AIBU to resent my colleague planning stress leave before term ends?

[BeGladRobin]

Just a bit of a rant really, I am a primary school teacher. My year group partner is an ECT in her 1st year. She's doing a maternity cover and started mid way through the year. She told me this week that in a couple of weeks, she thinks she will go off with work related stress as she is entitled to 5 weeks sickness on full pay. Therefore she will not have to go to work for the last 5 weeks of term and still get full pay throughout the summer holidays.

She is leaving teaching and has told me she is never setting foot in a classroom again. She is massively struggling with work life balance and is working all of the time. She is also really struggling with low level disruption in the classroom. The children keep taking when she is trying to deliver the teaching input and as a result she is lessons behind my class (instead of completing 2 afternoon lessons every day, her class is only completing 1).

She told me that as a result of work stress and she is going to book a holiday abroad while signed off sick. She told me that she "doesn't give a shit" what people think about me anymore. When I questioned her about the children and the effect of them if she goes off sick. She said "she doesn't care" and "they won't die" so its not the end of the world.

Just a bit fed up as we share planning, so that will mean my workload will massively increase. Also she hasn't started 1 single report yet and isn't planning to.

She clearly doesn't read the news does she, nor understand the implications of what she is doing to herself and others. Having dishonesty on her work record and potentially facing a disciplinary for it is not a good start to her working life. I would be tempted to remind her of this.

If she is leaving teaching does that mean she has already handed her notice in? She may not get paid through the holidays, our attendance policy says that if a period of absence ends in a school holiday we will need proof of fitness to work from a gp otherwise the holiday would be counted as sick leave as well. If she's leaving teaching then you reporting her will make very little difference to her career but for your own workload it is probably worth raising this with your line manager in terms of concern over your workload.

The contract was maternity cover so she may not have had to give notice if it was fixed term - ?

She Is not “not stressed enough” just because she is considering the impact on her pay of sick leave. Most of us could grit our teeth and get through one more awful week if it would cost us thousands not to do so. Especially if not having those thousands would exacerbate stress

Also AFAIK it’s not a slam dunk that you can’t go away when off with stress, as that might help recovery. She hasn’t signed off with a broken leg and then booked a rock climbing trip.

If a doctor signs her off with stress - and she certainly sounds it - how is she being dishonest and risking a disciplinary? (Not to mention that she’s leaving anyway so I can’t imagine school would want to start disciplinary proceedings)

Well she sounds like a bit of an idiot in truth. Anyone planning this sort of thing wouldn’t go around bragging about it beforehand, they’d just do it in private.

@BeGladRobin if she’s only teaching 50% of the planned lessons as you state, then a different teacher taking over may be beneficial for the children.

You also mentioned shared planning of lessons, well currently she’s doing 50% planning with you but not even teaching it, so she’s currently doing unnecessary work, that benefits you and your class not hers. Shared planning is a teacher benefit of multi-form entry schools, there are many one-form entry schools where all planning sits with one teacher, so you’ll just be doing what is expected of one teacher when she goes off sick.

The reports are a different issue. Use AI to speed up the writing process, it can still be personalised for each child if used correctly.

Your colleague IS stressed and she’s confided in you. She shouldn’t have. Let her do what she needs to do for her own sanity. The SLT will deal with the situation when it arises.

Because she is planning to go off sick for five weeks (how does she know she is going to be sick in the future and how does she know how long she is going to be sick for?) and because she is planning to go on a holiday while she is 'off sick'. That's dishonesty which is a very serious disciplinary matter (gross misconduct) and could be referred to the regulatory body. I'm not suggesting to op that she try to get the school to put her through a disciplinary I am suggesting to op that she 'remind' her colleague of the implications and possible consequences of her actions to put some pressure on her to actually stay and do her job. It has been in the news recently that a teacher who took a sicky for one day to go on a stag do was disciplined for it.

If she’s leaving altogether, I wouldn’t get involved. I’d leave her to it and focus my own wellbeing. It’ll hopefully get better long term when she leaves for you, but maybe not for her. If she is dishonest, it will follow her.

It has been in the news recently that a teacher who took a sicky for one day to go on a stag do was disciplined for it

I don’t think that taking a sickie to go on a stag do is the same as going away when signed off for a period with stress.

