Holidays/festivals whilst on the sick

[Twinklingterapin]

A few colleagues of mine (I work in a school) have been long term sick with mental health, however they have regularly been posting their lives on social media. Ranging from mental health walks, allotment days, coffee dates with friends and even holidays abroad, all whilst off sick. Dont get me wrong i wouldnt expect people to stay inside all day or become a recluse, however I do think there should be a line. The latest has really boiled my blood, seeing posts of a colleague at Download, posing with his friends, and saying how good it is for his mental health.

Surely I cant be the only one to think this is too far? You shouldn't be able to be off on the sick from work but still go festival.

I think being well enough to work & being well enough to do other things are two different things.

Maybe that break did help their mental health, maybe the time spent with friends helped, maybe it was all booked and organised months ago and so they had already spent the money and thought it was worth a go… honestly it’s not their responsibility to ensure staffing is correct and cover is accurate to not impact other staff. If you have an issue with that, you need to speak to management.

This is how I see it. But apparently Im in the minority, and very unreasonable for how I feel.

A 5 day festival, where all aspects has been shared on Facebook, is completely acceptable.

I'm not twisting anything, you've either got a problem with mental health walks or write poorly.

Your biggest mistake is sharing SM with collegues.

Respectfully, I disagree.

Yes people are taking the absolute piss with this kind of thing - soft ‘mental health’ diagnosis have got a lot to answer for

What is "soft MH diagnosis"? Would you like to share your expertise on this?

I don't get this. The woman was off sick with a broken leg, and was seen out in the community with a visibly broken leg?

How did that lead to her being sacked?

You could literally link anything to mental health. It’s so tenuous… Difficult for employers.

Same for physical health.

well I’ve already said it really. There are way too many people taking the piss because their (in many cases) self diagnosed mental health conditions apparently gives them to green light to enjoy lots of recreational activities whilst on a full salary!

You do realise if they’ve been signed off sick a GP has diagnosed them, right

So you claim to know all the ins and outs of your colleagues that might be off with MH issues (BTW is a huge catch all term.. not everyone is off with depression).
I am sure their GP knows better than you.

Yes, fair point. But at least it can be talked about in practical terms. MH is a different matter, not always, but for HR it’s another scenario.

Where do you think should be the line then 🤔

That is with OH departments and GPs. Nothing to do with anyone else.

Are they too anxious to do anything they don’t want to do?

Doing something you like, and working, are totally different things with totally different demands.
If you can't see the difference then I wonder how you made it to adulthood.

That’s kind of what I’m saying. It’s impossible to have a line, really. So if somebody is diagnosed sick (whether mental or physical, as XB pointed out) then they are. I think MH is more difficult, but valid of course. So this is where we are. Some colleagues won’t like it.

But being fit to work is more than being able to physically commute there, right? You have to be physically capable of doing the job when there.

For example, colleagues can't work where I am if they're still needing to take strong painkillers (so anything better than paracetamol!), because of the potential for impaired decision making. I've never had a broken leg and I hope I never do, but that sounds like a scenario where I'd be on more than paracetamol.

I don’t disagree, but the OP said there should be a line. The obvious rhetorical question is: where exactly is that line.

Absolutely. People from work generally shouldn’t add each other on social media, precisely to avoid situations like this. My colleagues have no business knowing what I do outside of work, and I have no interest in knowing what they do in their private lives either.

I think the line is already set and that is with OH and GP.... not collegues,

Yep, I only added colleagues after I left that job.
You open yourself up to a whole world of trouble if you add people on SM that you still work with.

Walk a mile in someone’s shoes before you judge. I was actively encouraged to go on away by the GP and work whilst off with stress. i didn’t however post it on social media.

I am off at the moment with mental health and I have posted pictures at my Cousin’s wedding, at the beach, the pub etc. These photos were with my Mum who has died today of pancreatic cancer. She was given between 3 to 6 months to live and lasted just over 2 months. I cherished ever moment with her and hope my colleagues and friends understand.