Pulling sickies at work..

Silverbird

Never pulled a sickie in my life and never would. My morals and standards are too high to do so and it makes me feel sick myself when I know a colleague hasn't been genuinely ill and yet took a day (or more) off because 'they felt they needed it' etc.

I'm paid to do a job and if I'm well enough to do it then I'll be at my desk every day.

catkins

I worked in an office for over 25 years and never pulled a sickie- in fact I was rarely ill. Then I started in retail where I did not get paid if I was off sick. I actually have had more illness in those 6 years than over the previous 27!! I have had colds caught from customers coming in coughing and sneezing and from other staff, sickness bugs from other staff. Problem is because you do not get paid people come in to work even when they shouldn't.

Where I work now it is very difficult to get holiday. Only one person is allowed to be off at a time, weekends are almost impossible, bank holidays are more or less not allowed, no holidays can be taken in November, December or January!!! Twice I have pulled a sickie this year because I wanted time off (once to go to a wedding!) and knew it would be refused. If I asked and then went sick it would be obvious and would result in disciplinary action. I did not get paid so no I do not feel guilty about it - they should not be so strict on holiday.

SandC

The last time I had a day of sick was in 2003, so that's over 6 years. But actually that day was admittedly I just felt a bit under the weather and then I took the next day too to make it look more genuine. I did it because I wanted my bosses to appreciate what an impact it would have me not being in the office. And it did, had I not gone in on day 3 they had already made steps to bring a temp in.

However, I regret doing it as it didn't feel right and the workload on my return was astonishing.

Why haven't I had any days off sick since? I don't consider myself to have been ill enough at any time. If I have a cold, as a single and childless person I have the luxury of being able to go home from work and then straight to bed. I also have my own office so can keep germ spreading to a minimum. Besides which, for how long is the cold infectious anyway and haven't you already infected others around you when you get the first signs that you are coming down with something? Having said that, I am aware that some colds you just feel so damn rotten at the height of it, day two say, that work can be virtually impossible. I have been ill in that time but seem to get the worst when I'm on holiday or weekends anyway - perhaps it's related to when you switch off from work and relax your immune system lowers or something so you are more likely to come down with something than when you are running on all cylinders.

I do have a problem with people being off sick but still seemingly able to ferry the kids around and do everything else around the home that they normally do.

I also do think that different people have different perceptions of what being too ill to work actually is. For me you have to be tucked up in bed and doing absolutely nothing but getting yourself better. Or if you have a bug where a toilet needs to be on hand at all times it is not possible to be at work under those circumstances.

SandC

donquine wrote: »

I rarely take sick days and I wish I did. I catch colds etc quite a lot (don't seem to pass them on though!) and battle on. I take such a long time to recover because I'm always working and don't give myself time to get better, whereas if I just took one day off and spent it in bed sleeping, I'd get better really quickly.

The worst thing is that I work with someone who pulls regular sickies amd who has admitted to me they do so. Without any evidence I can't tell management - all I can do is get more and more resentful. :mad:

I remember at my first employer I was talking to a colleague I was friendly with and I suddenly realised I had gone 4 years without having a day off sick. My colleague stunned me with her response, which was 'so whose fault's that then?'.

Moon_Maiden

Catkins agree with you about working in retail. All those bugs redistributed by customers and staff, plus air conditioning - what a mix. With regards to AL are those terms stipulated in your T&C of employment? Speak to ACAS if you need sound advice as you are entitled to leave which is suitable to your needs. If you had a wedding in Australia in December it would be unreasonable and hard-hearted not to let you attend. Is your boss scrooge?

bitemebankers

SandC wrote: »

I also do think that different people have different perceptions of what being too ill to work actually is. For me you have to be tucked up in bed and doing absolutely nothing but getting yourself better. Or if you have a bug where a toilet needs to be on hand at all times it is not possible to be at work under those circumstances.

My definition is: do you have an infection you could pass on to others?

If so, stay at home. End of!

liney

Mutter wrote: »

That Polish woman makes me laugh.

"I will dismiss anyone who takes a sickie" Get with the employment laws here, sweety.

You cannot dismiss anyone for being ill for a day. END OF.

I have a feeling you are personally picking my cucumbers. Yes I do wash them well, in Milton.

Pulling a Sickie, ie not really ill, just fancied staying at him/going shopping/kids are ill. If you discover that a member of staff is calling in sick, but actually isn't, this would be gross misconduct, and a dismissable offense.

GSXRCarlos

i'm 26 and i'm of the mind that i'd rather go into work sick and get sent home than to just stay in bed and make the phonecall

Hermia

I have never pulled a sickie. I would just feel too guilty. I think it's also a stupid thing to do. I have not had a day off sick for a few years and then this last year it all went wrong. I got swine flu and became very very ill as I have asthma. I had to take 10 days off as I could barely breathe and felt like I was going to die. I then had to have a tooth out and suffered lots of complications. I barely slept for a couple of weeks, was at the dentist every other day and was in agonising pain. The doctor took one look at me and signed me off sick. So I had a lot of days off this year, but my company was very sympathetic because they could see I don't take days off unless I am at death's door. If I had pulled a few sickies each year I wonder if I would have faced an interview with occupational health.

dtc04

I never take time off if Im well but one day last year I needed to take some time off to do something, but I knew that I couldn't take a days holiday because someone else was already on holiday that day so I was going to ring in.

In the middle of the night the day before I started to be sick, and ended up with a d&v bug and was off for 4 days. The doctor said it hit me harder and lasted longer than it would have done because I was pregnant. I went back after 4 days but only my boss kept ringing to ask if I knew when Id be back. I still felt unwell and should have taken a couple more days.