My understanding is that GPs are more likely to sign off two weeks at a time than five, but if you are signed off and you think it is beneficial to your mental state to go on holiday, that feels more akin to physio for a joint injury than something that would be automatically “cheating the system”

This - she is intentionally gaming the system and ‘planning her stress’ break. Speak to HT so that at least he can just let her go now and arrange cover rather than everyone be landed in it.

I don’t think the HT can just “let her go now” - she has either given notice or her fixed term contract has an end date

IMO, stress is a chronic rather than (necessarily) an acute condition. Knowing that nothing is going to change at work and allow you to keep on for a prolonged period is different to saying that you can’t possibly drag yourself in today, as might be the case with acute illness like flu.

Yes, I thought this too.

To the OP: I think you're allowed to travel abroad for a holiday if you're off sick with stress. I don't know for certain, or whether it is different in different companies/professions. Several of my colleges have done this.

To the OP: I voted YABU because if she's stressed she is entitled to go off sick. However, it is bad for the kids and the fact you're on the hook to step in, so I know why you're annoyed. I honestly think it's an organisational issue for the school - they failed to support her, you, and the kids.

Ultimately people off sick cause others work which is crap. I think if organisations acknowldged this it would be helpful.previously places had the staff to cover holidays and illness. Another team i was in had an outside group - process improvement-- assess and decide we needed 2 staff fewer. But that was ridiculous as with say 5 team members and 20+ days hol and buying extra almost constantly covering for 1 team member. We were maths people and obvious to us but a team of random grads obviously didnt have the maths. All but 2 of the team left due to this.

Thet also moved a piece of work over that was a whole day every day job and another so basically we had no staff to do the main job. Unsurprisingly ut was a huge shit show but the team that can in wouldnt reverse any of it. Plus the obvious pissed off staff who are hardly going to work extra hours as even more work would get dumped on.

Thing is the ect isnt wrong teaching is stressful, the kids are badly behaved and dont listen. And its more obvious to outside/new people. The fact she isnt carrying on teaching though suggests its her opinion of all schools.

Our secondary dont put 1 teacher comment in writing on reports how is that ok? Its all just a calc and grade for behaviour etc.

I don't believe there is are many people who wouldn't hang on for a couple of weeks more at work if they possibly could before getting signed off, if the difference to them was in the thousands of pounds.

As others have said - the summer pay has largely already been earned by her work throughout the year - I can see why she doesn't want to lose it!

Disagree that “oh well she must be really struggling”. I know people want to defend/ protect people’s rights and remove stigma around mental ill-health, taking time off for your mental health etc., but remember that this person has said that she doesn’t give a shit. She didn’t say, I feel bad but I really need to focus on myself, I’m not sure I can cope. If she is unwell, she should take the time now, then get back to work before the summer to do the reports, etc., but instead she is taking the piss out of the systems in place to support people who genuinely need support, simply because any repercussions won’t matter to her personally as she is moving away from teaching.

She said she doesn’t give a shit what people think of her anymore, partly because she is leaving and partly because she has probably reached the stage of overwhelm where she simply cannot care about that.

OP has said "she is massively struggling with work life balance and is working all of the time" - so not sure why you are disagreeing with that, in your first sentence.

What if the fit note ends on the last day of term? Surely that means they are fit to work from that poont onwards?

but remember that this person has said that she doesn’t give a shit.

That's what burnout looks like.

Sounds like she IS stressed.

Why would she be bothered about the children (especially as they are playing up in her classes).

The only thing she has done wrong is telling you

It's possible she genuinely is stressed and needs the leave even though it seems she's planning it. However, as this affects you, and she clearly doesn't care about the impact of her going off, you need to do what it takes to protect yourself and that may mean disclosing the conversation to those in charge.

I have a friend in the NHS who calculates very carefully how much sick leave he can take every year without triggering his hospital's sickness warning procedure (or whatever it's called). This year he's already planned 14 'extra' days...😡This said, I don't know how this can be stopped without affecting people with genuine sickness or disability etc.

Do you also feel sorry for the misbehaving little brats that are causing the disruption?