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Coronavirus - how is it/has it affected you?

upsidedown said:
The NHS certainly have Sickness reviews as HiD used to do them
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Covid sickness etc surely isnt counting? I know ours isn't if it's isolating etc as you could be on a warning for following the guidelines

I know planned ops don't count ..

Hadn't been sick since my planned wisdom tooth removal .. which was like 7 years ago until this year's planned op

Doesn't count for work so think I'm up to 10 years no sick now maybe even longer

18 years service and counting
 
SocketRocket said:
That's a common attitude in public service employees due to their very good terms of emloyment, they tend to have much more time off Ill each year. When you work for a smaller outfit that has to produce to pay salaries you don't tend to think the world owes you a living. Of course it's not everyone that has your attitude.
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Yeah bull. Just spreading rubbish

18 years service

Apart from operations on a broken elbow (done at work) and 6 months later to remove the pins .. plus knee surgery and two minor ops I can count on one hand the amount of sickness I've had
 
pauljames87 said:
Yeah bull. Just spreading rubbish

18 years service

Apart from operations on a broken elbow (done at work) and 6 months later to remove the pins .. plus knee surgery and two minor ops I can count on one hand the amount of sickness I've had
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I took four months off unpaid last year when everyone was telling me to go off on the sick instead. Even my boss told me he was surprised I didn’t. But it’s something that will always be held against the public sector; we are lazy work dodgers.
 
Kellfire said:
I took four months off unpaid last year when everyone was telling me to go off on the sick instead. Even my boss told me he was surprised I didn’t. But it’s something that will always be held against the public sector; we are lazy work dodgers.
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Fair play on the unpaid leave

Some people just haven't a clue how the world actually works apart from what they read in the daily mail
 
pauljames87 said:
Fair play on the unpaid leave

Some people just haven't a clue how the world actually works apart from what they read in the daily mail
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You mean you don’t walk into work on a morning, spend an hour reading the paper, chat about Line of Duty with your boss and have a laugh about your amazing pension scheme and annual leave entitlement? Doing it wrong!
 
My wife's a teacher. She went 80% part-time a few years ago to avoid a burnout. She has Mondays off now and spends them working at home. She sometimes doesn't do any schoolwork on a Sunday, but she'll usually disappear upstairs to do some preparation. She works every evening.
A fortnight easter holiday - two weeks of schoolwork at home trying to get on top of it all. It's her vocation, not just a job.
Be careful about insulting all public sector workers with lazy stereotypes.
 
Blue in Munich said:
Good to see you tarring the majority with the same brush, well done. :rolleyes:
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I think there is a point included in there which has some merit, despite the way it was dressed!

I am of an era where people don’t report sick unless they are genuinely too ill to go into work, which is why so many of my former colleagues have excellent sickness records. During my entire service I am proud to say the only time I had off was following broken bones, and significant injury. I never had a day off with a cough, cold or stomach upset. There are many others like me.

But what I have just left behind is a job where the culture, especially amongst younger staff, has changed significantly. There is now far more short term self certified absence, and staff are far more prone to taking sick leave. They know the trigger point for management intervention and are careful not to reach it, but I have genuinely heard officers say that they are “entitled” to a given number of sick days each year, so they are going to take them.

I worked in the private sector thirty odd years ago, albeit for a large national firm, and don’t recall the same attitude prevailing then. I am now of an age where several of my friends either own their own business or are in management positions, and they won’t tolerate the same attitude to sickness which I regret to say has started to creep into the younger ranks within our previous job.

So whilst I don’t agree at all with SR’s rather sweeping generalisation, the underlying point does have merit, although I accept others may have different experiences.
 
Billysboots said:
...what I have just left behind is a job where the culture, especially amongst younger staff, has changed significantly. There is now far more short term self certified absence, and staff are far more prone to taking sick leave. They know the trigger point for management intervention and are careful not to reach it, but I have genuinely heard officers say that they are “entitled” to a given number of sick days each year, so they are going to take them.

