Off sick for years

[BoredandStuck]

Someone I work with has been off work sick for over two and a half years now. That seems a really long time without them being sacked or let go. Has anyone else come across anything similar or longer?

is that on full pay?

How is ONE post a pile-on?

I personally haven't but have heard of a friend's friend who took sick leaves like that. Apparently it wasn't a problem for their workplace and it's not a problem for yours as well. Though a bit unusual!

do you know why she is off sick?

I genuinely don’t know what world people live in when they say things like this! If you work for a private company in my experience in many departments there is no chance of a temporary cover for long term sick - as far as management see it, the team headcount cannot increase and therefore everyone else has to dig deeper / work has to be done less well. More pressure, lower quality, staff discontent.

I suppose your next suggestion will be to “just go and get another job then” which is also not always realistic for many reasons.

Uncalled for.

Ko where has OP questioned the illness or suggested they should why personal medical info of a colleague.

The question is if anyone has experienced this and how long are the team likely to be doing the extra work of a missing colleague.

OP I agree speak to management about the work load

Usually, you can’t hire a permanent backfill because it impacts headcount. That’s why if you know someone is going to be off for an extended period, they usually use FTC. Typically, after a couple of years, if there’s no prospect of return, the insurer moves them onto their books. (Which frees up the headcount to hire a backfill permanently). For whatever reason, it seems that’s not happened here. The insurers have been burnt in the past with ‘bad back’ claims etc. so they’re much better at actively managing cases these days and in some instance would pay for private treatment where it expedites a return to work.

Yes it happens occasionally when people are long term sick. They are not usually receiving payment.

You are also protected by the same company policies. Do you want fewer employment protections for yourself?

Presumably neither did the sick person.

Sometimes people get ill, and sometimes it continues for a while.

You must be relieved to work in a company that doesn't move automatically to dismissal, which means if your own life were affected by serious illness you would also have protections?

Absolutely

I had a relative who was off work for a year.
(Severely compound leg fracture after a motorbike accident)
At that time he was paid in full by his employer for 6 months, then half pay for 6 months. Just as the pay reverted to zero, he returned to work.
He always felt bad, as it looked as though he returned just when the money stopped.
However, in his case, he had multiple hospital operations, and could prove that he was on 'sick leave' (as it was called).
I have never known anyone else be off sick and still get paid for such a long time.
However, it was many years ago, and I am unfamiliar with current legislation on sick time.

The issue here is the company need to employ someone in a temp position to cover the work load if indeed your issue really is workload and you need to speak to management if you have too much to do, past that it is not your business.

for the sick person, yes I have seen this, twice, once with motor neurone disease and once with cancer.

why the person is unwell, why the company is comfortable to keep the position going, is utterly none of your business. If you are struggling with workload that is your business and you need to have a conversation about that.

I think you should focus on asking management why they aren’t covering this person’s work with a temp at least.

All the time you and colleagues are doing the extra work for no extra pay, employer has zero incentive to change anything.

Check your own employment contract, that will have your own employers sickness criteria. Alternatively, speak to your employers HR department.

Long term sickness does happen and for every serious illness or accident, there's probably just as many who are off for 'stress' or a 'bad back' that mysteriously improves when sick pay runs out.

We've currently got someone who's been off sick for nearly a year because they were put on a performance improvement plan with unreasonable expectations like getting to work on time and making a basic effort to actually do their job, something that no-one else in the team had trouble with. We also had someone who's sickness coincided nicely with the school holidays.

Obviously the problem is that too many employers just pile the sick person's workload onto everyone else who might already be overloaded. OP that's what you need to address. Your workplace is understaffed so they either need to get a temp in, pause some of your work to compensate for the reduced effort available, or find ways to work more efficiently so your workload is easier to manage.

My friends mum had terminal cancer and her boss told her not to resign so her family would get death in service benefit. IIRC from diagnosis through treatment to passing away was about 18 months. She was planning on taking retirement on ill health grounds initially.

My mum was off sick for years with aggravated colitis before finally managing to get ill health retirement. It was awful, she had complications after surgery, spent a lot of time in hospital. The process was really difficult if I recall but it was the nhs.

I have a colleague (NHS) who has worked for 10 weeks in 2 years. Off sick with work related stress and they are still employed, apparently coming back soon and will likely go off again shortly after as they clearly cannot do the job. It is hard to fathom why they are still employed but there you go.

I was off for one and a half years basically bedbound waiting for orthopaedic surgery on full pay BUT I worked full time from home from my bed. I cant see how people get paid for that length of time doing nothing.

Understandably, you and your colleagues are having to cover for your colleague for a ridiculously long period of time. We all get that people are sometimes sick but that doesn't mean you can't be angry/frustrated/whatever else if you have to cover their job as well as your own.

My mum was off ten years until she died and was paid 75% of her salary for that time via the company’s income protection insurance policy. Towards the end she was hassled about returning to work by her recently appointed line manager, despite the fact she had a terminal diagnosis. Think carefully about your attitude OP because it could be you suffering from a life limiting illness one day. Would you be happy to be sacked?

Very similar situation at my work. This person has come back with phased return and reasonable adjustments, but it isn't sustainable for them so they go off again within a month. This has happened 3 times

Its hard not to feel some resentment at the situation. I don't resent the person off sick but I do resent the fact that we have to pick up extra work, when already mega busy and no-one higher up is coming up with solutions to ease this extra load

we have some people come back for a bit then go off with something else, in fact the same thing happened to me, off for 3 months and then sustained a fracture and off again!

some people have bad luck

She didn't pry or comment on her illness. Why are you making things up?

And some people will take advantage of the system