Will i get the sack if i go abroad on holiday while on sick leave?

Question

i had my son 10 months ago and ive not returned to work yet due to myself suffering with anxierty .

ive been on sick leave for about 10 weeks and i have an other 4 weeks off .ive also started having counselling to help me cope with the panic attact.

i suffer from them when seperated from my son .this is why i haven't return to work.

anyway i was woundering if i went on holiday while on sick leave abroad could i get sacked . ?

any info about my right when on sick leave would be great

Answer 1

It would depend on your employer's policy on sickness. Being sick does not necessarily mean being tucked up in bed, particularly with psychiatric illnesses, such as anxiety. Sometimes a doctor will prescribe 'therapeutic work' as a means of rehabilitating an individual with a long-term health problem. This approach would allow a gradual reintroduction to the workplace.

In terms of your holiday, all parties (your doctor, employer and you) should share a common goal and that goal is to get you back into the workplace as soon as possible. Some doctors will therefore view a holiday as therapeutic (your employer might too) and an aid to your recovery in much the way that they view work as therapeutic even if you are still signed off sick. This could be the case even with illnesses that have previously kept you in bed too. For example, I was instructed to take a sunshine holiday after I was off work sick for four months with gastroenteritis (I should add here that I looked like a skeleton at the end of it!). In my case, my employers liaised with my doctor and both agreed that my sick leave should be extended to encompass a holiday to aid my recovery.

My advice to you is speak to your doctor to get his views and ask a trusted friend at work to poke around in your employer's employee rules to see what you are allowed to do when you are off sick. But do not go on holiday until you have checked where you stand.

Answer 2

it depends, sometimes people on leave with stress (i realise that this is different to anxiety) benefit from a holiday. However, colleagues tend to frown upon this as they are often left to cover the absent person's workload.

Your best bet is to speak to HR and see what they suggest.

Honesty is always the best policy, and if you're upfront with the company then it can't come back and bite you on the bum later.

Edit: I was on sick following a miscarriage but decided I'd benefit from a trip to the gym to do some very mild exercise and whilst there I used a few sessions on the sunbed. Whilst this is not general practice when people are on sick leave - i needed something to make me feel better - and to be honest - my boss wouldn't let me go back to work until at least a week after the op.

Answer 3

Going on holiday during sick leave is profoundly unethical. Frankly, I'd be ashamed to ask this question.

Answer 4

I would say that your employer would sack you if he found out you were on holiday when you were supposed to be on 'sick leave'!!

Answer 5

Yes /no if your Doctor says  you should go If you are not really ill  he may sign you off (thats what he should do )

If well enough to travel  travel to work  work wouldbe good for you to live a normal life being at home with very little to take your mind off your son is bad for you and Panic attacks go to the chemist and purchase BREWERS YEAST TABLES  very cheap and work wonders  you just swallow them like an asprin/aspro

Answer 6

If you are so sick that you cannot work then certainly you are too sick to take a holiday abroad.  I would think this would be a good reason for dismissing you from your job.

Answer 7

You should be fine if it is doctor recommended or endorsed.  If you can get something from your doctor stating that getting away may help you to cope with your anxiety "triggers", then its medically approved, and your employer won't be able to fire you.  Often in the treatment of panic attacks, doctors recommend changes to daily routines.  

I don't know what country you are in, but if you are in the U.S. you need to be careful of FMLA.  It only guarantees 12 weeks that they have to hold your job per event.  You may need to get your doctor to sign something saying that the anxiety is separate from your post-partum care.

Good luck to you.

Answer 8

if you are suffering from stress and have a doctors note to prove it then a holiday will probably help you, although your colleagues may not agree - they cant sack you while you are off sick

Answer 9

When you claim to be sick, you're pretty much expected to act like you are actually, sick.  If your boss sees photos of you basking in the sun on some tropical beach, or hitting a backhand on a tennis court in some resort, you can bet he'd challenge your sick leave as having been fraudulent.   If you're traveling to see a world-renowned doctor somewhere where there are sandy, sun-dappled beaches then you might get away with it.

Might.

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Answer 10

Absolutely, you will and should be sacked.

1.  Thousands of people are desperate for work and you're tying up a job that could go to someone willing & able to do it.

2. Your co-workers are doing your job for you while you are out -- and they aren't getting paid for that.

3. Your employer is short-handed and short of money because you are out.

4. You claim to be "sick" then take a vacation abroad?  That is so deceptive, so conniving, so inconsiderate, and at least a dozen other adjectives.  You'd get sacked for fraud and frankly, for pulling a fraudulent stunt like that, you should sit in jail a while, not just lose your job.  

No pity for you.  You are a user. You are a con. The harm you do to other people is just appalling.

Answer 11

they cant sack you if your still signed of work on sick leave because you can put your holliday down to helping your recovery but any way they dont need to no do they.

Answer 12

Only if they find out...

Answer 13

Maybe a holiday would help you relax a little and reduce the likelihood of more panic attacks. Your anxiety is likely to be in part caused by post natal depression - which although some may scoff at is a very real condition. The good thing about PND is it usually doesn't last too long, so you should find yourself becoming less anxious as time goes on and be able to be separated from your son and return to work. Maybe asking your Doctor about the holiday situation may clear things up for you.

Answer 14

Not worth the risk, if you get found out you could be done for fraud, by obtaining money for sickness when you are in fact according to the company you work for not sick at all.

Besides which they could send you a letter whilst you are away asking you to attend a medical by a Doctor ot their choosing, well if your not there, then sack it will be.

Best get back to work then book a holiday abroad, and tell them that you need to recharge your batteries but I would leave that for a while.

You will get found out, there is always someone wanting to stir up trouble. Anyway, how do you hide a rather lovely suntan, not had much summer here yet have we?

UK based