Acceptable length of time off work for broken leg?

Im self employed and had 3 days of after dislocation and the following knee surgery, hurt like a ******* but i was skint and scared of losing the job i had at the time.
 
Take as much time as you can and only go back on you last day of full pay. Do not feel guilty because believe me the company doesnt care about you mate and you are just a number. Enjoy sitting at home on full pay tbh lol
 
Anything more than a half day, and you are shirking your responsibilities as a tax paying human being.. get off that sofa and back in the office or be branded a lazy doley scumbag..

Failing that.. take the time that you need to heal, worst thing you can do, is put stress on an incomplete heal..
 
I had 3 months off when I smashed my knee, I ripped the ligaments, cartridge and broken bone was a freaking mess and hurt like nothing you can believe.

My main jump is in the office (engineer) but I had to set with my leg in a metal contraption for 8 weeks and another 3 months after that in a supporting brace.

Work had no problems with me being off and paid me in full. (It happened at work due to snow and ice but I never felt the need to sue anyone) By the end of three months I was going kinda strange tbh. Being house bound by yourself for 3 months isn't fun. Full recovery took 6 months before I could walk with help but after 3 months I was glad to be hopping around on crouches at work
 
I've had the flu all week and was told I could take the week off. But really, it is very boring doing nothing all day when you are too sick to go outside or enjoy yourself. Instead of lieing in bed feeling miserable I've been working some hours here and there, skyped into a couple meetings, answered emails, did a little coding when I felt together. In No way doing my regular 8-6 job but feeling productive and making the hours tick by. If I could sleep through the day maybe I would but when I feel like poop I can't sleep so much so I try to ignore and keep myself busy.
 
I broke my 5th metatarsel on my left foot last year. I was signed off for 6 weeks however I was always in contact with my works providing tech support via my phone. I said if they get a laptop sorted for me I'll do some of the office based stuff from home however my company is pretty strict on IP and security when it comes to IT equipment and it ended up I needed to go to work to sort a laptop to bring it home. Either way I left it never got sorted out.

Three and a half weeks into my six off there was a knock at my front door. On opening the door I was presented with two managers from where I work. Ended up that my colleague had gone off with stress and that left me and only me who could keep the department going. I had to be assessed etc at work and go through a little paperwork due to being signed off but now going back to work. For the first few days work arranged taxis for me but sorted me an automatic hire car which was very useful! At the end of the day they knew I was doing them a big favour so they tried to make things as easy as possible for me. They also gave me a couple of hundred pounds worth of vouchers to spend on amazon, though I would have preferred a payrise, who wouldn't! It was my choice to go back and help though, as I was signed off I could have chosen not too but to be honest I was getting bored at home anyway. I'm also sure breaking my foot isn't quite as bad as breaking a leg!

If you can I'd just go the route of offering to work from home and leave it up to your works to sort things out so this can happen.
 
AndyCroft1982 said:
Take as much time as you can and only go back on you last day of full pay. Do not feel guilty because believe me the company doesnt care about you mate and you are just a number. Enjoy sitting at home on full pay tbh lol
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Whilst he shouldn't return too early to cause his injuries no time to heal, or be in pain. That behaviour/attitude is frankly appalling. Really poor work ethic, sure big corporations don't care probably, and you don't necessarily owe them anything, but that attitude is pretty poor. I hope it doesn't reflect what modern society and its behaviours in the workplace is like.
 
Better to take the recommended time off and not risk aggravating the injury by being a martyr and struggling to get to work.

A broken leg is a pretty serious injury and i think it would be best to listen to a doctor's advice.
 
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Your in GD fella, man up and get into work and never worry about an oul cast. In fact broken legs are the new cold, just get into work and give everybody one.

Seriously though, probably easier to say than do but try not to feel guilty and use the time off that specialist recommends knowing you're healing properly rather than unnecessarily putting extra strain on yourself. Get well soon.
 
Freefaller said:
Whilst he shouldn't return too early to cause his injuries no time to heal, or be in pain. That behaviour/attitude is frankly appalling. Really poor work ethic, sure big corporations don't care probably, and you don't necessarily owe them anything, but that attitude is pretty poor. I hope it doesn't reflect what modern society and its behaviours in the workplace is like.
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Thankfully managers generally are wise enough to such things and you only do yourself out of pocket in the long term. Forget promotions etc.

As said see what the specialist says. and then talk to manager. Depending what your job is. They maybe able to put you on more suitable jobs. No reason at all to have a long time off, with a broken leg.

As for doctoral note. Had no issue returning earlier, as most doctors note these days, have a line in saying something along the lines 4 weeks. Unless he/she feels ready. Basically giving you the option to decide when you feel ready.
After breaking sternum, went back to work after 5 weeks. But in an office duty, then after another ~5 weeks went back properly and anything I couldn't do, like lift objects, other people just had to chip in. If I waited until it was fully healed, would have been off work for ~18months. Best thing is after the specialist talk to your manager and see what all the options are, having lots of time off work sounds great, but your spending money, rather than earning. So its pretty much in front of the TV and that sucks after a few days. Management are usually very understanding, as a lot off bonuses have things like sick rate included. So its better to have you back at quarter capacity than on sick, when I went back it was office based and I could leave anytime I wanted, if I was in pain/tiered etc. Others might say there's nothing you can do and stay off, but at least you've talked to management and kept a decent working relationship with them, rather than just handing in one sick note after the other, with them not having a clue what's going on and so haven't rely got a clue how long they need to replace you for.
 
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Caged said:
Take the time off as your doctor has advised you. Guilt shouldn't come into it. As you said, you can't cook your own meals, you're in constant pain and you need to be in a bed. I'm not sure why you'd feel guilty for not being able to work, that's why companies don't run at capacity and managers get paid to manage things when a team member is out.
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+1

That's what I would do. Being management id probably support by being on the phone if needed and doing a little work from home on the net but its pointless being in work if you are going to cause yourself harm and be of no real use.
 
I dislocated my left knee in 2010 and was off work for a year!

Due to having knee surgery and metal rods/plates + recover + physio


And do the physio!!! and keep at it even though they are VERY tedious
 
Follow the doctors instruction to the letter, rush things and you will only regret it. My employer felt that because I work in an admin role I would be able to come back 6 weeks after having a hip replacement, my surgeon laughed when I told him. It will be 4 months since the operation on Monday, I am going back to work then.
 
I smashed my leg to pieces in a motorbike accident. Wore 2" of bone off on the tarmac so they had to put a rod through my knee in the marrow and bolt top and bottom.

It took months for the bone to grow back and knit together before I could even weight bear. No cast.

Was back in work in 3 weeks, it was tough and the painkillers meant I stared at the wall most of the time.
 
maccapacca said:
I smashed my leg to pieces in a motorbike accident. Wore 2" of bone off on the tarmac so they had to put a rod through my knee in the marrow and bolt top and bottom.

It took months for the bone to grow back and knit together before I could even weight bear. No cast.

Was back in work in 3 weeks, it was tough and the painkillers meant I stared at the wall most of the time.
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Out of interest why did you put yourself through that? My surgeon was dead set against me returning to work for a lot of different reason's, one of them being that even though I had a desk job, sitting in the same place for hours at a time was the last thing he wanted me to do.
 
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