Taking holiday during sick leave

LegacyUser

Hi,

I am currently on sick leave and before going on sick leave, I booked some holidays off work to go away.

This holiday is now approaching and I am still on sick leave and will be beyond the duration of my planned holiday.

Where do I stand with taking this holiday?

Can the company take action against me if I go away on holiday during a period of sick leave?

What rights do I have in this case?

Thanks for all helpful replies.

Emerald Lass

I could be totally wrong, so don't rely too much on my advice, but AFAIK they cannot take action against you provided you genuinely have a sick note and proof from your GP/doc that you are ill. Being unfit for work implies you are unable to do your job - it doesn't mean you are unfit to sit and do nothing on holiday!

If you are worried you could contact your doctor, and ask him if it would be a problem for you to go away, or if it would do you some good. If the doctor says it might actually do you some good, then from a medical point of view I suppose it could be considered conducive to your recovery.

Also how would they even know you went away? It might look a bit suss coming back with a tan, but like I said once you have a medical cert then there should be no comeback for them. I wouldn't try to hide the fact that I went away though - looks like you are dishonest. I'd just cover my arse and speak to my doctor. also speak to your manager - say I had the hols booked before my illness, I have spoken to my doc, and they say I am not yet fit enough to return to work, but that a holiday may aid my recovery, so I'm going to still go. As soon as I am able to return to work I will.

You know best what your boss is like, but if you are decent enough about it they might be ok.

of course it depends on what the holiday is - it would have to be something which wouldn't require a healthy disposition -like lying on a beach, you don't have to be fit and healthy to do that, but then again skiing or bungee jumping might be a different story.

amcalester

According to http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/employment/employment-rights-and-conditions/leave-and-holidays/sick_leave

You can even claim back those days as you have a sick note excusing you from work. Double holidays.

Nody

Emerald Lass wrote: »

I could be totally wrong, so don't rely too much on my advice, but AFAIK they cannot take action against you provided you genuinely have a sick note and proof from your GP/doc that you are ill. Being unfit for work implies you are unable to do your job - it doesn't mean you are unfit to sit and do nothing on holiday!

I'd question anyone who's not sick enough to go on holidays but to sick to work; lets face it outside construction most people should be able to work in a office if they can manage holidays!

Also how would they even know you went away? It might look a bit suss coming back with a tan, but like I said once you have a medical cert then there should be no comeback for them. I wouldn't try to hide the fact that I went away though - looks like you are dishonest. I'd just cover my arse and speak to my doctor. also speak to your manager - say I had the hols booked before my illness, I have spoken to my doc, and they say I am not yet fit enough to return to work, but that a holiday may aid my recovery, so I'm going to still go. As soon as I am able to return to work I will.

Depends if you want to stay in the company or not, anyone who goes on holiday while on sick leave should not expect a brilliant long term future in the company.

seamus

Nody wrote: »

I'd question anyone who's not sick enough to go on holidays but to sick to work; lets face it outside construction most people should be able to work in a office if they can manage holidays!

I don't think that's entirely fair. As much as some people would scoff, there's a huge difference between a day spent sitting a computer & answering calls, against a day spent sitting beside a swimming pool reading a book.

The latter can be accomplished very easily, even when you're sick. An additional point to remember is that if you have a viral/bacterial illness, your employer would prefer if you stayed away from the office and avoided making anyone else ill. Of course, if it's long-term it's unlikely to be contagious.

I do however, think the nature of the sickness and the nature of your work is key in this really. If you've a broken foot, you could probably make it into the office (or even work from home). You couldn't work in retail though.

LegacyUser

OP
you have a sick cert and your holidays booked. Go on them. Hand in sick cert. Unfortunate timing that your hard earned holiday is affected in any way, work is work.
Do you think your company chief's would show you a fraction of the concern you have shown here is questioning your holiday plans ??

Sad thing is ( and its reflected in some posts these days )
questioning someone who did that... and no long term future in company etc... is very harsh.
Funny thing is that a lot of irish companys are developing this "american HR" type attitude to employees. minimum everything and even minimum tolerance. cultures are different and this whole "turn employees into machines who operate under strict guidelines and performances and whose home life is a distraction to the company" dressed up as "quality assurance etc" is sad. I like to sit back sometimes and wonder what childhood would have been like if your Dad was Alan Sugar etal.... strip the money away and you would have never seen them until you were old enough to stay up after 9pm at night !!

Emerald Lass

just on this - any sick note i've ever had/seen simply says 'is unfit for work from x date until x date'. It doesn't say is unfit to sit in the sun. It doesn't say is unfit to travel. Unless you were going bungee jumping or something I don't know what leg an employer would have to stand on to hold taking a holiday against you.

A past colleague of mine got a severe chest infection. It was cold and wet here. Doc signed him off work for 3 weeks and said he would benefit from some warm weather. So took one week off and spent it in bed, and then the following week he went into travel agent and booked a cheap week away. Came back to work with a tan. Fair enough, got a bit of slagging, but the boss couldn't say anything as he had a valid sick note for a genuine illness. How he chose to recuperate from this illness was his own business. I would say the same applies in your situation.

hope you feel better soon anyway

mad m

Just another point. If you went on holidays and got sick while on holidays and rang your job plus had a sick note, you can claim back those days....