Moral Dilemma - A/L or GP Sick note - what would you do ??

A_Frayed_Knot

Hi, just a quick question on what you would do.  I work part time at weekends.

Long story short - have been off for the last two weekends and due to my health issue I could not collect my sick line from GP
so I called in work this yesterday and said I would be back but if they didn't need me then could I have a/l, which was granted. 

Managed to collect sick line which to my horror discover that it included this weekend as well !!! so called them right away, and 
they said to let them know what I want to do.

My morals tell me to use my a/l, since I had called them - but wondered what others would do in this instance.  

Would you use the sick line or your a/l  ??

 

DullGreyGuy

Personally always had too much holiday to take so would use the holiday... obviously also depends on what your sick pay is -v- normal pay

Marcon

A_Frayed_Knot said:

Hi, just a quick question on what you would do.  I work part time at weekends.

Long story short - have been off for the last two weekends and due to my health issue I could not collect my sick line from GP
so I called in work this yesterday and said I would be back but if they didn't need me then could I have a/l, which was granted. 

Managed to collect sick line which to my horror discover that it included this weekend as well !!! so called them right away, and 
they said to let them know what I want to do.

My morals tell me to use my a/l, since I had called them - but wondered what others would do in this instance.  

Would you use the sick line or your a/l  ??

 

Sounds like a very decent employer, so doing the decent thing in return and taking it as annual leave feels the 'right' thing to do, especially if you were 'horrified' (?really!) to find the sick note included the weekend.

TBagpuss

I'd use annual leave. It sounds as though you were well enough to go into work and were only off because you asked to be.

It also sounds as though they have been decent in how they treat you, and that you weren't expecting to have the extra day as sick leave.

With all those factors, I wouldn't feel comfortable taking advantage.

MalMonroe

They are giving you the option. And as you have the sick note and will obviously be sending it in to your employer, then I'd take it as sick leave as that is what you are entitled to do.

A very decent employer, too, I might add. Giving you the option. You have a genuine sick note, though, so I wouldn't use annual leave. I have to say that I could never have enough annual leave before I retired and so if you can hang on to your quota, and your employer is obviously going to accept your GPs say-so that you were too ill to work, then there isn't a problem that I can see.

I don't think there is any moral dilemma here. You are sick, you have a sick note from your GP to prove it. Take sick leave, not annual leave. That's just daft.

In my own humble opinion, of course!  All the best. 

MalMonroe

TBagpuss said:

I'd use annual leave. It sounds as though you were well enough to go into work and were only off because you asked to be.

It also sounds as though they have been decent in how they treat you, and that you weren't expecting to have the extra day as sick leave.

With all those factors, I wouldn't feel comfortable taking advantage.

Not taking advantage if you are genuinely ill and have a sick note from a qualified GP. That's called being ill and calling in sick.

El_Torro

While I agree that the employer is handling it decently I think that if your GP genuinely believes that you are not well enough to work (it seems they do, since they wrote you a fit note) then there's no issue in taking it as sick leave. 

A_Frayed_Knot

Thanks everyone,

all opinons appreciated, and everyone had a good point - I felt I had to do the "right" thing for me
Had I not phoned in- I may have made a different decision  

I did feel better and employers have been very fair.

So, I called in this morning and said I would take this weekend as a/l. 

TBagpuss

MalMonroe said:

TBagpuss said:

I'd use annual leave. It sounds as though you were well enough to go into work and were only off because you asked to be.

It also sounds as though they have been decent in how they treat you, and that you weren't expecting to have the extra day as sick leave.

With all those factors, I wouldn't feel comfortable taking advantage.

Not taking advantage if you are genuinely ill and have a sick note from a qualified GP. That's called being ill and calling in sick.

No, but if OP had been sick but had recovered more quickly than their GP anticipated, then they aren't sick any more. It's not clear when OP originally contacted their GP but all the GP can do is make a 'best guess' at how long you will be ill for. IF they are wrong, and you've recovered faster than they expected, then you aren't genuinely ill any more, and the fact that the GP thought that you might be, then they wrote the fit note, doesn't change that.

I don't think anyone here, including myself, suggested that OP should not use the fit note for the periods when they were actually sick. The question was about using a fir note after you have recovered, which is a different question.