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

AndyCr15 said:
5 separate absences in 8 weeks is pretty horrific though.
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Not for someone who had an unblemished record for over 30 years, Management should have been asking "why?".
Like my colleague said, he could easily have had 6 months off to get over his illness but he thought it better to come in and show willing.

Ooh forgot, it was a few months later when somebody said "Have you heard about Gary Bass? (he liked a drink), he's got bowel cancer" :(

Anyway, boasting time:
Between September 1988 to May 2017 I never had one day off work.
I broke my record while working with the biggest idiot ever and he stressed me out so much I walked out for two weeks.
I returned and in January 2018 I walked out again for a week and it was then they decided to put him on a Capability Study.
Hopefully my next time off will be later this year when I have a new knee.
 
2-3 days off sick a year for me on average with a cold, usually around november time, don't know why. Wouldn't even consider coming into work if I didn't feel up to it - whats the point?
 
SexyGreyFox said:
Man B who had a flawless record for 30 years had a day off sick (return to work talk)
Two weeks later another day sickness (verbal)
One week later another day sickness (written warning)
Two weeks later another day sickness (final written warning)
Three weeks later another day sickness (sacked)

5 days off compared to nearly two years.
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That sounds like they were looking for a reason to get rid of him..
 
SexyGreyFox said:
Not for someone who had an unblemished record for over 30 years, Management should have been asking "why?".
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Surely they do? We have to do Return To Work interviews when people come back. I guess not all companies will though.

And yes, I still say it's awful, 5 in 8 weeks... I'm assuming all unrelated too? If it was all the same sickness, yeah, I'd be peeved, but thankfully I don't work for a company that would even give a warning if it was all due to the same thing, let alone sack someone.
 
chaparral said:
That sounds like they were looking for a reason to get rid of him..
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It was 'The Rules'.

Man A in my example:
I remember coming out of the Union meeting with Management when this Bradford method came out and the Head Union Man (Man A and also a Counselor) came out waving the paper saying he now had the rules for how much time he could have off.
He flouted the system year after year, bouncing him from job to job until eventually they asked him to leave.
By that time he was no longer the Head Union Man and all us other other Union Men had had enough of him.
 
AndyCr15 said:
Surely they do? We have to do Return To Work interviews when people come back. I guess not all companies will though.

And yes, I still say it's awful, 5 in 8 weeks... I'm assuming all unrelated too? If it was all the same sickness, yeah, I'd be peeved, but thankfully I don't work for a company that would even give a warning if it was all due to the same thing, let alone sack someone.
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This is going back to the late 90s/early 00s so things will have changed.
The 5 days were all to do with the same problem and a few months after he left we found out he had bowel cancer.
He knew the system but thought he was doing the company a favour by coming in.
 
On another note

If a doctor signs you off work for say 3 days but you feel well enough to go back to work after 2 days
Should you go back after 2 days or stay off the 3 days ?
 
chaparral said:
On another note

If a doctor signs you off work for say 3 days but you feel well enough to go back to work after 2 days
Should you go back after 2 days or stay off the 3 days ?
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Funnily enough I tried that once. Signed off for 2 weeks after a knee OP. Decided to go in after a week (wife works on same site was reason I could get in as could not drive).
I got sent home with a friendly but serious slap on the wrist that I would get a reprimand if I went in again as insurance was void
Signed off for another 2 weeks after a toe op so just enjoyed the time off for that one :).
Gave up running 10 years ago and so no operations needed since ;) .
 
chaparral said:
On another note

If a doctor signs you off work for say 3 days but you feel well enough to go back to work after 2 days
Should you go back after 2 days or stay off the 3 days ?
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No you shouldn't but last year I was signed off for 2 weeks but I went back after a week and no-one noticed.
If anything had happened in that week it would have been a serious breach.
About 2 months later my Manager said she needed my sick note for my file and then noticed what I'd done, she wasn't happy.
 
