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

What is he like when he is at work? Is he good at his job, diligent and hard working? If he is a great colleague, hopefully the team won't mind picking up the extra work. If he is a difficult, lazy colleague, they may think differently.

Is it only you that can see his holiday photos on Facebook or can other members of the team see them as well? If everyone is snowed under doing their own work and his, the happy holiday snaps could seem pretty insensitive and annoying.

very poor practice to be Facebook friends with your line reports

this! I've never been friends with my directs or managers when working with/for them.

Check policys for what? A company can't dictate what someone does in thier private life (and what they do while on sick leave is there private life)

FWIW alot of MH practitioners encourage holidays etc when a person is dealing with crap MH

I work for a local authority and our ill health policy states that holidays are not allowed whilst on sick leave unless they have been cleared by the person's line manager. Elsewhere in the policy is some guidance on the circumstances under which holidays might be permitted.

Do you have any policies which might cover this?

The social media posts are none of your business.

I was advised to go on holiday when I was signed off with stress, by my GP.

There’s no reason to hide it.

Being signed off due to mental ill health could be anything so it’s hard to say.

Suffering from agoraphobia and posting pics while clubbing in Ibiza might be a piss take but going to stay in a quiet cottage while experiencing a depressive episode might make sense.

The SM posts are in bad taste IMO considering their colleagues are picking up the slack. I work in a local authority and have a colleague that does this at least one a year - goes off for months on sick and travels, posting it all on fb. Not having to use her annual leave.

It isn’t the same in all local authorities though. I know of one near to us where they aren’t allowed to go on holiday if they’re off sick, apparently it’s in their sickness policy.

There are seven recommendations to assist mental health recovery (outside of actual medical treatment).

One is active rest (i.e. not slobbing around or moping) but actively doing something that is not work, chores, things you find stressful/daunting or obligations. A holiday is a perfect example.

Another is socialising. Social media can massively contribute to that. In person is better but social media, if used properly, creates connection with people and a support network. Arguing with people on Reddit would not be good, holiday photos on Facebook probably would.

YABU. This is behaviour that is proven to benefit poor mental health. She might be a faker who is taking the piss but you certainly cannot base it on this.

They’re taking the piss.

”mental health” reasons is one of the biggest pisstakes for having time off sick.

There are of course people who are genuinely off with mental health issues, but everyone knows how easy it is to get signed off with “stress” and then off they pop to the costa del pisstake at their employer’s expense, both financially and productively.

It's fine! A holiday seems like a good idea for mh recovery!

It's not like they are running a marathon while being off for a hip replacement. There's nothing in this to make you think their health problems aren't real.

Check work policies re sickness rules and possibly use of SM. Definitely need to take some advice on this, as really seems like they are taking the mickey (screenshot images as evidence). Potentially get OH involved.....
Sorry, but having such severe 'mental health' issues you have to be signed off work for 4 months doesn't really tie in with being well enough to travel abroad and post all over SM.....(And I do understand, as I have long term health issues that severely impact my daily life).

So you're posting on MN about a person you manage? Which to me is far more inappropriate than putting holiday photos on FB whilst off sick. I really hope the employee doesn't come across this thread, because you will be in a huge amount of shit if she does. It might be best to get this deleted.

They’re signed off by a GP, you’re being unreasonable OP, they can do as they wish with their time off. I think posting photos on social media when off sick is being a little disrespectful, but they’re entitled to do that too.

Whether it’s a typical local government public sector role paying full pay for sick leave and you think they’re taking the piss is another matter (quite possibly valid but again, if that’s the policy for paid sick leave not a lot you can do about it - this happens in the NHS loads - funny how many people return to work when they’re 6 months fully paid sick leave ends!).

They’re signed off by a GP, you’re being unreasonable OP, they can do as they wish with their time off. I think posting photos on social media when off sick is being a little disrespectful, but they’re entitled to do that too.

Whether it’s a typical local government public sector role paying full pay for sick leave and you think they’re taking the piss is another matter (quite possibly valid but again, if that’s the policy for paid sick leave not a lot you can do about it - this happens in the NHS loads - funny how many people return to work when they’re 6 months fully paid sick leave ends!).

A holiday will probably be good for them. However, it's thoughtless to post the pics on socials when they know others will be bearing the brunt of their workload.

You're not supposed to notice or care, but yes, I'd be annoyed if someone was flaunting their good times while I picked up the slack. It doesn't seem like it will be good for the mental health of the rest of the team. They could share photos individually with family and select friends (preferably those not negatively impacted by their bonus holiday). I'd resent it, to be honest.

This happened to someone I know who is an employer. Employee off on long term sick, posting photos from a lovely beach holiday having a blast. Employer contacted the relevant people and the doctor providing the absence allowances to ask how on earth this was allowed, and was flatly told to get back in their corner. That people should be allowed rest, recuperation and a holiday when off sick. The employer had to just suck it up and let it be.

I hate this thread, I had to be off work with mental health issues so bad I nearly died of them and yes it was during the summer so I went on holiday with my family. I’ve picked up for hundreds of others whilst they have been off unwell long term for whatever reason. I felt bad enough without having to think people thought I was malingering.

You did nothing wrong at all.

We had this in the NHS, someone on long term sick leave (full pay of course) due to mh problems went to Thailand for a month whilst we all sweated and grafted at work short staffed.

We've all been abroad, it's actually quite stressful navigating airports and the journey etc so if you are well enough to cope with that then you are well enough to get your arse to work. Yes posting on sm is grossly insensitive and a bit arrogant imo.

So many people are full of lament when someone has taken their lives but couldn’t give a fuck when they are at the end of their rope, seriously unless you are her GP as well as her manager you have no clue of how bad things could be for her. I would’ve given my right hand not to have gone through what I did and been at work with my friends

This was the sort of thing I did when I had no intention of going back just to majorly piss them off… trust me they deserved it 🤣👍🏻

I went on holiday abroad while on LTS

I won my disability discrimination case, so no, I wasn't "at it". They did try to mention my holidays in their defence but the judge shut them up.

Being sick for work doesn't mean sick for anything else.

You clearly know nothing about mental health