If I am away sick with a certificate can I go to Greece on holiday

MarkRice

I am off long term sick (4 months)with a doctors certificate with full pay. Legally can I still go on holiday to Greece and still be paid or can my employers not pay me for the week I am away. I had my holiday dates booked long before I started my sick leave. Any advise before I even broach my employers. Any advise will be appreciated.

specialboy

You need to ask your employer, only they can tell you especially since you are on full pay while off sick.

Ms_Chocaholic

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4264

tomtontom

Legally you are entitled to go on holiday whilst on sick leave. However the employer would be entitled to question whether going on holiday contradicts your reason for being unfit for work, and if suitable take disciplinary action accordingly.

Undervalued

tomtontom wrote: »

Legally you are entitled to go on holiday whilst on sick leave. However the employer would be entitled to question whether going on holiday contradicts your reason for being unfit for work, and if suitable take disciplinary action accordingly.

Yes indeed.

Just to add, I would strongly suggest you make sure your doctor is "on side" and will back you up if need be.

With some types of illness going on holiday could actually be beneficial and help you to get back to work sooner. If this is the case then it would seem sensible to discuss this with your employer rather than relying on a borderline legal "right".

warmhands.coldheart

tomtontom wrote: »

Legally you are entitled to go on holiday whilst on sick leave. However the employer would be entitled to question whether going on holiday contradicts your reason for being unfit for work, and if suitable take disciplinary action accordingly.

Not true actually, if off on stress (As our public sector here in Northern Ireland are very good at) you can argue a holiday helps relieve stress.... if you have a broken arm and can't do your job as it involves manual lifting, it doesn't mean you can't lie on a lounger !!! It all depends on what you are signed off for and if your employer has made any reasonable adjustments to accommodate it....
i.e again, if your job involved lifting and you had broke or sprained something in your arm say.... One option would be for you're employer to find a temp role for you within the company that didn't need heavy lifting or the likes to get you back to work, even something basic like very basic admin... if they don't and you therefore have to stay off till better then they can't dictate that you are not allowed to go on holiday....

Takeaway_Addict

If you are on holiday then I believe you still need to follow teh standard procedures for holidays.

I think I would ask this question to SarEL on redundacyforum.co.uk as I am sure in the past she has said that if you are either on holiday or sick. If you are sick you still maybe requested to come in for a meeting which of course if you are abroad you won't be able to attend.

I would expect most employers however would see no issue in going abroad if it is going to benefit the employee and they aren't swinging the lead.

Undervalued

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

Not true actually, if off on stress (As our public sector here in Northern Ireland are very good at) you can argue a holiday helps relieve stress.... if you have a broken arm and can't do your job as it involves manual lifting, it doesn't mean you can't lie on a lounger !!! It all depends on what you are signed off for and if your employer has made any reasonable adjustments to accommodate it....
i.e again, if your job involved lifting and you had broke or sprained something in your arm say.... One option would be for you're employer to find a temp role for you within the company that didn't need heavy lifting or the likes to get you back to work, even something basic like very basic admin... if they don't and you therefore have to stay off till better then they can't dictate that you are not allowed to go on holiday....

Actually tomtontom is quite correct. S/he say that the employer "is entitled to question........." which indeed they would be. Now it may be (as you rightly say and indeed I said earlier) that there can be good justification for taking the holiday in some circumstances but the employer is certainly entitled to look closely at the situation.

Also you mention "reasonable adjustments". Technically an employer is only obliged to make these if the employee has a disability as opposed to simply being off sick. Although a modern "fit" (i.e sick) note has space for a doctor to suggest adjustments that may help a sick employee to return sooner, the employer is under no legal obligation to follow this advice. They are quite entitled to say the employee can only return if they are fit enough to do their normal job.

geri1965_2

How would they know?

warmhands.coldheart

Undervalued wrote: »

.. Also you mention "reasonable adjustments". Technically an employer is only obliged to make these if the employee has a disability as opposed to simply being off sick. Although a modern "fit" (i.e sick) note has space for a doctor to suggest adjustments that may help a sick employee to return sooner, the employer is under no legal obligation to follow this advice. They are quite entitled to say the employee can only return if they are fit enough to do their normal job.

Not obliged, I agree, but I would think in their interest if any way economically viable to get the employee back to work otherwise as you say they will just have to stay off until fit to do their own job again..... we had a guy who managed to stick a drill bit in his eye... (don't ask)..... he was back a week later doing very basic light tasks and was happy doing it with his eye patch on.... 4 weeks later he's back on his "normal" job.... Other end of the spectrum, also had a guy who "Sprained" a wrist..... somehow he couldn't do anything for 6 weeks so no matter what light work he was offered he "Couldn't do it"..... would love to know how he wiped his backside !!.... guess a lot is down to the individual too and their own personal work ethic..

Takeaway_Addict

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

Not obliged, I agree, but I would think in their interest if any way economically viable to get the employee back to work otherwise as you say they will just have to stay off until fit to do their own job again..... we had a guy who managed to stick a drill bit in his eye... (don't ask)..... he was back a week later doing very basic light tasks and was happy doing it with his eye patch on.... 4 weeks later he's back on his "normal" job.... Other end of the spectrum, also had a guy who "Sprained" a wrist..... somehow he couldn't do anything for 6 weeks so no matter what light work he was offered he "Couldn't do it"..... would love to know how he wiped his backside !!.... guess a lot is down to the individual too and their own personal work ethic..

Playing devils advocate, it might also be in their interest to play hardball and move the employee on by not making adjustments they are not required to do.