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?

Absolutely not.

No way, no how. Sick leave is for when you are genuinely sick. Some people really are selfish assholes.

I cannot believe there are places that don't actively monitor and manage this.

I wouldn't do this, but DH has friends that do. They explain it as they don't get enough AL so use sick leave as annual leave. Which is ridiculous - when you accept a job your contract states how many days AL you get, don't like it, don't take the job - these are all highly paid private business employees so can negotiate, but would rather take the p**s

As the years have gone on though, I am less scared to take sick leave. Previously I thought I had to be very, very unwell to take sick leave. When I was moderately sick I dragged myself in, until the time I did this and ended up in hospital with pneumonia. Now I ensure I'm properly better before returning to work for the benefit of myself and my patients.

I had someone I employed ( think she was early 20s) say she should have the following week off as she’d not taken any time off ill that year….. just thought she was entitled to so many weeks sick leave , same as holidays. Very disappointed when I told her this wasn’t so.

I have only ever taken sick leave when I have been too unwell to work. I took 6 months off last year when I was undergoing treatment for cancer. I had a very bad time - I am fully aware that other people are able to work when undergoing treatment and I admire them for that.

However, I am still taking medication to stop my cancer coming back which makes me absolutely exhausted, and I am finding it increasingly difficult to get through each working day. I'm planning to retire next summer, when I finally finish this particular course of treatment, and I might just have to take some sick leave before that date simply because I am so very tired! I'm not ill as such, just exhausted!

Before I was a teacher, I worked in an office with woman whose husband was a teacher. You could guarantee that this person would have a debilitating accident on the Thursday lunch time before half term week e.g. fell off the kerb and seriously twisted her ankle. It would take her the whole of half term week to be able to walk on it again. Odd, that.

I worked with someone who kept having 'duvet' days, but action was taken against her. Maybe an occasional day would go unnoticed, but I never did so, because I was always scared that something would happen that would necessitate sick leave later.
eg; A relative was in an accident with compound fracture of the leg, resulting in over 6 months on sick leave with several operations. This kind of accident can happen at any time.
I guess it depends on what sort of job or manager you have.

Indeed it is. I have known people who play the system . I work in an organisation where you get paid sick leave. Regrettably, any system is open to abuse

I live in hope that the piss taker's general entitled attitude shines through generally and that they're clocked at work. But unfortunately they seem to ride along in their entitled life.

Hopefully Karma will bite them in the arse if they're genuinely sick...

I use them only when I have medical reasons, e.g.medical appointment or am unwell. But, fun fact, during my HR call on benefits before joining my current employer the Head of HR told "you have X days of annual leave, Y days for volunteering and 5 paid sick days so in total it makes X+Y+5 holiday leave entitlement".
My direct reports do pre-book sick leaves as normal holidays. I have no issues with that.

I’m sick (badly) about twice a year so I reserve it for then. If I hadn’t been sick for a few years then I might consider using it differently

We don’t get paid for the first three days off sick so only a few can afford to be ill! This means there is always some sort of virus going round the team as we all go into work when we are sick.

I did as a nurse. NHS sick leave was really generous at the time. The area I worked in had a lot of different staff, and a high turnover so nobody to feel uncomfortable around for not being in for ages! I'd do 3 months off sick on full pay, come back for 3 months and do loads of overtime, and then off again for another 3 months. I'd be careful to calculate if all go when it would reset

I was very young. And the time I went in and did my hours plus overtime enabled me to get on the property ladder. I'd then take the 3 months to chill and mentally just relax because I did so much when I was working

I’ve barely taken any sick days- a lot of jobs that allow wfh often remove the need to do that as it’s much easier to stay working even if you’re not 100%. Longest stretch was a week of Covid and I should have really taken two.

I do however know people who have treated sick days as ‘entitlement’ and there is often very little you can do if you suspect someone is taking the piss a little bit but not enough to trigger anything.

Do you not look back and care that you were a) a drain on NHS resource and b) caused inconvenience and probably added workload to those around you? Disgusting.

Wow this never even crossed my mind but I'm not surprised some people do it. I genuinely get sick a few times a year due to various conditions and a weakened immune system and I absolutely dread taking sick days.

And what do you/they do if they're then actually sick but used their 'entitlement' already?

Well, like a previous poster said, karma.

I've never misused sick pay ... so when I was seriously ill (in hospital, colleagues visited so absolutely beyond doubt), I was paid in full for nearly 4 months.

When I thanked him, my manager said it had been at his "discretion" and he exercised it that way because I'd never taken sick leave when I ought not to have.

Just something to think about.

UK resident here - majority of workers here don't abuse sick leave and only use if needed. I know a few individuals that did abuse the paid sick leave system in my previous employment and employer stopped offering sick pay to the new employees.

What did you pretend was wrong with you?

@SomeKindOfPermanentlyExhaustedPigeon I worked very hard and very generously with my time whenever overtime was needed and I was working.

The staff were always different and moved around a lot. They didn't struggle to recruit for that area

I was good at my job and kept patients happy and safe. Plus, it has benefited me too so no I can't regret it for those reasons. I wasn't leaving a poor work mate to cover me whilst she was short staffed enough to do the work of 4 people.

Spot on.

I've been in a similar situation, I wasn't unwell but needed some time off for my DH's major op. My manager knew I didn't take the piss and had an excellent attendance record - yes I'd had genuine sick days but she could see they were completely genuine - she gave me discretionary full pay for 2 weeks to deal with what was going on at home.

Not read the full thread but I suspect some employees don't realise that sick allowance on a "rolling year" not Jan to Dec...

Had a colleague do this too. Pop in evey six months for a few days then off sick again.

She also kept getting promoted, because she would of filed a discrimination case if she didn't get it. Discrimination for not being in.

This is public sector. Disgusting of her, especially seeing colleagues come in after having chemo etc.

It will vary though. Mine is assessed on a rolling 5 month period (I have no idea why!!)

I have a colleague who is always sick during school holidays. Very frustrating for the rest of the team and does change how I view them.