I worked in the private sector thirty odd years ago, albeit for a large national firm, and don’t recall the same attitude prevailing then. I am now of an age where several of my friends either own their own business or are in management positions, and they won’t tolerate the same attitude to sickness which I regret to say has started to creep into the younger ranks within our previous job.
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Worth pointing out that you have, presumably, just retired in middle-age after 30 years, taking a 6 figure lump sum and a guaranteed c.50% of your final salary for life.
Those younger boys and girls you're casting aspersions on have been deprived your outstanding final salary pension and will be policing into their late 60s, if they stick it out.
 
i work in the private sector but get generous leave, can accrue 10 days leave ,get 10 extra days for dependencies and get full sick pay for a year.

Naturally sickness is through the roof and nobody just takes one day off, always a full week, and it’s accepted. I had one day off and returned to shock that I was actually there.
The amount of covid holidays at the beginning were through the roof. My colleague has had 3 periods of self isolation and two days off for his jab. Kids are back at school so I doubt it’ll be his last.
 
RichA said:
Worth pointing out that you have, presumably, just retired in middle-age after 30 years, taking a 6 figure lump sum and a guaranteed c.50% of your final salary for life.
Those younger boys and girls you're casting aspersions on have been deprived your outstanding final salary pension and will be policing into their late 60s, if they stick it out.
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I’m not casting aspersions, I’m citing fact. And another fact is that a huge proportion of those joining now are not regarding the police as a long term career choice, so the odds of swathes of them remaining until their 60’s are very, very long indeed. Policing used to be a life long career choice - not any more.

And please, with the greatest respect, do not bring my pension benefits into this discussion. I knew what I was signing up to, as do those joining these days. The only ones with an axe to grind are those whose benefits have been changed mid-service, and that is a battle which remains ongoing.

I speak as I find, and what I found during two years managing a busy office with nearly 100 staff was a change in attitude towards sickness amongst a number of younger officers, which did not prevail ten or fifteen years ago.

If you find my experiences so distasteful, and it appears from one or two responses now that you do, rather than bringing the “gold plated final salary pension” element to the debate, I suggest you just hit the ignore button instead, because I will not debate with anyone who seeks to use my pension as some sort of weapon to prove a point.
 
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Billysboots said:
I think there is a point included in there which has some merit, despite the way it was dressed!

I am of an era where people don’t report sick unless they are genuinely too ill to go into work, which is why so many of my former colleagues have excellent sickness records. During my entire service I am proud to say the only time I had off was following broken bones, and significant injury. I never had a day off with a cough, cold or stomach upset. There are many others like me.

But what I have just left behind is a job where the culture, especially amongst younger staff, has changed significantly. There is now far more short term self certified absence, and staff are far more prone to taking sick leave. They know the trigger point for management intervention and are careful not to reach it, but I have genuinely heard officers say that they are “entitled” to a given number of sick days each year, so they are going to take them.

I worked in the private sector thirty odd years ago, albeit for a large national firm, and don’t recall the same attitude prevailing then. I am now of an age where several of my friends either own their own business or are in management positions, and they won’t tolerate the same attitude to sickness which I regret to say has started to creep into the younger ranks within our previous job.

So whilst I don’t agree at all with SR’s rather sweeping generalisation, the underlying point does have merit, although I accept others may have different experiences.
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The point as was presented, and as I took it, was that the attitude was common. I'm now nearly 39 years into public service with two different employers, and whilst I would agree that the were a small number of people in both firms who took the proverbial, the vast majority of those I have worked with dragged themselves in, even when at times they shouldn't.

If there was an underlying point it was lost for me in the rush to have a swipe at public servants, something I've noticed that is becoming much more common these days.
 
Blue in Munich said:
The point as was presented, and as I took it, was that the attitude was common. I'm now nearly 39 years into public service with two different employers, and whilst I would agree that the were a small number of people in both firms who took the proverbial, the vast majority of those I have worked with dragged themselves in, even when at times they shouldn't.