bigmike20vt said:
Funnily enough I tried that once. Signed off for 2 weeks after a knee OP. Decided to go in after a week (wife works on same site was reason I could get in as could not drive).
I got sent home with a friendly but serious slap on the wrist that I would get a reprimand if I went in again as insurance was void
Signed off for another 2 weeks after a toe op so just enjoyed the time off for that one :).
Gave up running 10 years ago and so no operations needed since ;) .
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SexyGreyFox said:
No you shouldn't but last year I was signed off for 2 weeks but I went back after a week and no-one noticed.
If anything had happened in that week it would have been a serious breach.
About 2 months later my Manager said she needed my sick note for my file and then noticed what I'd done, she wasn't happy.
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Thanks Guys :)
 
Shocky-FM said:
Slightly off topic but smokers in our workplace have to be 150 metres away before they light up.... Is that reasonable?
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Don’t know about the new campus, but at the original Apple Infinite Loop, smokers actually had to leave the premises to light up and Apple Security strictly enforced the rule. Was fun to watch the smokers almost run out of the building during breaks in the long meetings I attended there.
 
Shocky-FM said:
Slightly off topic but smokers in our workplace have to be 150 metres away before they light up.... Is that reasonable?
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My workplace (hospital) became a No Smoking zone about 3 years ago but it has failed miserably.
There's no way you are going to get patients/visitors not smoking and nobody is brave enough to challenge them.
Staff were making long journeys to go offsite to pavements but locals started complaining of the ugly sight right outside of their houses and of course smokers have zero knowledge that throwing fag ends on the floor is littering.
Smoking shelters were put up only for patients/visitors but staff disguise themselves so they smoke in them and of course patients/visitors smoke anywhere they like.
I've got a photo somewhere of lots of WARNING EXPLOSIVES DO NOT SMOKE WITHIN 50 YARDS OF THESE CONTAINERS with patients leaning on them smoking :)
 
Terminal_Boy said:
Don’t know about the new campus, but at the original Apple Infinite Loop, smokers actually had to leave the premises to light up and Apple Security strictly enforced the rule. Was fun to watch the smokers almost run out of the building during breaks in the long meetings I attended there.
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It's still the same...just further
 
krooton said:
I can guarantee you that if was off work for 2 weeks solid, **** would hit the fan vs me having 5 individual days off sick over a year.

Companies tend to have to use a one-size-fits-all approach though, so we are supposed to use it for any role in our office. Thankfully my department heads are cool with minor sick days just becoming working from home' days, HR doesn't need to know :D
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Yeah personally i think if you have the capability to WFH, rather than coming into the office with a cold, employers should be requesting their employees stay at home and work. If it's a cold, you're more than capable of working, albeit might be a bit uncomfortable etc, but you can remain productive whilst effectively keeping your germs to yourself.
 
Been unlucky in the last 6 months, broke 2 ribs, tore a retina and got a really bad flu.

Got brought in for a written warning with HR last week, despite having certificates for all three issues and probably taking 15 days off for all three combined.

Suffice to say I'm already interviewing for new jobs.

Edit: Oh yeah, ribs and eye also happened while at work...
 
SexyGreyFox said:
of course smokers have zero knowledge that throwing fag ends on the floor is littering.
:)
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That drives me nuts as well. In principle I have no problem people smokeing outside but the ones who think the whole world is their ashtray need a slap. It is also nice to be able to go out for a drink now and not come back reeking of stale fag smoke. (Was a new lease of life for my mate with Cystic Fibrosis as it meant she could go in pubs after years of it making her too ill.
Erecting smoking shelters but telling staff they can't use em is off tho.
 
I had one month paid sick leave and one month holiday to take each year, but then I did put in normally 60-70 hours almost every week.

On another note, how many of you plan to take all of your pension in a lump sum when it's time? Been thinking of doing that as it's quite high now and
you never know when your time is up, so I was thinking maybe just better to enjoy what time is left. Thoughts? I'll be deciding this in a couple days..
 
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