To think that, as a manager, the occasional “sick day” when someone needs a break is fine?

[ByFluentPombear]

I manage a team and I accept that sometimes people just need a day off, even if they’re not physically unwell. As long as it’s not frequent or disruptive, I don’t really mind if someone calls in sick when they just need a mental health day or a breather.

Some managers would see this as dishonest or an issue - AIBU to take a more relaxed view?

I don't have time or inclination to micromanage what everyone is doing all the time. I might ask my No.2 why is it somebody does not seem to have sent any emails that day. We are all copied on each other's emails so around 4 pm I wonder what is going on. I can suspect but it is a task and a half to start monitoring properly. They are smart enough to not do it all the time. You don't get to be a cf for nothing.

No, not at all. Ultimately it puts pressure on the team taking on extra work for no good reason.

It's completely dishonest and encorages poor attendance. I contract sometimes and this behaviour has increased dramatically over the past 10 years. Once it gets out it's difficult to stop.

I know you say you don't allow excessive amounts of this but this is thin end of the wedge stuff and you cannot say no to it if you allow it even once. It's not looking after the whole team at all and can very quickly create resentment.

If the workplace allows duvet days it's up to them but if this is you just allowing this, it's really not your place to do that. Unless of course this is a business you personally run.

I've told people before now just to take a day and not mark as annual leave or sick. It all balances out as we expect a lot of them at certain times and they deliver.

Honesty is what I value.
Poor mental health is real. Once or twice per year a day off for Mental Health issues is normal not sneaky. Taking a sick day off due to illness of body or mind is perfectly acceptable. Taking Family Leave for a family care reason also etc. Personal Leave for a parent's funeral etc. etc

In my workplace, and in many work places, the TOIL offers flexability. Some employees will ask for a day off to attend, say, a school play. They can usually have a day off without pay, or take a day of holiday pay, but mostly they plan and work a few hours extra the weeks before or after and take Time Off In Lieu.
People appreciate knowing in advance of a worker's absence and appreciate not being lied to.

Many work days are more enjoyable than others; some tasks and projects are not fun. It's pretty usual to wake up some days not wanting to rush into work. That is when I apply mind over matter. Get up, Dress up and Show up. Once at work the momentum of the friendly work place helps me have a pleasant and productive day.

Taking quite a few days off due to feeling non inspired or mentally fatigued would have me question whether there were not a chronic depression or dislike or unsuitability for the job.
I would look at whether the work place was reasonable and encourage the worker to seek more appropriate treatment. Treatment which enables the person to participate in normal life activities - work and family.

You sound like a laugh a minute

@blueshoes

Fair enough - managing people must be difficult. CF's.

Agree with this. For a day where rest is needed take annual leave. Using what should be annual leave as sick leave is piss takery

I'm a manager and I also allow this and think it's good practice. If sickness massively impacts someone's output, I'd have a chat with them, but as a one off I think it's important to take care of yourself.

I completely agree op.

There are not nearly enough days available in annual leave entitlement and I think taking additional days off is to be expected until workers are treated better and all given a vast amount more time off per year. I don’t think this will be able to happen sadly, even though it would no doubt boost productivity.

To add to my comment,.there's also studies that show more time off leads to more productivity/output. I'd rather have a productive team than a burnt out one, not doing much good work but pushing through

Well if they have enough leave to call in sick when they feel like it and then for they are actually sick and for when they children is sick and their pet fly dies, then there is leave for 'personal reasons', study leave, leave for periods or menopause, and medical appointments, maternity related leave, leave to see their kids at pantomimes leave because it a blue moon, leave that is demanded that if they dont get they will cry discrimination AND manage to get all their work done and it not have any impact on collegues or clients then sure go ahead

Edited because I didn't attach the quote

My workplace absence policy wouldn’t allow this and employees would end up triggering absence warnings. Do you not have that issue?

I take your point about needing occasional reset days. It would be better if these were written into policies.

Mental health is part of your overall health. Being exhausted seems a better reason to approve a day off sick than a sniffle which isn't generally questioned. I have years of of sick days banked because, although my work tells us to take sick leave as needed, I'm happy to WFH if I'm mentally alert but just coughing a lot and so contagious. I'll also often do a half day to shuffle work along so no one has to cover for me.

If I have taken a day or two off because I honestly can't face any sort of human interaction, it's been needed (and I've worked a number of times when I could've chosen not to). My managers trust me to decide for myself as an adult.

