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.

You said despite the public holidays , which there are 3 , Xmas day, Boxing Day & New Year's Day so you already have 3 days off within a week ? So add that to your 1 day, doesn't sound so hard done by now ?
Personally every time I've pulled a sickie , & only for 2 days , never a month or anything requiring a doctors note , something bad happened , I crashed my car last time , karma perhaps !
Personally I wouldn't , well not for a month anyway , be tempting fate in my eyes

I would take unpaid parental leave

Yes of course @Sarahbd3 I think EVERYONE should go off sick for 3 weeks over Christmas.

🙄

Having read the comments here I think it's pretty obvious that any employer would be out of their mind to employ a single mum with a chronic health condition.

After 15 years experience of helping disabled people into work I can tell you that’s not the case. Most people I’ve been involved with remain extremely motivated despite huge challenges, and if they find an employer sympathetic to that and prepared to give them a chance, they will recognise how fortunate they are and make the most of the opportunity. OP is in the minority. But your post illustrates my point nicely.

OMG that is such an awful thing to say Shame on you.

Best to not take the risk though. The OP found an employer willing to give her a chance. Look how she repays them.

@Lbet Yes it is an awful thing to say. But given the support the OP has had here it's the wise thing to say.

And that attitude is exactly why there are employers who are hesitant to hire the younger generation. Fortunately not all young people share your views.

Incidentally, as one of the older generation to me a job is just a job and I never worked to live - but neither did I take the piss the way OP is suggesting.

But she isn't actually off sick.

She's lying in order to enjoy herself and in the process will make life harder for those she works with.

They'd be lacking in self-respect if they didn't resent her.

The op is only suggesting it because her crappy employer lets others do it, so if they get reluctant to hire it’s because they can’t do management and that’s on them.

It's this attitude that screwed up WFH for the many people who did it properly.

I think YABU, not because it’s not completely cr*p having to work so much with so little flexibility over Christmas but because of the reasons you give to excuse going off. Really anyone else (kids or none, health condition or not) would think this sucks. If that’s the deal with your job then you need a new job. Going off sick is a cop out and makes it worse for your colleagues and employer. I very much doubt that nobody has any issues with the other employee/colleague who always goes off sick for Christmas. Put your big girl pants on and address the issue here: the employment terms.

if you genuinely have no childcare then I’d just go to HR and ask for unpaid parental leave due to childcare.

And this here is a demonstration of why the few Cheeky fuckers ruin everything for the genuine. @Sarahbd3 don't be a CF.

And if you need two weeks of sick one year will you repay them the difference?

its probably not about the salary but the number of staff to employ and the salary budget needs to go round.

your attitude is awful

Let's hope she isn't a surgeon and your operation is cancelled
Let's hope she isn't a delivery driver and your Christmas presents don't arrive
Let's hope she's nnot a mechanic and your car isn't fixed in time for Christmas
let's hope she's not a train driver and your train is cancelled
Let's hope she's not a nursery worker and you have to take your child home early
Let's hope she isn't a solicitor and your legal business/house purchase isn't delayed
Let's hope she's not a police officer and your call isn't answered in timely fashion
Let's hope she's not a hairdresser and your perm is cancelled

And so on.

OP wants to take time off from mid December to mid January so it won't look suspicious. I hope she is not expecting them to pay her for her dishonesty.

Do it, but only if you do not plan to stay at your job / don't care about your job
as it will look super obvious. There is nothing you can say or do that will stop it looking super obvious

Your colleagues will probably have to pick up the slack, so be prepared for them to treat you differently - especially if someone else will have to cover.

Your Managers will loose respect / you will have permanently tarnished your brand / look unreliable / have fucked any career prospects at this job

It is up to you, but if you value this job and the people you work with, do not as it is a shitty thing to do

Best to not take the risk though. The OP found an employer willing to give her a chance. Look how she repays them.

I did say upthread that any employers reading this thread would get that impression, but I’m still sorry you feel that way because it’s my experience that OP is in the minority. Most disabled people I’ve supported into work are only too aware of the prejudices and given the chance they’ve worked hard to prove themselves. OP’s attitude isn’t typical.

Yep, agree.

Nope. If they’re reluctant to hire disabled people in the future it will be because OP has reinforced every single prejudice employers have about disabled people in the workplace - which people like me have spent years trying to dispel.

It’s the kind of reaction l expected. I would have reported it as ableist but l think it’s better to let it stand because it does illustrate what the response of many employers would be on reading the OP.

It’s hard enough getting disabled people into work now, but with the overhaul of the benefits system planned by the government, things are going to get much tougher for the sick and disabled. The emphasis is on reducing the benefits budget but no thought has been put into educating employers as to how they can support disabled people to be valuable and productive employees, or as to the help available from government in order to do that. And in that setting, this thread is less than helpful.

Do you repay your employer if you have more than a week off sick ? Because by that logic, you should.

This is the difference between those who rise up and those who remain at a lower level job for all their working life and then moan that it's not fair.

What a dick answer! Some career are just not that well oaid look at nursing and midwifery…..hopefully all the nurses and midwives don’t suddenly decide to “ get on in life “ and leave….. those bloody clueless nurses 🙄 maybe they should go into a profession like banking ? Full of genuine people brimming with integrity……I take you are in a “well paid profession”? Or your husband/wife is…. 🙄

<shakes head> oh dear....
Plenty of ways to build and advance a brilliant career in nursing and midwifery! I'm going to wager that none of the people at the top of this field engage in general deception and are liars in order to defraud their employer by deciding it would be nicer for them personally to just have some unplanned time off for themselves and sod what it means to others in their career field...