Work colleague off sick but on holiday

[Toomanyfecks]

We have a work colleague in our small team that goes of sick (fully paid) with mental health or physical health prior to going on annual leave to lovely places.Its happened 4 times now at least. When they are in work they are mostly great, if a little intense but the pattern of absence has been noticed by all our colleagues but not management it seems. Am I being unreasonable to be at my wits end with what appears to be someone taking the mick??

Maybe her holidays are well timed to coincidence with exhaustion and burnout and she falls short of that and burns out sooner. Maybe the thought of being on leave makes.her anxious/stressed to the point of not being able to function. Maybe she is a paranoid traveller and needs medication/treestment to overcome. Maybe her leave follows intensive medical treatment and is timed to accommodate that. The point is you dont know what is going on with someone and you dont get to know unless they decide to tell you.

Ive a pal wbo hasnt worked the school summer holidays since we met 10 years ago. Is sick for every single one. It drives me mad as a I battle the struggle of kids, work, summer clubs. I dont know how their conscience allows it. I do feel for the colleagues.

I dont think you are being unreasonable to be annoyed by it. One of those things we have not let bother us or we become part of a problem.

I went through a phase of getting sick as soon as I went on holiday and slowed down a bit. Then was diagnosed with a condition that affects my immunity. Because I was a good and conscientious worker, my manager was supportive. But I know it did not look good- fortunately my coworkers were supportive.

I think that sometimes going into or out of a period of leave can be a risk for getting ill.

I am very sorry you had such an upsetting experience, however it was entirely the fault of your ex employer not your colleague. There are a lot of assumptions about her in your post. You don't know what she was going through; a lot of women have high risk pregnancy & complications and she may not have wanted to share. You even question her GP's ethics due to her being possibly a friend, on zero evidence. And what would be the point in requiring a pregnant woman to go to another doctor....to diagnose what exactly?

There is no way you can be sure she was taking the piss. As a manager I have known many people going through health issues causing their sick leave which their colleagues weren't privy to.

I worried about my colleagues' disapproval at the time I was pregnant so took very little sick time despite often being poorly. Eventually I got pre-eclampsia and a premature baby. Who knows, if I had prioritised my health at the time it might have been different.

I think any sense of injustice is damaging to an individual,
Sadly in a place of work we want to believe we will be treated with respect in the end it's all about people's personality traits and their work ethic, not everyone has good one.....
The end result is easy one.....You could either take it on the chin accept the colleague is a lazy mickytaker and hope they will leave but you would have to stop obsessing about their behaviour, You could say something to Management loudly and see if they listen or look for another job but chances are they'll be another lousy colleague taking mick 😉

We have someone on our team on sick leave been over 6 months now. The worst bit was she has only been back to work just over a year since her last 6months sick leave. She is depressed.
I’m not a very nice person because I’m envious because I am depressed but know if I go on the sick, I wouldn’t return.

@Futurehappiness I agree what you are saying for the most part but in this particular scenario the colleague very much told me she didn't want to work while ttc or early pg, she was kind of laughing about it and how her GP would do whatever she wanted. She went off early on mat leave too, of course. I know her well enough, not her medical history obviously but i know she is healthy with healthy children. She absolutely intentionally took the piss and the attitude was 'well who is going to stop me' delighted with her year 'off'. Women like that upset me because they give other women of child bearing age a bad reputation and make it so much easier to hire a man.

I raised the same issue with my manager as the same situation was causing me extra work and stress , to be told that the person is on holiday to aid their mental health 😡

Strictly speaking, if you're off sick and are on holiday, you can contact your employer and say you're sick and take your holiday days back!

https://www.acas.org.uk/checking-sick-pay/sick-pay-and-holiday-pay

Just wow. Hope I never have to work with you or many others on this thread

It sounds as though you were justified in this situation @Dontlletmedownbruceto think that the colleague was taking advantage. I have no sympathy actually, with people who take lengthy sick leave without good reason and I know they often get away with it. I do think it is on employers to have contingency plans to manage cover for employees on sick leave that avoids putting unfair pressure on their colleagues.

Employers are not going to address this with a pregnant employee, because being accused of harassing a pregnant woman is too high a risk and can cost them dearly - both financially and reputationally. I am not sure if it affects the reputation of women as a whole - I do think that the real piss takers are quite rare and just as likely to be male as female. And thanks to the Equality Act it is not an option for employers to hire men in preference to women.

Do you know anything about mental health ? If not why the angry face ?

It's people like you that cause individuals massive stress problems which hinders their mental health.You have no idea what is behind the problems of this person and further alienate them in the work place but judge them on what you see but don't know their life problems.Disabilities are not always seen so why not try and be less judgemental and offer kind words and support or is your jealousy and that of your colleagues so much so that you are blinkered.

I’ve worked with someone that did this a lot. I didn’t discuss them with colleagues because I don’t talk behind people’s backs. Yes it was extremely annoying but I’m not paid to manage them. I go to work, do my job and then go home. Regards picking up their slack, I can only do what I can do in a day, end of.