Sick leave vs annual leave.

DonQuigleone

Recently I scheduled 2 days of sick leave in order to have my wisdom teeth removed. My manager is now telling me that sick leave scheduled in advance is annual leave, I feel this is incorrect, what is the law on this topic? Can sick leave be scheduled in advance for this kind of relatively minor surgery? Does it lessen my entitlement to annual leave?

Thanks.

red dave

I don't know what the law is on that but when I had mine removed I put it through as annual leave.

CosmicSmash

Do you get paid sick leave? Do you get self certified sick leave? I don't think you schedule sick leave, you should have said nothing, had the surgery, then went sick for the two days imo.

Mrs OBumble

Elective surgery comes up as a topic sometimes. In short:

You're not sick (yet) so you cannot predict sick leave.

You know that you're going to be doing something (the removal) which MAY make you too sick to work. Or it may not.

The removal itself should be scheduled as annual leave - you're not too sick that day.

If you are too sick to work the following day, then you should call in sick at that time. Whether or not you need a doctor's certificate for this depends on your employer's policies. If your contract doesn't provide for paid sick leave, then you may agree with your manager that you use a day's annual leave to so you get income for that day. However manager cannot force you to use annual leave (instead of unpaid sick leave) for that day.

Nody

The law on sick leave is very simple; the company owes you nothing and can pay you zilch and be compliant. Most companies that do pay sick leave tend to include an "elective surgery" clause to make it unpaid (as it's intended to cover unexpected illness rather then an operation down the line).

Get Real

Legally, companies don't have to pay sick leave. If you're out sick you don't get paid, unless you're company is good enough to provide a certain number of paid sick days.

If this is the case, it is usually for unexpected illness, as other posters have said you can't "plan" a sick day. If you want to book a day off in advance then yeah it would be annual leave, doesn't matter what the appointment is for be it a dentist, childs school, wedding etc. You could take the day off unpaid if you don't want to lose you're annual leave/ work extra hours in lieu.

However if you want to keep your two days pay, then yes, it'd be annual leave.

Or else, as has been said, you could have said nothing and pulled a sickie

The_Conductor

My last hospital visit- an emergency admission that resulted in surgery for Crohn's Disease- I put in as Annual Leave. I could have put it in as sick leave- but I was told Crohn's Disease is a chronic medical condition- and if I had additional treatment or absences due to Crohns' that I could potentially be dismissed as unfit to work. Where possible- I always put it in as Annual Leave. (No- I haven't had a holiday in several years).

red dave

The_Conductor wrote: »

My last hospital visit- an emergency admission that resulted in surgery for Crohn's Disease- I put in as Annual Leave. I could have put it in as sick leave- but I was told Crohn's Disease is a chronic medical condition- and if I had additional treatment or absences due to Crohns' that I could potentially be dismissed as unfit to work. Where possible- I always put it in as Annual Leave. (No- I haven't had a holiday in several years).

Jesus that's harsh.

The_Conductor

red dave wrote: »

Jesus that's harsh.

Thats the civil service. I was referred to the Chief Medical Officer over the Crohn's when I was moving section- but allowed stay, as my sick leave was below the limits.

Tarzana

I have Crohn's disease but it has been inactive since 2008, thankfully. I am really hoping it never returns (quite possible, it can sometimes never cause symptoms again), it is such a messy illness to treat. It would make holding down a job really difficult.

The_Conductor

These days- it doesn't really matter whether you're in the public sector or the private sector- you have to be careful when taking sick leave- it does go on your record (in the public sector for 4 years)- and can affect your career in many different ways (including dismissal on health grounds). Personally I've found it much safer to take annual leave when sick- or if attending hospital or dental appointments, to work time-in-lieu to cover the absences.

A bone of contention in the public sector- is some employees are paid on a 7 day basis- despite working a Monday to Friday- and if they are sick on either a Monday or Friday- their last working day preceded the weekend- and the weekend gets counted towards a sick leave total. So- you're out on a Monday with flu- its actually 3 days sick leave- the Saturday and Sunday are counted too........ It only affects certain grades, and is irrespective of whether you habitually work the Saturday and Sunday, or not. The flipside of this- is if you take a day's unpaid leave on a weekday- its 1/7 of a weeks pay, not 1/5....... Then again- how many people can afford to take unpaid leave?