Holiday photos on Facebook whilst off sick

[TeaAndBrie]

Really interested to hear opinions on this one.
Staff member off long term sick (fully paid as local gov) due to mental health issues, signed off by GP for 4 months so far.
staff member is friends with manager on Facebook.
staff member has been uploading photos of holiday abroad on Facebook.
i would not expect someone who is on LTS for mental health reasons to never leave the house etc
Holiday photos seem a bit much though - especially when manager and other colleagues who can see these pics are having to pick up all of the work whilst he is away.
YABU - let them have their holiday, it’s good for them!
YANBU - let them have the holiday but would be better to have have pics on SM

You’d be heading for a tribunal with that salient advice 😂

That. People shouldn't have to hide away so no-one seems them doing something fun and restorative.

But unfortunately many people are bitchy and judgemental and don't understand mental ill health, so personally I wouldn't put the pics on social media.

Going on holiday while off sick with mental health problems is OK.
Posting pictures of the holiday on social media is a piss-take.
Also, it’ll be especially annoying when colleague returns to work and wants to take all the annual they’ve accrued during their time off. I think they should be made to count this holiday in their annual leave entitlement.

@saraclara it’s thoughtless and selfish to flaunt your holiday on social media when you know it’ll be seen by the poor sod covering your work.

People can post whatever thry want on their private SM.
It is not their problem:
A) you are following them.
B) you are unable to find staff for your team.

I cannot even believe you asked about this.

Full pay whilst on holiday takes the piss. Government worker too, so this is where your taxes are going people!!

It would piss me off as im really struggling right now mentally and the only place iv gone is work and hospital as im to ill to be going anywhere else let alone actually leaving the country. It's stuff like this that really minimises what true mental illness is.

Maybe gov work is making people unwell to the point they need to take time off.

I gave too much of my time and health the the NHS, and am still feeling the effects now. Your boss, and the Gov do not give a shit about you. All the staff are just numbers.

What a disgusting thing to say.

After my fourth miscarriage, I kind of broke. After each of the 3 previous I managed to get myself together enough to go to work but it got harder each time. After number 4, I just couldn't any more. All I could think when someone was talking to me at work was shut up! I don't care about this crap! I was next to useless, no concentration, just obsessing over my sadness and grief. So I spoke to my boss and we agreed I could take some leave (I chose unpaid, but the GP would have signed me off for mental health if needed). I went to Italy and Spain with my husband and we healed our broken hearts somewhat. I stayed off work for another while after that, that trip did us the world of good, individually and for the relationship.
Don't underestimate the power of getting out of your usual space and time to relax to help with mental health healing.

Well, you are doing the same. Minimising it by saying that you can suffer poor MH and still go to work... so everyone else can.
MH is not back and white. It is not like a broken bone. Every one off with MH can have different diagnoses, different presentations (not everyone is stuck in bed... some end up going out loads and getting into sticky situations), and different ways of coping.

I hope things are better for you now, IcyTiger. I think this is a great example of how time away can be helpful.

I’m curious to all of those who think it would be prudent to keep such a holiday away from social media would be the same if it was for example two broken arms that kept them off day for example a typing job.
would anyone bat an eyelid if they were off work and went on holiday and had it on socials? They are clearly unable to do their work.
some people are very very ableist when it comes to mental health and don’t realise they are being such. It’s good to think it through. Biases disappear with sunlight as disinfectant

Off course it minimises it when where currently having thread after thread saying people with mental illness shouldn't get pip and just go to work. It's because people see this sort of thing and think its the norm and people are just a bit sad or a bit panicky when in reality true mental illness is completely debilitating. It's where during an episode you can't function or look after yourself. Let alone navigate an airport and get dressed up every night to go out for drinks and food. I haven't been on holiday for over 10 years because of mental illness.

Would that 'poor sod' prefer to have a breakdown, do you think?

I've heard people at work moan on about colleagues on long term mental ill health leave, and they clearly don't have a clue of the distress and trauma that their colleague is going through.

When my late DH was starting to recover after his terrifying, unexpected and major breakdown, I couldn't even get him to go for a walk with me at one point, in case someone saw him and thought he was swinging the lead.

Well i have eupd so my whole world is black and white

I'm sorry that your illness has been debilitating for so long. It must be awful.

But for many it's a terrifying few months and then gradual recovery/partial recovery.
We didn't go abroad when my husband was recovering, but we did have UK breaks, because they were good for him, and restored some normality to our children and our family life

No, I definitely attempted suicide so not sure that could be categorised as a bit panicky, still went on holiday as part of my recovery. I’m sorry that is not the case for you and I understand why you might be feeling frustrated and resentful but it’s not a competition of misery and if we backed each other against exactly these types of opinions then it’d be much better.

This exactly.
Diminishes the seriousness of those with crippling mh problems.
Most peoples mh would improved by a holiday

It is different. If you've got 2 broken arms you obviously can't do your job. If you can function socially and physically by leaving the country that should tick boxes that other everyday activities like work are achievable too.

PIP is not an out of work benefit.
You can be totally mentally ill and still go out and do things. Heard of manic episodes? Or psychosis? Not all MH is being depressed and stuck in bed, and that is a stereotype that needs to fuck off and die. Have you seen the videos that get posted by the relatives of people who died by suicide? Happy and partying, or seeming to enjoy life. They were all dead less than 24 hours later (I can't remember what MH charity posted about them).

I had 4 months off with stress due to workplace bullying, I had HR and the union involved. Would someone like to explain to me why during my time off they would deem it not allowed for me to take a holiday. My stress was directly related to work.

Strangely enough, because of the shit I was facing I was in touch with my (at the time) line manager’s senior senior manager (my line manager was part of the problem) and he not only encouraged me to continue with my holiday, but removed it as A/L off the system so I got to keep the A/L entitlement for when I returned.

I never did return to that particular office and have been much happier since.

FFS. You think that being able to lie on a beach or spend a week in rural France, is equivalent to going to work in a really stressful job?

This is the kind of thing I mean when I say people don't have a clue.

You should be really grateful that you don't, frankly.

🙌🏻 It is such a damaging and dangerous stereotype. So many lives lost in silence because people felt alone or fraudulent.

You would expect someone on LTS for mental health to never leave the house?!

I have a type of bipolar disorder & have been sectioned as an inpatient many times.

You are very much encouraged to take what's called section 17 leave which is time away from the hospital doing normal things - especially things like maintaining friendships & hobbies . And that's whilst detained as an inpatient on a section!!