Holiday whilst sick

Nosmo_King_2

I am currently off sick with a trapped nerve (has severely affected neck/back & use of left arm - numbness & severe pain) am currently being prescribed strong painkillers, anti-spasm/muscle relaxants. Unfortunately my job as a courier involves a lot of driving and lifting of heavy boxes! (probably the last job I could do at present) Unfortunately I have a long standing family holiday booked, Do I need a different type of sick note to cover myself or would I be expected to cancel the holiday? the way things are progressing at the moment I could still be off after the holiday is over. I am currently paying an Osteopath while waiting for an Orthopaedic appointment but without much success. Any idea how I would stand with my employer?

SarEl

You are still under contract and if you wish to book / take holiday then you must notify the employer of the circumstances and the fact that you wish to take holiday. Assuming it is agreed by the employer then you would be entitled to be paid holiday pay and it would be deducted from your annual entitlement just as if you were at work. It would be advisable to ensure that your doctor agrees that a holiday would be accetable medically - that you are not risking further damamge by flying or undertaking certain types of activities.

jamsponge

Hi Nosmo King, sorry to hear you are not well. I too have problems with my nerves which affect my neck, back and right arm. I was off work sick for 15 months and took holiday in this time. It depends what your contract states. Another thing to remember is if you are off for a long period you should not loose any holiday as there has just been a court ruling in the European courts about this. I have just got back last years holiday entitlement on top of what I have this year. HTH

SarEl

jamsponge wrote: »

Hi Nosmo King, sorry to hear you are not well. I too have problems with my nerves which affect my neck, back and right arm. I was off work sick for 15 months and took holiday in this time. It depends what your contract states. Another thing to remember is if you are off for a long period you should not loose any holiday as there has just been a court ruling in the European courts about this. I have just got back last years holiday entitlement on top of what I have this year. HTH

No, it doesn't depend on what your contyract says. You are entitled to paid holiays - either statutory leave or contractual leave - and that entitlement is retained during periods of sickness, as are all the rules attached to notifications for taking holidays (which are actually enshrined in law, not just contracts). So if you are off sick you are legally and contractually required to notify your employer of the intention to take holiday in the same way as if you are not off. If you do not do so then this could be a disci0plinary offence in exactly the same way as it would be if you were at work. Being sick does not suspend your legal or contractual duties, and in the case of holiday requests both apply.And the ruling of the European court only applies to statutory leave and over two years ago wouldn't be my definition of having "just happened" - not does that ruling change any of the above advice. Sick leave is not an alternative form of holiday entitlement, whether you are already off on sick or not.

Nosmo_King_2

SarEl wrote: »

No, it doesn't depend on what your contyract says. You are entitled to paid holiays - either statutory leave or contractual leave - and that entitlement is retained during periods of sickness, as are all the rules attached to notifications for taking holidays (which are actually enshrined in law, not just contracts). So if you are off sick you are legally and contractually required to notify your employer of the intention to take holiday in the same way as if you are not off. If you do not do so then this could be a disci0plinary offence in exactly the same way as it would be if you were at work. Being sick does not suspend your legal or contractual duties, and in the case of holiday requests both apply.And the ruling of the European court only applies to statutory leave and over two years ago wouldn't be my definition of having "just happened" - not does that ruling change any of the above advice. Sick leave is not an alternative form of holiday entitlement, whether you are already off on sick or not.

Thanks for all replies, the holiday I am expecting to take was booked almost 12 months and was also approved by my employers. Don't know if that changes anything.:question:

m33r4

I would think your employers will like you to take your holiday within your sick period. To your employers you are "not in" whether this is through sickness or annual leave. So once you are healthy and back at work, they won't lose out on you not being there through a further time off this time for your holidays.

SarEl

Nosmo_King wrote: »

Thanks for all replies, the holiday I am expecting to take was booked almost 12 months and was also approved by my employers. Don't know if that changes anything.:question:

No - it is still sensible to remind them that this is pre-approved holiday that you are taking - and to be sure that you have medical support for the time. Employers aren't generally unreasonable about such things - what they get annoyed about is people taking sick leave as extra holiday and then expecting to get the holiday too!