I feel like i should add to my earlier posts - ive got zero issue with short notice/no notice annual leave requests for a duvet day. I just don't really get why people would expect to a paid sick day for this as opposed to annual leave.

I'd also be fine with people letting me know they'll wfh on a day they wouldn't usually, to give themselves a bit of a break/save the commuting time.

My team aren't really burnt out or overworked. In a normal job working a usual 37 hour week, in a well managed team with adequate resource, people should not be getting where they need to take a sick day because they can't make it to the weekend for a day off. If someone was regularly, I'd maybe chat with them and be open to whether part time might suit them better to allow an extra day off mid week.

I think for a decent reliable employee, having some flexibility in taking an occassional last minute day off a couple of times a year if something comes up is sensible. I've only ever worked in sales call centre environments where they really grill you for being ill and threaten performance plans if you dare to be ill for more than a couple of days at a time. It certainly did not make me want to do my best work for them, as they clearly wanted their employees to be robots.

I'm self employed now with my husband, which is definitely better, we can swap work days if one of us is feeling burnt out or something. I've generally found exercising some discretion with employees with this sort of thing has meant only a few take advantage. That's with a small business though, I'm not sure how well that would translate to a bigger organisation.

Perhaps you should be considering why you even need to think about this as an option. Is there something about the workplace culture? Is there an option for some or more of the job to be done from home, and people are being asked to be in more than really necessary?

What if everyone wanted just a day off? It's not sustainable. They have annual leave for this. If they are having mental health issues they can get a sicknote so this, yes, would be covered by sickness absence policies.

But then, how many people call in sick and say i'm just having an off day I won't be in today. Most will make up an excuse, sickness/tummy bug, migraine, etc. I know I have done it.

I would, however, put in an authorised absence for someone who was having a bad day, burn out, etc. But there must be a reason behind this so I would refer them to an EAP if available for any help they would need.

What I think needs to be addressed is that a lot of people don't get paid when they are off sick, they will only qualify for SSP which used to be around £94 a week. If someone is genuinely unwell, say norovirus or COVID, off for 5 days, I don't think it's fair that they lose £400-500 for a week.

Isn't that what annual leave is for?
I suppose if you set aside a couple of days annual leave for every employee to use for "off" days it would be fair. Any unused "off" days could be added to xmas leave. But you can probably see what would happen.
Allowing unpaid leave would be OK but then for someone who isn't reliant on their income it is open to abuse.
Most of us regularly have "off" days but turn up for work, put on our happy face and get on with it. It's called a work ethic, without it the world would grind to a halt.

I agree OP.

I think there is too much onus on showing up for the sake of it, to tick the box saying you've done your 9-5 that day.

The reality is that an occasional day off is unlikely to disrupt, in the scheme of things, as long as the employee is otherwise performing well.

I wish our culture around work was more about overall contribution/ efficiency/ attitude, rather than hours put in.

Well you aren’t lying , you are saying I need a break, I am not going to lie and pretend I’ve got food poisoning but I need to take a day off my head is going to explode.

I’ve done it , however I’ve more than made up the hours, am in a senior role and no one does my work if I am not in, and I’m talking once in a blue moon. Conversely when I’m physically ill I have to have a real word with myself to take time off and it’s probably finishing a couple of hours early rather than the whole day. I work from home so I’m not infecting anyone.

I realise I am very fortunate.

edit apologies I misread the op , she is saying take as sick so that’s different.

Worrying that you are in a managerial position

In theory I agree with you, however in practice I think if it's truly a mental health day then it should be covered by sick leave anyway and otherwise should come out of annual leave.
I've taken a couple of mental health days as sick leave in the past, up to 3 days a year, I usually take them when I'm on the brink of getting physically unwell combined with low mental health so I think it fits into sick leave entitlement.
Anything else I would book as last minute annual leave.

I'm a manager. If someone calls in sick and tells me they feel unwell, I don't interrogate them. They might have an upset stomach or they might have had a massive argument with their partner and feel shit.

People can self certify for X amount of days before a sick note is needed anyway so until then, take what you need.

Yes - where I work you have to put a reason for absence. There’s a drop down list of various ailments, which you complete in your return.

But usual way is to phone in sick in the first instance and it’s hard not to give a reason. So if you’re faking it, most people would try to sound a bit croaky! 😄