Fired for faking sick day?

ILW

geri1965 wrote: »

Are you joking or are you genuinely that stupid?

I am serious, but happy to be corrected. Could you explain where I am wrong?

burnoutbabe

I had 2 weeks off work after an operation (involving open surgery). Now i did go out most days for a walk (and then a coffee and sit down) and walk back.

But due to the general anesthetic, i really couldn't focus for more than 30 mins and sitting at a desk for 8.5 hours a day would have been a struggle.

Normally one is advised to be off work for 6 weeks with my type of operaton, but I had 2 weeks off, then worked from home a week, then was back. So people would have seen me "out having fun in town" but I'd been told to do regular walks to get my strength back up.

(though of course boss knew what I was off sick for, and that I was doing well and what I needed to do to recover)

(If i was off sick normally, i'd still not see a brief trip to local shops as out of order, one needs provisions/medicines).

Evilm

ILW wrote: »

I cannot see how "work related" stress can be anything than other than not suited to the job. Would be grateful if someone could give some examples of where this is not the case.

- Bullying at work
- Temporary workload pickup
- Changing in work methodologies causing someone to have to learn something new and feel inferior.
- Just having far too much on your plate (yes, not strictly 'work' but can make work very difficult and could lead to being signed of for 'work stress').
- Big project that is soon to end being very difficult to manage and causing problems.
- Management/Co-workers out of the office for a long time and getting no support from the company.

All of these could go away and have nothing to do with being not suited to the job.

antonic

Have you ever suffered from work related stress ??

I have and it wasnt a pleasant experience.

It turned me from a "normal" happy person to someone with suicidal thoughts who felt like throwing myself under a train to end it all.

This was 11 years ago and I am happy to say that although it took me 6 months to recover, I am now back at work and have never suffered since.

So unless you have been there, please dont make comments about something you know nothing about.

ILW wrote: »

I cannot see how "work related" stress can be anything than other than not suited to the job. Would be grateful if someone could give some examples of where this is not the case.

ILW

Evilm wrote: »

- Bullying at work
- Temporary workload pickup
- Changing in work methodologies causing someone to have to learn something new and feel inferior.
- Just having far too much on your plate (yes, not strictly 'work' but can make work very difficult and could lead to being signed of for 'work stress').
- Big project that is soon to end being very difficult to manage and causing problems.
- Management/Co-workers out of the office for a long time and getting no support from the company.

All of these could go away and have nothing to do with being not suited to the job.

With the exception of bullying, all of the above are examples of not being the right person for the job. Surely if you cannot handle the workload or atmosphere, then step aside for someone who can.

nikanika0

As for stress:
female team leader in her 50s, charging around shopfloor area and swearing ( very bad words! ) at people was reported to HR, the very next day she was signed off by psychiatrist for 3 months due to workplace stress a.k.a. avoiding disciplinary procedure.

prowla

I think that it is certainly the case that stress can be used as an easy way out, but that there are also genuine cases.

Another option of a case where you could be off sick but genuinely out and about might be RSI. I had it many years back, and I modified how I work to get around it and also invented a piece of kit to help me out (I tried contacting a manufacturer to see if they were interested, but I didn't get a reply back so I guess they weren't bothered about finding out about it!). I know somebody else for whom it was almost crippling, yet it would have been perfectly acceptable for them to have been out and about.