Stress Leave?

FlutterinBantam

JaxxYChicK wrote: »

That's great in theory, but very difficult in practice!

I know that.

benjamin d

Millicent wrote: »

Fair enough. Just saying you can't always tar all with the one brush. And to the ones saying they're doing it because it's easier than the dole, it's possible that they're too ashamed to admit something that severe to anyone. Just a thought. Not saying it applies to all.

I agree that its possible, but for the people I'm talking about its highly unlikely. I know you can't tar everyone with one brush but I do think that it shouldn't be so easy to claim something like that just to get out of work. I think if you're diagnosed with something like stress, depression or even just a bad back, then you really should be forced to get help for it if you want paid sick leave or benefit. Its win-win because if its a genuine case then it will help solve the problems you're having and if its faked then a professional will quickly see that. Last time I heard the only thing needed was just an occasional doctors cert, although that was a few years ago.

Poccington

eoin wrote: »

I think the comparison tends to comes up (fairly or unfairly) because the average rate of sick leave of civil servants is twice that of the private sector, and because many people in the private sector don't get paid sick leave. Some people might interpret that to mean that the public service are a lot more tolerant of sick leave.

There's a difference between the Civil Service and Public Servants.

Millicent

benjamin d wrote: »

I agree that its possible, but for the people I'm talking about its highly unlikely. I know you can't tar everyone with one brush but I do think that it shouldn't be so easy to claim something like that just to get out of work. I think if you're diagnosed with something like stress, depression or even just a bad back, then you really should be forced to get help for it if you want paid sick leave or benefit. Its win-win because if its a genuine case then it will help solve the problems you're having and if its faked then a professional will quickly see that. Last time I heard the only thing needed was just an occasional doctors cert, although that was a few years ago.

I see your point on treatment. However, for clinical depression, often all that can be done is a prescription of anti-depressants that may not do much.

My point is, someone may have a long-standing depression diagnosis and have
had a range of treatments for it. Just because you know they have been signed off sick, doesn't mean you know that they have been to a psychiatrist/counsellor whatever numerous times.

benjamin d

Millicent wrote: »

....

I'm very sorry to hear that Millicent. My mother suffers from depression as well, and hasn't worked for a few years now, so I know how it can affect people, although I can't empathise with how you feel myself.
But if the people that I know who have done this have been receiving treatment for genuine depression and just didn't want to say it, I'm fine with that because at least it is genuine. Thats what I was arguing for, that people should be assessed properly instead of just saying "I don't feel great" and then being allowed to claim sick benefit.

Millicent

benjamin d wrote: »

I'm very sorry to hear that Millicent. My mother suffers from depression as well, and hasn't worked for a few years now, so I know how it can affect people, although I can't empathise with how you feel myself.
But if the people that I know who have done this have been receiving treatment for genuine depression and just didn't want to say it, I'm fine with that because at least it is genuine. Thats what I was arguing for, that people should be assessed properly instead of just saying "I don't feel great" and then being allowed to claim sick benefit.

Thank you. I really appreciate that. And I agree, there should be a more formal diagnosis, especially as it weakens the case of genuine people who aren't believed because of insincere people who are chancing their arms. Might get taken more seriously if people didn't think it was an excuse for a sick note.

Sorry to hear about your Mam, btw.

eoin

eoin wrote: »

No, you're not golden in most private sector companies.

In a case similar to the one the OP mentions, in most private sector companies there would be no problem.

"Consistently" being absent from work is a different story and, in any case, still doesn't make getting rid of that employee as easy as some people seem to think.

Japer

Liam_Flag wrote: »

A freind of mine told me yesterday that that a girl in admin had taken 2 weeks sick leave due to 'stress' - that there was nothing wrong with her and it was a result of having a petty difference with one of the nurses.

I've never heard of it before and I'm amazed. I doubt many in the private sector would take it as quickly as people in the ps?

If she was working for herself, for less money, no paid holidays, no pension and struggling to put bread on the table each day - as many are - she may not be as quick to want to take 2 weeks off . If the government will pay for "stress leave" for her, why will they not pay for people who may really need it because they do not have the pay, pensions or security of a public service job ?

oh well , okay

My wife is expecting twins and at one of our scans we were told one of the twins had a condition that was incompatable with life and that the baby would not live for long outside the womb , we were devastated and I took 2 weeks from my private sector job to look after the Mrs and get my own head straight .

The Dr put down stress on my sick cert so I was out for 2 weeks on stress leave . During this time I took the wife to lunch one day and another evening I called in to a work retrement party , had 1 coke , paid my respects and left .

To this day I still get sh1t from my colleagues that they had to pick up the slack while I was out having lunch with the wife and drinking at the weekends . All kinds of rumours flew around about me during those two weeks .

Point is nobody knows what sh1t is going on in peoples personal lives .

rainbowtrout

Liam_Flag wrote: »

Well I'd love to see a comparison of the numbers who have applied for Stress Leave in the Public Sector vs Private Sector.

