Fit note - reasonable things I can do while off sick

Karenl2012

Hello,


I have been signed off with workplace stress and I am unsure what I am allowed to do while I'm off. I have been signed off for 2 months (I go back the middle of Jan). I have worked at my company for over 8 years and the stress is due to behaviour in the workplace.


Currently I am going for walks, doing food shopping etc in my local area but I have been invited to a few meet ups with friends in the lead up to Christmas which will involve drinking / having dinner.


I would like to go to some of these things as I haven't seen anyone for a few weeks (second week off) and I could do with a laugh but I feel terrified in case I get 'caught'. I have asked a few people and some are saying its not worth risking it and other are saying as its work related stress going out and having fun will be good for me.


There doesn't seem to be any guidelines anywhere and I still get pretty nervy when I'm talking a walk in my local area in case anyone sees me. I feel like I should lock myself away just to be on the safe side.


Another dilemma I have is that a friend from work has asked me to meet her for a drink, I've known her for years but I'm just not sure what would happen if my work found out I met up with her. I feel like a bag of nerves at the moment.


Does anyone have any advice or know where I can get some advice from. I'm in for a pretty quiet Christmas / New Year at this rate!


Thank you

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Your condition, if it is to improve, will involve rehabilitation i.e. gradually getting back to normal. So the activities you suggest seem compatible with that.[/FONT]

aife

The things you're doing are perfectly reasonable , but sadly that doesn't mean some employers wouldn't try and use it against you.
If you go on nights out ask not to be included in any pictures - you don't want to end up on Facebook grinning and waving a champagne glass about
Does your work friend know your current circumstances ?

[Deleted User]

If the stress is coming from your workplace, keeping away from work won't fix the problem, it will just mask it. What are you and your employer doing about that?

Did you have a stress risk assessment? What does your GP think you should be doing?

The longer you stay off work the harder it will be to go back. If you can have a "normal" life outside of work without the bother of actually going in to work, how fair is that to your colleagues?

You need to get well again but you do need to tackle the issues directly else it could go on forever.

sangie595

camelot1971 wrote: »

If you can have a "normal" life outside of work without the bother of actually going in to work, how fair is that to your colleagues?
.

That is a silly comment. A fit note tells the OP to refrain from work, not refrain from life. And it has nothing to do with fairness to colleagues.

OP, is is true to say that not addressing this with the employer will simply make it harder to go back, and won't solve anything. So you do need to be in discussions with the employer about what the problem is and how you resolve this.

But you may certainly do other things unless your doctor had suggested otherwise - having anxiety does not mean that you can't have a drink or smile! And nobody should be guilt tripping you into going back or not setting foot outside the house simply because your colleagues might think it isn't fair.

One word of caution though - be cautious of what you say and post on the internet. Do not discuss the reasons for your sickness with your friend. Do not post anything employment related on Facebook or anything else. Don't say a thing about your employment! Because when someone hands over what you have said to the employer, it is always a "friend".

ohreally

Get on with the activities of life just try and ensure the merrier ones don’t end up on Facebook.

[Deleted User]

sangie595 wrote: »

That is a silly comment. A fit note tells the OP to refrain from work, not refrain from life. And it has nothing to do with fairness to colleagues.

Sorry, I disagree. This is not a comment about the OP, but broadly, if someone is carrying on with life in exactly the same way as they were when they were working, but are now not working due to stress, how is that helpful to anyone?

Workplace stress doesn't give you the right to just not go to work and carry on as normal. As I said, it's not helpful to the employee or the employer in the long term.

The aim of being off work and signed off by your GP is to get better! Of course people can do lots of things to support that outside of work, and that includes socialising, going out etc. However, my view is there should be a plan in place so both the employee and employer (and possibly the GP) are clear on what is expected.

fraserbooks

I agree having fun at Christmas is fine. I think it would also be useful to show what activities you have been doing to help manage your stress. Would it be possible to join a walking for health group or a yoga class?

TELLIT01

I don't see any problem in meeting up with friends from work, I would just avoid formal, company organised events. Attending those would almost inevitably involve mixing with people who are part of the cause of you being off with stress, and probably would be viewed as an odd thing to do by your employer.
A former colleague of my wife left the company due to work related stress but was fine if meeting up with people he considered to be friends from work. However, simply the mention of the name of one or two other former colleagues was enough to send him off an an extended rant which was virtually uncontrollable.

sangie595

camelot1971 wrote: »

Sorry, I disagree. This is not a comment about the OP, but broadly, if someone is carrying on with life in exactly the same way as they were when they were working, but are now not working due to stress, how is that helpful to anyone?

Workplace stress doesn't give you the right to just not go to work and carry on as normal. As I said, it's not helpful to the employee or the employer in the long term.

The aim of being off work and signed off by your GP is to get better! Of course people can do lots of things to support that outside of work, and that includes socialising, going out etc. However, my view is there should be a plan in place so both the employee and employer (and possibly the GP) are clear on what is expected.

Your view, however, is not law. Thankfully. I made it clear that I would certainly expect the employer to respond to such a diagnosis by looking at how they can resolve this. But the diagnosis has nothing at all to do with their life outside work, and there is no reason at all why they cannot socialise or carry out normal day to day activities. There is no evidence at all that those activities would make the OP ill in any way.

But a diagnosis of work related stress for which the doctor has provided a period of sick leave from work actually really does give you the right to not go to work - and in no way says you may not go out with friends.

And actually, if you check what I said - my objection was that you attempted to guilt trip the OP by saying "If you can have a "normal" life outside of work without the bother of actually going in to work, how fair is that to your colleagues?". Their work colleagues have absolutely nothing to do with it - that is sheer blackmailing of the sort used by employers - you really need to come back to work because your colleagues are suffering. The correct response is - you really need to come back to work because we are working on the causes of your anxiety at work and want to resolve this.

Work related anxiety does not mean that someone needs to become a hermit. You were very clear that meeting your friends for a drink over Christmas etc., was unfair to their colleagues - it isn't at all.

[Deleted User]

We'll just have to agree to disagree. No where have I said someone off sick for work related stress can't have a life or must live like a hermit.

What I did say was if absolutely nothing changes in a persons life other than going to work, how is that making progress to get better?

I've actually been a manager and helped staff through work related stress. Quite a few times it actually turned out to be nothing to do with work and everything to do with other problems in their lives.

I also had people use "stress" as an excuse for not wanting to do any work and I have also supporting people who have had genuine issues at work and helped my employer fix the problem.

Finally, a lot of jobs have an element of stress in them, especially public facing ones! Just because someone doesn't want any stress at all doesn't make them right.