going on holiday whie off sick

[jasmin26]

My partner has been booked to go to a wedding in Cyprus in two weeks time for about 3 months now. He damaged the tendons in his arm and had to have an operation last week to repair them. How does he stand regarding still going to the wedding while signed off sick ? TIA

[factor-fiction]

When I was a manager it would annoy me that staff were well enough to still go abroad but not well enough to come to work even if I offered them light duties, but if there was a sick note in place there was nothing I could do. His doctor/holiday insurer may have an issue but that's a separate matter

[jasmin26]

Hi thanks for your reply factor30. He is unable to work at the moment due to the type of job he does,if there were light duties he could do he would be more than happy to work.Insurance company are aware of his operation and dont appear to have an issue with, its me who does ! I am worried about him going if there are going to be problems when he returns to work,

[MichaelZZ]

If his job involes heavy manual work and the doc has certified that he needs more recovery time before he is fit to resume his job then I don't see a problem.
On the other hand, if his job is more deskbound / clerical then he may get some criticism along the lines of, "If you're fit enough to go off to Cyprus for a wedding, you're fit enough to go to work."
Incidentally, will he be able to manage to handle his suitcase at both ends of the journey? Again, it might be argued "If you can hump a suitcase ..."

[factor-fiction]

^Again, it might be argued "If you can hump a suitcase ..."

I once said that to one of my staff who then started to make a grievance saying it was bullying on my part as it was none of my business. She didn't pursue it but it made things awkward for me for a while

[jasmin26]

His job is very manual Michael. He wouldnt have to worry about carrying his suitcase as he has one of those wheelie ones , his mate and wife are going as well so they would make sure he wasnt carrying anything,

[factor-fiction]

If you are also asking whether he can convert his holidays to sickdays and take the holidays off at a later date, yes he can.

[ummmm]

When I ran a business the majority of employers couldn't have done their jobs without having two fully functioning arms (obviously through injury as you can't learn to do things one handed in a few weeks) so it would be more convenient for the employer that he has a holiday booked at a time he can't be so productive.

[jasmin26]

Thanks factor I hadnt even thought about that, to be quite honest I would rather he cancelled going to the wedding all together or went back to GP and get signed off the sick before he goes. I am not comfortable with the idea of him been away while off sick .

[factor-fiction]

Agreed ummmm- but after returning from sickness he'll be able to take the holidays at a different time when he did have 2 fully functioning arms

[ummmm]

That would be better for him.

[jasmin26]

My thoughts exactly !

[Twenty20]

As has been said, yes he can change his holiday leave to sick leave and save the holiday leave till later. And, yes, he can go away whilst on sick leave. You don't have to stay at home.

However, leaving aside the legalities, it obviously doesn't go down very well with employers or, in a lot of cases, with other work colleagues either. Not a lot any employer can do in the short term but, if the situation arises in the future, he might just find himself at the top of the list for any redundancies or lay-offs.

I'd certainly be very careful about showing any photos of the wedding etc, or pictures on Facebook showing him enjoying himself whilst off sick in Cyprus, or even any talk of it when he goes back to work.