And while I can appreciate it can be a serious illness in some cases...I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's abused.
And it was abused in the op's example case ^^^

And you're basing that opinion on hearsay. If she is a PS worker in the HSE as seems to be the case and sends in a cert citing stress on it, if all PS bodies deal with this similarly she will be sent for independent assessment to find out the reason for the stress complaint so her supervisor/manager etc can investigate and take appropriate action. Of course as you are claiming, if she is a chancer that will come to light too. This is what is done with teachers.

The HSE, Dept of Education and several government/semi state bodies send employees for assessment if stress is stated on a medical cert and I know this because I was sent for assessment myself.

http://www.medmark.ie/clients.html

Japer

oh well , okay wrote: »

Point is nobody knows what sh1t is going on in peoples personal lives .

Agreed, but not everyone can get paid time off outside their normal time off / holidays, to go off having lunch with the wife and drinking at the weekends, because of "stress". People sometimes find if they have "stress" in their personal lives they are better off at work, as it takes things off their mind ( well it should anyway, if they are busy at work ), rather than wallowing around eating + drinking + playing golf, and getting colleagues and / or the taxpayer to pick up the tab for the extra time off.
If the government will pay for "stress leave" for some people, why cannot everyone apply to the government for stress pay ?

benjamin d

Japer wrote: »

Agreed, but not everyone can get paid time off outside their normal time off / holidays, to go off having lunch with the wife and drinking at the weekends, because of "stress". People sometimes find if they have "stress" in their personal lives they are better off at work, as it takes things off their mind ( well it should anyway, if they are busy at work ), rather than wallowing around eating + drinking + playing golf, and getting colleagues and / or the taxpayer to pick up the tab for the extra time off.
If the government will pay for "stress leave" for some people, why cannot everyone apply to the government for stress pay ?

Ah now in fairness its not like he was out partying and living it up, he and his wife went through a traumatic experience and were trying to get back some kind of normality in their lives as far as I can see from the post. If someone lost a child I'd hope most employers would give them some time off, even if it is just to do normal everyday things, because I'm sure that helped. As you say some people are better off at work to take their mind off it, but some people need to have time to themselves to work through whatever is going on.

jackiebaron

Liam_Flag wrote: »

Because she wouldn't have gotten away with it in a private company.

YAWN!

jackiebaron

Liam_Flag wrote: »

I worked as a civil engineer for a time and I was stressed out at work from being busy.

I can imagine the face on the boss if I said I needed time off for stress.

You can imagine his face all you want but if your doctor recommends you need time off because you're heading for some kind of breakdown then there's not a damn fcuking thing your boss can do about it. Are you a slave to your boss's emotions? Sounds like you are....and he sounds like a dick.

jackiebaron

Liam_Flag wrote: »

A freind of mine told me yesterday that that a girl in admin had taken 2 weeks sick leave due to 'stress' - that there was nothing wrong with her and it was a result of having a petty difference with one of the nurses.

I've never heard of it before and I'm amazed. I doubt many in the private sector would take it as quickly as people in the ps?

And you know something OP, you're very quick to paint the girl in question as some kind of malingerer. Do you think that this kind of attitude makes you hard? Like a sort of "can-do" type of guy? What do you know what she was going through? She may have had to deal with the most withering of bullying by another nurse. It happens, you know. Not only that but there may have been just a load of other sh1t that just piled up in her world causing misery overload. Maybe coupled with the problem with the nurse she had other private problems to face. Maybe a parent was dying or a boyfriend was cheating on her or she herself just found out she has breast cancer or her kid has some condition and she doesn't know how she'll cope. Did you ever just fcuking stop once to think that this is a human being who may quite possibly be in the depths of despair and you just blithely scoff at the situation. I hope you never need a bit of empathy or compassion and understanding....such an alien concept would probably fcuking kill you.
I witnessed a guy in a company where I worked suffer bullying and it near destroyed him. He got through it and thankfully the bullying was only brief but he suffered paralyzing panic attacks going into work.

jackiebaron

Japer wrote: »

Agreed, but not everyone can get paid time off outside their normal time off / holidays, to go off having lunch with the wife and drinking at the weekends, because of "stress". People sometimes find if they have "stress" in their personal lives they are better off at work, as it takes things off their mind ( well it should anyway, if they are busy at work ), rather than wallowing around eating + drinking + playing golf, and getting colleagues and / or the taxpayer to pick up the tab for the extra time off.
If the government will pay for "stress leave" for some people, why cannot everyone apply to the government for stress pay ?

Oh boy, here's Comrade Japer again, the greatest worker in the world complaining about everyone else costing colleagues or the taxpayer millions and why the country is in the state it's in.
How much do you cost your boss in wasted time posting your worldview to boards.ie?

