Sick days off work: how many is too many per year ?

To be honest I have a weird way of thinking about it, I have quite a good constitution *touch wood* But also if I had a few days or a week off and spent them playing with my speccies, and old computers etc. I'd really struggle to want to go back to work, or have more time again.
 
How and why did this come to be called "The Bradford factor"?

Also - self-employed, so: Any number of days off is too many as I don't get paid.
 
I don't really take much time off sick, but if I am sick I'll just stay home and not feel at all bad about it. My place is fairly relaxed, especially if you don't take the ****, my boss actually phoned me last year when there was heavy snow to tell me not to come in and I spent 2 days at home playing video games in my dressing gown.

I think as someone else said the HR rule is more than 5 absences or 10 days in a 12 month period.
 
chaparral said:
Just wondering as I was off sick with the flu over Christmas and new year and now am off with the flu again :(:mad:
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No you're not. You're really not. You don't have "the flu" because if you did, you wouldn't be able to get out of bed, never mind be posting on the internet.
 
3 sickness incidents in 6 months or 6incident in 12 months are our triggers or i think 12 days in a year.

Having said that someone in my area has been on sick for 18 months with stress and another has come back today after 5 months off with stress so im sure they would be going down the disciplinary route soon
 
I don't get paid any sickness pay at our firm, so obviously we try not to be sick at all :p

I've not taken a sick day in years - but this year I've had about 6 days off sick already! :eek: Think my body is telling me something :p
 
Our place gives incentives each Christmas to those that have zero sickness time off. 1 year you get a voucher for X, if you do 2 years you get that doubled, beyond that you still only get the same. I havent been off sick now in 6 years (vertigo back then and simply couldnt drive nor sit still and use screens), it isn't a case of manning up etc neither, I think its just acknowledging that if you are well enough to get out of bed that day then you're good for work (in my vocation, Private sector IT). Obviously for some jobs feeling a little fuzzy the odd time is not good enough though.
Some of our other offices see guys in IT taking days off regularly, sometimes it can even be the office culture, I know some civil servants who count two weeks of illness as part of their holiday hours! :O
 
Feek said:
No you're not. You're really not. You don't have "the flu" because if you did, you wouldn't be able to get out of bed, never mind be posting on the internet.
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indeed, i have only had flu once. horrible horrible illness and takes weeks to recover, longer to fully recover.. I remember shivvering under a blanket sweating for England. needing to go to the loo so badly i nearly wet myself but just could not face going to the loo. I hope i never get it again.

Manflu however is a totally different beast. Women get it in its much milder form, called a cold. it hits men far harder however ;)
 
I haven't had a day off sick in years. But then I haven't been sick in years either.
Where I work, sick days count against the end of year bonus. Each day off is 10% off.
 
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I try to work from home if possible when ill or take TOIL.
Can't stand it when people come into work and infect everyone else. Unless work insist and then it's their fault and management are then first on my 'Breathe on' list.
 
There is a range of sickness which should be expected based on a number of variables.

1. Age (older people tend to be ill more)
2. Health (over-weight people tend to suffer from more conditions)
3. Exposure (public transport, contagious illnesses)
4. Office conditions (another factor of exposure)
5. Pre-existing conditions
6. Ability to resist illness/immunity/natural defense.
7. Gender (women tend to be sick more than men due to issues related to reproduction, more can go wrong)

Pending on where somebody is, they could range from 1 to 20 days off per year on average - I'm in the far lower end due to factors outside of my control mostly.

The Bradford factor which is often used doesn't take into account any of the above & is often used by organisations where multi-day absences are more impact-full than single days anyway. (like my role). Saying that being above average is meaningless for sickness, as by definition 50% of your staff will be above average.

It's just another case of HR using statistics badly.
 
People on this board seem to be made of stern stuff and be way fitter than average. Either that or there are a lot of people thinking "I aint getting involved in this one in case my possible future employer is reading".

I remember reading about one man who was sacked after taking a sickday and his boss seeing him in the crowd live on TV in a snooker tournament :D
 
No recorded sickness in the last 2 years.

We don’t get paid after the Bradford factor hits 60 so 4-5 individuals days off which I think is reasonable. We have a team member often calling in sick for random stuff but always on a Monday or Friday. They now don’t get paid and are really suffering financially.
 
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