Long term are those who were sadly dying. And in every case I’ve been involved in arrangements were made off the books to prolong ‘regular employment’ as long as possible to extend both short and long term disability benefits. And by ‘regular employment’ I mean their job was to be at home and not worry about work.

I should also say that it’s not uncommon for me to notice I have a quiet Friday and schedule a last minute PTO day so no reason to ‘call in sick’. My team is more than welcome to do the same so that probably cuts down on ‘sick days’.

This! ^ No wonder so many employers want their employees back in the office if they're taking naps during the work day! Fookking hell! 😂

I don't see what's wrong with using a lunch break to have a nap? even a long lunch break.
As long as I work my hours and hit my targets I can work flexibly. So if I want two hours for lunch to nap /go to the gym/sit on the beach I can.

In my current job 2 year zero sick days and zero late days. Previous job 10 years and no late's or sickness. However yes in my younger days i took my allotted "sick days" lol

Never forget you are a nobody or just an number to your employer.

No, and I don’t know anyone who does (although I doubt they would openly). I’ve had one day off work on sick leave, a couple of years ago with covid. It got really bad on one of the days and could barely stay awake.

I think employers have cracked right down in sick leave . The return to work is an interrogation , and the threat of a written warning being dished out . Some people took time off as un paid leave to prevent triggering . Employees are just numbers now .

Why would dysmenorrhoea surprise you as a reason?
You had no idea some women experience absolutely crippling period pain?
Mine is generally fairly bad but I can grit my teeth and keep going. But every few years I get a period so bad I literally vomit and sweat from the pain. For some women their periods are like that every month.

Public sector here. Not taken a single day sick since I started over 15 years ago. I've been lucky with my health (so far, I know).

Guess I'm a goody two-shoes. I would regard claiming sick days when I'm not ill as theft. I wouldn't do it to my colleagues, who I mostly like.

I'm not HR, but in the UK we are given holiday entitlement which is mandatory (think it is about 28 days for a full-time worker), and then a business will have a sick pay policy and policies that cover carers/parental/compassionate leave. The difference can vary massively.

I get 8 weeks holiday entitlement, which if I was sick I would not be allowed to take, and I get 6 months full sick pay and 6 months half pay before going onto statutory pay (payment from the Govt which is nothing really - about £120 a week?). Compassionate leave is generous in my company. I received 3 days when I had my dog put to sleep. I asked for holiday when I booked off time for my cousin's funeral, and whilst our HR department offered compassionate leave, I declined.

I get 8 weeks holiday entitlement, which if I was sick I would not be allowed to take

I would not be allowed to take holiday in lieu of sickness, sorry. I would still be allowed to take my holiday entitlement 🤣

I'm glad you quantified that, as I was wondering what you meant.

@MrsMertonandMalcolm I'm glad I read that back and realised I'd not communicated well. I think I'd have had Acas's number quoted to me several times 🤣

My company… in the US. I think (haven’t paid attention In awhile). Starting employees 2-3 weeks of PTO + federal holidays (8-10 I think). Then PTO increases with tenure. Then we have different buckets for bereavement, jury duty, military leave, etc. 12 weeks is the short term disability (also is what is used for maternity) and I honestly don’t know what long term disability covers.

We operate in a lot of countries so it’s different depending on the country you are employed in.

In the US employers can set their own policy per state and federal law…. I’ve worked at companies with unlimited sick time, there are companies with no sick time paid, FMLA is a federal law that protects a job during leave but does not guarantee pay. So it is a bit of a mish-mash and it’s something that people pay attention to when deciding to accept an offer and is often a negotiation point.

I’ve topped out at my company and get ~30 days of PTO per year + holidays + the different buckets that I’ve never had to use.

I’m in Australia and work in a state public service role.

We get 12 days a year that accumulate if you don’t use them. I’ve got 7 months banked. Once you use all your sick leave you start from zero and have to accumulate leave again. It’s nice to know I have enough sick leave if I have an accident or get cancer. We also only get 3 days bereavement leave so if a parent dies I can take more time off. Morbid I know but they’re not getting any younger.

I’m one of those that used to struggle in while unwell and use as few sick days as possible but now I have a lower threshold for sick days.

Luckily we don’t have the Bradford system. I think it’s very unfair on those that need single sick days to manage chronic conditions. I get migraines and suffer from depression and need the occasional single sick day to function.

I don't see sick leave as an entitlement, no. It's often more of a pain to be off in teaching than it is to struggle in, so unless it's the flu or v&d I'm in. We still have to set cover, then come back to messy rooms, missing equipment, piles of marking and books that are now a mess we're still being held responsible for. My school also has a policy of allocating cover to those that have been covered the most, so if you've been off ill you'll be used to cover absent staff until the numbers even out again.

That all said, my Bradford score can still be high in the early days at a new school. New germs everywhere and schools are often not thoroughly cleaned because cleaners have such tight timings thrust upon them that it's never more than a quick wipe-down and some areas end up filthy. It always gets better after a few years once my immune system has started building defences against whatever local disease variations are going around AND I have found out how to work within the school system to not burn out.

Some colleagues do still take the piss, but I find that this also varies with management. My school managers are, for the most part, great (but take a dim view of absence), so not many people abuse the system. In my last place we have had a lot of incompetent people in charge, so absence was a lot higher - people felt more entitled to take time back.