According to the mighty Japer if you take a day off work to do anything other than to go to your own funeral then you're a wastrel scumbag with no work ethic. Need physiotherapy for the crippling injuries as a result of a hit and run? Bollox, you're on the golf course laughing at everyone in work. :rolleyes:

benjamin d

jackiebaron wrote: »

Oh boy, here's Comrade Japer again, the greatest worker in the world complaining about everyone else costing colleagues or the taxpayer millions and why the country is in the state it's in.
How much do you cost your boss in wasted time posting your worldview to boards.ie?

According to the mighty Japer if you take a day off work to do anything other than to go to your own funeral then you're a wastrel scumbag with no work ethic. Need physiotherapy for the crippling injuries as a result of a hit and run? Bollox, you're on the golf course laughing at everyone in work. :rolleyes:

Relax gee whizz!:D

JuliusCaesar

Liam_Flag wrote: »

Well I'd love to see a comparison of the numbers who have applied for Stress Leave in the Public Sector vs Private Sector./QUOTE]

It's SICK leave, not stress leave. :rolleyes:

When's the last time you heard of anyone being out on Broken-Leg Leave or Flu Leave? It's ALL sick leave. And I believe that it's allowed for by law for all workers. (you may need to have been employed for some time first. And the length of time they give you paid sick leave (beyond statutory requirements) for will depend on local arrangements.

hondasam

Liam_Flag wrote: »

A freind of mine told me yesterday that that a girl in admin had taken 2 weeks sick leave due to 'stress' - that there was nothing wrong with her and it was a result of having a petty difference with one of the nurses.

I've never heard of it before and I'm amazed. I doubt many in the private sector would take it as quickly as people in the ps?

do you think people in the private sector are all saints, never take sick days. why is it always the p s who are bashed.

JuliusCaesar

A friend of mine told me that some people take sick days when there's nothing wrong with them, only they fancy a day in bed. Shock horror. I had to post this in After Hours, I was so disturbed by this news.

Eoin

hondasam wrote: »

do you think people in the private sector are all saints, never take sick days. why is it always the p s who are bashed.

Private sector sick leave is 50% lower on average. Don't want to bash them, but that's probably why it comes up.

twinytwo

Liam_Flag wrote: »

A freind of mine told me yesterday that that a girl in admin had taken 2 weeks sick leave due to 'stress' - that there was nothing wrong with her and it was a result of having a petty difference with one of the nurses.

I've never heard of it before and I'm amazed. I doubt many in the private sector would take it as quickly as people in the ps?

Stress leave is the biggest cop out considering as far i know it cant be proved.

jackiebaron

twinytwo wrote: »

Stress leave is the biggest cop out considering as far i know it cant be proved.

Are you a doctor or psychiatrist? "As far as you know"...??
So physicians the world over will tell you that stress is a killer. It causes heart problems, mental disorders, ulcers, depression, etc. But you in your expert opinion "think" it can't be proved?
Can you shed some light on this revelation of yours?

orourkeda

Sounds like she needs a good roasting. I take it that the OP will see to it that she will need another month off from sexually induced exhaustion

ardinn

Read page 1 - too f***ed to read the rest so if this has come up allready well then so what - Surely you need a doctor or phsycatrists ????(spelling???) note to be entitled!?!?

Wompa1

I know a woman where I use to work would take the odd day here or there for stress leave but never 2 weeks on the trot plus she did alot more work than most others so she deserved it.

irishonline

I suppose its acceptable if you are diagnosed by the doctor. The Doctor can sign you off for a period of time if he feels you need it.

thebigbiffo

i met a guy once who worked for the department of something or other - married to a teacher and had 3 kids.

they'd a cottage somewhere in france and for the last 3 years this guy had taken 2-3 months stress leave, signed off by his doctor, during the summer so him and the family could all piss off to france.

and people wonder sometimes why i've a bad opinion of admin staff in the civil service - this is one of quite a few examples of why that crowd are getting off lightly.

Ginger Nut

thebigbiffo wrote: »

i met a guy once who worked for the department of something or other - married to a teacher and had 3 kids.

they'd a cottage somewhere in france and for the last 3 years this guy had taken 2-3 months stress leave, signed off by his doctor, during the summer so him and the family could all piss off to france.

and people wonder sometimes why i've a bad opinion of admin staff in the civil service - this is one of quite a few examples of why that crowd are getting off lightly.

Would just love to know where this guy works - Me thinks he's kidding you. I bet the time off was without pay - of course he wouldnt tell you that - better story the other way!!!;)

Wompa1

I declare war on STRESS!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poj4GFTbs0A

thebigbiffo

Ginger Nut wrote: »

Would just love to know where this guy works - Me thinks he's kidding you. I bet the time off was without pay - of course he wouldnt tell you that - better story the other way!!!;)

i think it was the dept of education. but i see your point. either way, ****er had no shame...telling a friend of a friend he doesnt know from adam how he's basically ripping off the state.

Ginger Nut

thebigbiffo wrote: »

i think it was the dept of education. but i see your point. either way, ****er had no shame...telling a friend of a friend he doesnt know from adam how he's basically ripping off the state.

I agreee - sounds like a complete "donkey" hole. Its idiots like him give the civil servants a bad name.