Sick leave - Stress related

Mark_h_4

I think im starting to suffer from stress enduced sickness. I dont think its all related to work as I have a lot on at the moment both at work and home that are casuing me large amounts of stress.

What are the rules/regulartions surrounding this? can you be signed off if its not wholey work related and what support would an employer have to offer if any?

Im trying to avoid taking time off as much as I can as I just hate doing it.

I should explain, as you know previously I have had a few topic's about contractual issues with work and I now cant get hold of the management I need to discuss this with its like they are ignoring me (after a grievance process I guess they cant be blamed).

Along with this there is a person who sits next to me who is every week making complaints about myself but the issues she complains about are either nothing to do with me or things that arent actually an issue at all she just wants to try and make trouble for the sake of it. It makes where I work very awkward and I feel like im always walking on egg shells.

I have been told either I will be moved to a desk away from her or moved to another site as I shouldnt have to put up with how I am getting treated and my management know I havent done anything wrong but nothing has happened and this has been going on for months (If not a year to be honest).

I also have a 11 month old who is ill and is seeing a specialist today to see if we can find out why. He has been suffering from diarrhea for almost 3 weeks now and isnt really eating as well as he should be etc.

Im also moving house at the same time. This has not been easy as there was quite a few issues with my partners wage slips as she had only just gone back to work when we found a new house we wanted. We have made good progress on this now though

It would make sense for all to be getting on top of me but I work by myself which would make me taking time off to try calm down and recover hard for work. Especially as we are understaffed.

I have been getting no support so far from work so far to try and help me.

Do I just need to man up?

joedenise

Your first port of call should be your doctor. Explain everything to the doctor and then let me decide whether you should be signed off. From the sound of your post it looks as though there would be a good chance of being signed off for a while, particularly if management have said they would move you away from your colleague and haven't done it, your GP should take this into account.

Denise

Mara69

I have to be honest - yes, I think you should 'man up' (hate that phrase) and get on with it. But that is the kind of person I am - there are loads of people on here that will disagree with me, I am sure. If it were me, I'd be damned if I would let a colleague who is making vexacious complaints drive me into sick leave. I would be sending strong letters to the management hassling them for a move away from the colleague.

Moving house and a sick child are, of course, going to add the stress - but the move will soon be over and done with and hopefully the hospital will find the cause of your child's illness. I also think that going ofdf sick is only going to add to your stress levels - not lower them.

Mark_h_4

Mara69 wrote: »

I also think that going ofdf sick is only going to add to your stress levels - not lower them.

I can kind of see your point there but at the same time I just keep thinking how much more stress can I physically take

Uncertain

The cause has little if any bearing on this.

If your doctor is of the opinion that it would be better for you to be off work he will offer you a fit (i.e. sick) note. Initially he will probably put something very vague as the illness.

What effect this will have on your employer is anybody's guess and can vary hugely with different organisations. Some will take a very relaxed view for some considerable time where as others will have aggressively "managed" sickness policies.

If you really feel that a week or two off will be very helpful towards a recovery then is is probably the thing to do.

Equally, if the situation is so bad that you see serious consequences if your remain in the work environment then it obviously makes sense to get away from it and deal with any consequences later.

However, if all it is going to do is make a bad situation worse then it may be best to solider on.

Difficult......

Judith_W

When was the last time you took proper annual leave - not really counting Christmas as this can be so hectic. I would say you would be entitled to sick leave without an issue, but you may want to think about how your company would view you afterwards and whether you could avoid it.

1. Get HER moved, why should you have the disruption? Or move if there is an operation reason why she should stay where she is. Pressure them to make this happen asap (make sure documented in writing), as if you end up going on sick leave, they are partially to blame.
2. Take a week's annual leave if you can. Just be there for your child and partner, do some of the things that need doing to get the house move sorted. If management don't think now is a good time, it may be worth carefully advising that you need this time off before things reach tipping point and you have to take sick leave.

vax2002

You are suffering from "paid off while sick" syndrome, it is caught by working in public sector and the few private companies that pays people whilst they are off work sick.
The cure is to take a job, like the building industry, where you dont get paid at all if you dont work, it is an instant cure !

