Signed off work - holiday prebooked

[sandcat]

Hi all.
I have been signed off work for two weeks starting yesterday, with anxiety and depression. Thing is I have a week's holiday to Greece booked on the 1st June, so the sickness overlaps the holiday by one day. I feel like my manager is being funny with me as it is. Would I be expected to cancel the holiday? Would much appreciate any advice or experience of a similar situation.

Sandcat x

[blueangel]

Hi sandcat

This very much depends on where you work, and what their policies are like on annual leave and sick leave. If you work for the public sector, then you should have clear policies on both things, which hopefully should include arrangements as to what happens is someone is off sick when they have annual leave pre-booked.

Have you already handed in the sick note? If not, it might be worth ringing your doctor's surgery and asking whether they can amend the sick note to finish the day before.

If you've handed it in already, then obviously there's not a lot you can do about it. However, if you booked the holiday ages ago, it might be worth politely reminding them of this, as if you booked it three months ago, it's clear that you weren't envisaging going off sick just before you go on annual leave. Also, you could argue that the holiday should also contribute to your recovery.

If you want to gain some brownie points with them, it might be worth having a chat on the phone and asking if you can sort out your return to work - is there any information that you need etc.? It is worth saying to them that you realise this will mean that you're out of work for a month and you realise that that's inconvenient (say it even if you don't really mean it!! :D), but that you want to be able to return afterwards and continue doing a good job.

hope this helps

[MandyGM]

Hi Sandcat

Obviously, I don't know about the policy in your particular workplace, but I wouldn't have thought it would be to different from the one in mine. Our policy states that the reason for your absence should be taken into consideration - so that if was stated you were off sick with, say, chickenpox or flu, it would be considered inappropriate for you to be seen out and about or known to be going on holiday, but if the reason was for depression or anxiety or something of that nature, it is likely that you will have been encouraged to be getting out of the house and therefore entirely appropriate for you to be carrying on "normally" although you are not attending work. (In fact, I although I have been signed off work for the last 4 weeks, and am signed off for the next 4, I was still included in a staff lunch last week, and positively encouraged to attend :D )

I would think in your situation that as the holiday was prebooked, and has likely been discussed with your doctor who thinks it would not be detrimental to how you are feeling for you to go, there wouldn't be an issue. Sorry that was a bit rambley!

Go and have a lovely time, and try not to think about work until you have to :)