Am I safe to take 10 weeks off sick for stress and anxiety? No previous sick record

susan792091

Hi. I have been through a grievance process with my employer

mrcow

Can anyone tell me if it is remotely likely that they could get to the point of dismissing me within 10 weeks

Of course it's possible, perhaps even likely depended in circumstances.

To be signed off with "depression" you have to be diagnosed with it.

Depression isn't some sort of phantom disease that you can assign to yourself becuase you're fed up with work.

bristol_pilot

Kiss goodbye to your career if you have sickness due to any kind of mental disorder that is not a disability - 'stress' etc is not something employers want to hear. And 10 weeks on the sick for any reason will have a similar effect.

dmg24

I agree with everything mrcow has noted, it is possible to be dismissed whilst being signed off sick. Also, whilst stress and depression can be related, they are in reality very different things.

Whilst I can appreciate that you may be stressed, a GP is unlikely to sign you off for ten weeks without regular reviews and evidence of you taking steps to get back to work. A sick note should not be seen as a stop gap until you reach redundancy.

viktory

susan792091 wrote: »

Hi. I have been through a grievance process with my employer and just got a really unsatisfactory outcome after a month of waiting. I am planning on appealing and going to an employment tribunal, but I know it will be stressful. In the last month I have also had a miscarriage, and my house was burgled. I want to go to my doctor and get signed off sick for a while because I cannot bear the thought of returning to work. 10 weeks would take me to the end of September, and at that time my office is closing so I should be made redundant. However, whilst my sickness "entitlement" is 12 weeks, my employer has "triggers" in place and a review meeting is supposed to happen if an employee is off for more than 9 days. They have a three stage sickness management process which can result in dismissal. I don't care about what they think any more, I just want out - but really want to hang in there for the redundancy payment. Can anyone tell me if it is remotely likely that they could get to the point of dismissing me within 10 weeks, if I have a doctors note? And is it better to be off for work related stress, or general depression??

Any advice appreciated!

You've had a rough time of it certainly, but the idea of you planning to take ten weeks off work because you are fed up with work leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Clearly you are neither depressed or suffering from work related stress - you are simply planning it.

I would suggest that your employers would be delighted to sack you and save themselves some redundancy money. If you are off for that length of time you are clearly unfit to do your job.

Uncertain

This really comes down to what your Doctor thinks. If (s)he feels that it is in the best interests of your health to be off work, then a certificate will be signed. GPs see a lot of these type of cases and are good at knowing if you are ill or just fed up!

If a Doctor issues a certificate (probably for 1 to 2 weeks initially) and keeps re-issuing them I think is is unlikely that the firm would get very far down the capability dismissal route within 3 months. There are considerable steps to go through for this to happen properly. If they shortcut the process they are wide open to an unfair dismissal claim.

At the end of the day you are either unwell or you are not. Only you and your Doctor can jointly decide this.

Make the decision based on your state of health alone.

hayley11

I didn't really want to post because I haven't anything remotely positive to say but then I just saw your other post. You obviously want to leave this company, you are planning on getting your doctor to sign you off for 10 weeks, how do you know you will still feel stressed in 10 weeks?

It sounds to me, and others that you just want to leave this company, want the redundancy pay but don't actually want to work for the next 10 weeks.

If you are honestly stressed, then I feel for you but stress is very different to depression and shouldn't be used just to get out of working.

And remember, once you are made redundant and you apply for other jobs, they will want to know how many days sick you've had in the last year, two years etc. So doing this may go against you for future jobs.

DVardysShadow

susan792091 wrote: »

Hi. I have been through a grievance process with my employer and just got a really unsatisfactory outcome ... I want to go to my doctor and get signed off sick for a while because I cannot bear the thought of returning to work. 10 weeks would take me to the end of September, and at that time my office is closing so I should be made redundant. .... I don't care about what they think any more, I just want out - but really want to hang in there for the redundancy payment. Can anyone tell me if it is remotely likely that they could get to the point of dismissing me within 10 weeks, if I have a doctors note? And is it better to be off for work related stress, or general depression??

Any advice appreciated!

Don't take this entirely the wrong way, but you seem on top of things to the degree that you are cynical enough to plan to take the mick to get your redundancy.

The advice would be to go to work and take the mick while turning up, not while sat at home. The risk of sitting at home is that you might feel tempted to go out and do something perfectly ordinary, but which runs the risk of your sick status being queried and loss of redundancy. They will be keen to prevent you being declared redundant, I am sure.

ohreally

susan792091 wrote: »

In the last month I have also had a miscarriage, and my house was burgled.

If you misscarried after 24 weeks you retain your rights to maternity leave and if you qualify for it, maternity pay.

pinkshoes

Why don't you just bite the bullet and go back to work for 10 weeks? Or if you really don't want to go back, just hand your notice in. 10 weeks off "sick" will screw your future career up.

What was the grievance about?

liney

That work reference will follow you around. Poor attendance.

If i were the employer i'd follow my proceedure to the letter and dismiss you if i could - however without seeing the proceedure no one can really comment on whether they are able to dismiss you within the 10 weeks.

To be honest your post sounds like you are embarassed to return to work after your complaint has not been upheld, and are using the other factors as justification not to attend and get the sympathy vote.