To go off sick in December?

[Sarahbd3]

I've just found out that I'll only been granted one day off over the Xmas and year new period (I mean besides the official public holidays). Names drawn out of a hat about who on the team can have which days off over the Xmas season.
I'm a single mum to two young children under 6 and, for once, I want to be able to spend a proper stretch of time over Xmas being off with them and doing all the Xmas stuff that other families get to do. Their grandparents are going to be away on a cruise so I'd have no child care anyway, unless I was off work.
I have a chronic health condition which is well known at work (although I've never previously taken any time off sick with it). In facet, I have not been off sick since a car accident 4 years ago.
On my team, it's always the same person who goes off sick for Xmas, for several weeks and nobody seems to have an issue.
Wyibu to go off sick with my chronic illness to be guaranteed the festive season with my children? To not make it look too plan I, I'd probably go off in the second week of December, rather than on Xmas eve. Maybe return second week of Jan.

Sorry, that post was in reply to @Moggmegg

This.

I have a chronic illness and I wouldn’t personally want to tempt fate. What if I took ill and needed those days?

What Christmas stuff could you do anyway? I assume the children would have school/nursery and anyone who was actually sick wouldn’t keep them off to go see Santa for example so if you were seen you would risk losing your job!

Meanwhile, OP doesn't mention being on any sickness benefits, nor having any accommodations at work. For an existing conditions GPs will invariably just sign it, no need to fake anything.

Do you get weekends?

cant you just say the truth.. which is that you have no childcare over Christmas and you cannot work?

Yes, probably true.
OP doesn't want to work over Christmas and let's be honest, one more person going sick is not gonna save the "work culture".

If you don’t want to work in the school holidays then why not quit and look for a job where you don’t have to? I don’t think it’s fair or reasonable to pretend to be sick for a month so your colleagues pick up your slack. Most adults aren’t getting to take off the entire school holidays and have to make arrangements with holiday clubs which is a usually a big juggle (and expense).

FFS! You have the main bank holidays off. That's more than lots of parents can hope for. You don't deserve to be employed if you're going to be this precious about doing what 99% of the working population have to do and work a few days in December. Either work it and don't shit all over your colleagues or quit your job, give it to somebody who actually wants to earn their keep and hope you can survive on jobseekers I guess and see how happy your kids are next year when you can't afford any presents. When did we all become so ridiculously unable to manage anything remotely stressful?! I swear we're heading for an absolute shitstorm in the next few years when nobody can cope with doing an honest day's work.

Also what the hell are you going to be doing for a month? Surely at least one of your kids is in school for most of the period- mine don’t even break up until the 20th. And it would cost a small fortune near me to pack a month with festive activities. Surely better to make the most of evenings/ weekends?

And yes don’t be fooled by Facebook/ insta- making memories tribe, most people I know take less than a week off at actual Christmas and consider that more than enough. I’d rather save my leave for when the weather is a bit better (and my kids are less annoying).

You're entitled to unpaid parental leave.

I would take this instead.

https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave

But that's the point. It will be glaringly obvious - and it will put you in the firing line if there's ever any downsizing plus HR will be recording this for a future employer.
If you make your one day off the 27th, then this year you'll have 5 days in a row off. I appreciate you'll prob have childcare issues to negotiate for some of the time but this is surely not a surprise- everyone wants time off at Xmas.

Don’t be ridiculous, she’s planning a month off in December/ January now. There’s no suggestion that her condition will actually flare up. The whole thing is a fake- the fact that the GP probably won’t check is completely irrelevant.

Having worked in nursing in various roles for the last 17 years I'm used to having to work over the Christmas and other holidays. I have a child and I still expect it. If everyone who had children took Christmas off there would be no one to look after patients. Get a different job where this isn't expected.

If you take a job that may require you to work over Christmas you can't complain when that happens. However, I think rostering should be done fairly i.e. those who got last Christmas off should work the next year - picking names out of a hat is a ridiculous way of doing it and not at all fair.

I don't think you can expect to get Christmas off because you have kids or a Chronic condition, that is not fair to those who have neither. Childless people still want to spend time with family at Christmas and that should not be the criterion for choosing who works over Christmas

Did you have to work last Christmas, Do those getting it off this year also have Christmas off the previous year? If yes, perhaps you could raise this with management on the unfairness of how the decision is made.

But the second week of December isn't Christmas, your kids will be at school so what would you actually be doing with that time off?

If OP hasn’t been off sick for four years she may well not have factored in that sick notes are a thing of the past. GP’s don’t just simply sign people off any more, they have to issue a fit note, so the GP won’t automatically assess that OP is not fit for work. They have to think about fitness for work in general, not just in the current job, and to consider the effect of the health condition itself on the actual work undertaken. All of these things will be factored in to the decision on whether OP is fit for work, not fit for work, or ‘may’ be fit for work.

If OP is assessed as ‘may’ be fit for work, the GP will provide written guidance for both her and her employer, designed to help her stay in, or return to, work. This could include phased return to work, gradual increase in work duties or hours, altered hours, amended duties, or workplace adaptations/working from home.

So I think, and in OP’s case I hope, that she won’t find it as straightforward as she thought to fake her symptoms for her own gains.

if you have to go off sick, please say you are sick with something other than your chronic illness, choose something acute and one off if you are determined to do this and if your employer is not one who is open to being supportive that you have zero childcare while DGPs are away. it is not fair to people with your chronic illness for it to get a reputation of being used to take extra sick which people will likely realise you are doing and you may suffer for it too if you really need time off for it in the future.

No, they won’t ‘just sign it’. They have to issue a fit note. Sick notes are a thing of the past. If OP hasn’t been off sick due to her condition or anything else, for four years, then the GP has to justify signing her off - and fit/not fit are not the only options on a fit note. GP can use the fit note to suggest any one of a range of accommodations to the employer to avoid her having to go off sick. And clearly if OP is in work then she isn’t claiming any sickness benefits. She mentioned that her employer is aware of her condition, so there very well may be some accommodations at work even if she hasn’t mentioned it.

Not only is it not fair to others with the same condition, it’s not fair to other disabled people either. It perpetuates the myth that all disabled people are unreliable and actively impedes their chances of finding suitable employment. I came up against this attitude more times than I care to remember when advocating to an employer on behalf of a disabled person, and what the OP is doing is helping to perpetuate that myth. People like the OP are the reason that genuinely severely disabled people are finding it much more difficult not only to find work, but to claim the disability benefits they are entitled to. Because there is always the suspicion that they are somehow swinging the lead.

Do it. Make some lovely memories with your kids and enjoy spending time together. Life’s hard enough sometimes and if this makes it a bit easier, so be it.

Which member of staff are you planning to screw over and make cover your work whilst you're pretending to be ill?

So you will get the main days off such as Christmas day and boxing day. Try working in care where you can end up on the lot even with young children. Yes your very unreasonable.

I work in a care home and only get one day off over Christmas as well as everyone else. If people phoned in sick, our residents would not have adequate care.
I know if I want to enjoy a week off over Christmas then I need to find another job. I've chosen this job and am aware that working Christmas is part of it. There are a couple staff who always try and get a few more days off then everyone else and get upset when management put their foot down. They say it has to be fair for everyone.