Medical Appointment

Saint Sonner

I was just wondering what my entitlements are before I contact HR.

I am getting laser eye surgery done and don't want to use a lot of holidays. I have booked it for 4pm on a Thursday to give me more days to recover without using hols.

Would I be allowed any special leave for this or would I just have to use annual leave 1.5 days to cover half day Thurs and then Friday.

I would try and be back in for Monday but it would be unlikely if it would be advisable in that instance would I able to claim a days sick leave for this.

Nody

You know it's going to happen which means it is very unlikely the company is going to pay for your sick leave for any of the days; esp. as it's elective surgery which is likely to be seen on the level of plastic surgery (individual company policy applies).

Mr. Loverman

You haven't stated otherwise, so I'm assuming this is elective surgery. I'm not sure how you could claim sick days for this as you're not "sick" but rather recovering from something you chose to do. Perhaps if you're valuable to the company and have a good relationship with management, they can help you, but otherwise I would expect you will have to use your holidays.

Bandana boy

As stated already ,this is elective surgery so sick pay does not apply.
If you want to keep your holidays I would be asking/negotiating about working up hours before the surgery and take it as a time in lieu arrangment.

Saint Sonner

Thanks for the feed back - yes its elective surgery. I was just thinking that of I was due back on the Monday but had an over reaction to the surgery that it may fall under sick!

Would it not be within the realms of possibility that I had operation and then got an unrelated sickness?

Nody

Saint Sonner wrote: »

Would it not be within the realms of possibility that I had operation and then got an unrelated sickness?

Possibly but chances are far higher it's seen as the Monday sickness...

Mrs OBumble

Saint Sonner wrote: »

Thanks for the feed back - yes its elective surgery. I was just thinking that of I was due back on the Monday but had an over reaction to the surgery that it may fall under sick!

Would it not be within the realms of possibility that I had operation and then got an unrelated sickness?

If a doctor gives you a note saying that you're too sick to work, then you're sick. It doesn't matter whether that's due to an operation you chose to have, a hangover due to drinking too much, a broken leg from your Saturday rugby game, a car crash because you were driving too fast, or just bad luck that a bug decided to take up residence in your immune system.

That said, whether or not there is any paid sick leave that you can use depends totally on your employment contract.

Sick leave is just permission to not be at work due to ill health. It is not automatically paid - and in fact is not paid at all in many Irish companies. But don't make any assumptions - I was very surprised to discover recently that mine covered a diagnostic procedure that I had as a day-patient.

Idjit

I had laser eye surgery and took the days out of my holidays. Basically did what you are doing by booking it for a Thursday so I had the weekend to recover, however I'd book the Monday just in case as well.

To find out if you're entitled to sick leave, you'd have to check your contract/company handbook or contact someone in the know. I've heard of a rare few companies who allow for this but more often than not it seems you need to book it out of your annual leave since it's your choice and not an unexpected illness.

Saint Sonner

Update:

I asked my boss about it and told him I had an annual leave form for him to sign it off but he just told me its fine that I don't need to take it from holidays as it’s a surgical procedure. Not sure if this is company policy but I do do a lot of unpaid overtime so I'm thinking he may be showing me some slack. I aint complaining anyway!