Mark_h_4

Uncertain wrote: »

The cause has little if any bearing on this.

If your doctor is of the opinion that it would be better for you to be off work he will offer you a fit (i.e. sick) note. Initially he will probably put something very vague as the illness.

What effect this will have on your employer is anybody's guess and can vary hugely with different organisations. Some will take a very relaxed view for some considerable time where as others will have aggressively "managed" sickness policies.

If you really feel that a week or two off will be very helpful towards a recovery then is is probably the thing to do.

Equally, if the situation is so bad that you see serious consequences if your remain in the work environment then it obviously makes sense to get away from it and deal with any consequences later.

However, if all it is going to do is make a bad situation worse then it may be best to solider on.

Difficult......

I dont think my employer would have an aggressive managed policy towards it as such just off the back of a grievance procedure I dont think it'd go down so well but that has contributed to the proble?

If that makes any kind of sense.

SarEl

If you think that you are suffering from stress, then you aren't. Seriously! One of the most unfailing symptoms of any stress related condition is that you don't even know that it is affecting you. Like insanity - you can expect to be the last person to know. What it sounds like you are experiencing is the normal pressures of a difficult period. Everyone would struggle with a series of pressures - and you are certainly still balanced enough to realsie that you perhaps haven't done yourself any favours with that grievance! If you can, I would avoid sick leave - it has it's own pressures such as falling foul of absence management processes and risking wracking up poor scores if redundancies are in the offing. Personally I would suggest that you decide what your priorities are and focus on dealing with those. Your daughter is your first one - work on getting her sorted out. Forget your contractual issues for now - the employer has promised to sort these out and it may not be to your timetable, but I would sit back and let this one go for a while. You certainly aren't going to get anywhere faster by nagging at it, and if it is getting to the stage where your managers see you coming and head off down a different corridor, well - take the hint and lay off for a while. If you can't ignore your colleague - and this is usually the best thing to do - then simply ask if you can move / swap desks until management have resolved the contractual issues, which may well solve this problem anyway.

Mark_h_4

Judith_W wrote: »

When was the last time you took proper annual leave - not really counting Christmas as this can be so hectic. I would say you would be entitled to sick leave without an issue, but you may want to think about how your company would view you afterwards and whether you could avoid it.

1. Get HER moved, why should you have the disruption? Or move if there is an operation reason why she should stay where she is. Pressure them to make this happen asap (make sure documented in writing), as if you end up going on sick leave, they are partially to blame.
2. Take a week's annual leave if you can. Just be there for your child and partner, do some of the things that need doing to get the house move sorted. If management don't think now is a good time, it may be worth carefully advising that you need this time off before things reach tipping point and you have to take sick leave.
3.

last holiday I had was in the summer. I had a week off for my birthday (June time) apart from that I have been trying to save my holiday for when i move house. I wasnt even off over christmas.

Mark_h_4

SarEl wrote: »

If you think that you are suffering from stress, then you aren't. Seriously! One of the most unfailing symptoms of any stress related condition is that you don't even know that it is affecting you. Like insanity - you can expect to be the last person to know. What it sounds like you are experiencing is the normal pressures of a difficult period. Everyone would struggle with a series of pressures - and you are certainly still balanced enough to realsie that you perhaps haven't done yourself any favours with that grievance! If you can, I would avoid sick leave - it has it's own pressures such as falling foul of absence management processes and risking wracking up poor scores if redundancies are in the offing. Personally I would suggest that you decide what your priorities are and focus on dealing with those. Your daughter is your first one - work on getting her sorted out. Forget your contractual issues for now - the employer has promised to sort these out and it may not be to your timetable, but I would sit back and let this one go for a while. You certainly aren't going to get anywhere faster by nagging at it, and if it is getting to the stage where your managers see you coming and head off down a different corridor, well - take the hint and lay off for a while. If you can't ignore your colleague - and this is usually the best thing to do - then simply ask if you can move / swap desks until management have resolved the contractual issues, which may well solve this problem anyway.

Thank you. I did indeed think time off wouldnt help. Sadly its not a case of seeing a manager go another way because they dont even work in the same county as me. Im litterally here by myself the person who sits next to me isnt even in my department.