If there was an underlying point it was lost for me in the rush to have a swipe at public servants, something I've noticed that is becoming much more common these days.
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As someone newly retired I’m perhaps entering uncharted territory by looking for the good in what people do/say/write.

It’s a totally alien concept and one which won’t last, so expect normal service to be resumed shortly.

?
 
Billysboots said:
I think there is a point included in there which has some merit, despite the way it was dressed!

I am of an era where people don’t report sick unless they are genuinely too ill to go into work, which is why so many of my former colleagues have excellent sickness records. During my entire service I am proud to say the only time I had off was following broken bones, and significant injury. I never had a day off with a cough, cold or stomach upset. There are many others like me.

But what I have just left behind is a job where the culture, especially amongst younger staff, has changed significantly. There is now far more short term self certified absence, and staff are far more prone to taking sick leave. They know the trigger point for management intervention and are careful not to reach it, but I have genuinely heard officers say that they are “entitled” to a given number of sick days each year, so they are going to take them.

I worked in the private sector thirty odd years ago, albeit for a large national firm, and don’t recall the same attitude prevailing then. I am now of an age where several of my friends either own their own business or are in management positions, and they won’t tolerate the same attitude to sickness which I regret to say has started to creep into the younger ranks within our previous job.

So whilst I don’t agree at all with SR’s rather sweeping generalisation, the underlying point does have merit, although I accept others may have different experiences.
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Ah Heroically going to work when you have a cough or a cold... Spreading it to others... Don't worry, I doubt it will ever be a problem ;)
 
Billysboots said:
As someone newly retired I’m perhaps entering uncharted territory by looking for the good in what people do/say/write.

It’s a totally alien concept and one which won’t last, so expect normal service to be resumed shortly.

?
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I am so jealous you've got out! I signed up for the 87 pension and 30 years. Sod knows what I'll get in the end.
 
Blue in Munich said:
Good to see you tarring the majority with the same brush, well done. :rolleyes:
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I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush and I thought I had clarified that in my last sentence.
If that's the way it came over then I didn't explain it well. What I was trying to say was that taking advantage of Public Sector work conditions with respect to time off sick has become more acceptable these days and @Kellfires post typified this attitude.

I think there is no doubt that more are 'swinging the lead' these days and especially where the system allows people to get away with it.
 
SocketRocket said:
I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush and I thought I had clarified that in my last sentence.
If that's the way it came over then I didn't explain it well. What I was trying to say was that taking advantage of Public Sector work conditions with respect to time off sick has become more acceptable these days and @Kellfires post typified this attitude.

I think there is no doubt that more are 'swinging the lead' these days and especially where the system allows people to get away with it.
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How is it taking advantage for someone to try to make sure that any potential sick time doesn’t detract from their ability to have their mandated days off work to rest and enjoy life?
 
Billysboots said:
If you find my experiences so distasteful, and it appears from one or two responses now that you do, rather than bringing the “gold plated final salary pension” element to the debate, I suggest you just hit the ignore button instead.
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The thing about posting our opinions - which they are, not facts - on public forums is that we subject ourselves to scrutiny. If you wish your views to be unchallenged, don't publish them.

Your pension scheme was scrapped because it cannot pay for itself. Your 30 years of payments are highly unlikely to ever pay for the amount that you will receive. My point was that the younger generation can't have a decent pension because they have to pay for yours in addition to their own.
You should be expressing your gratitude to them for your good fortune rather than demeaning them with generalisations.
 
AmandaJR said:
I can see both sides of this debate but would choose to have my jab on a Friday so if I felt rough I didn't have to soul search as to whether I was fit to work or not.
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I've got mine on a Friday. Before my 12 hour weekend shifts

(2nd jab suppose to be less effects)

Even if it was I can function enough to work
 
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