Does the civil service employer cover key roles during long term sick leave?

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buzybee

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I am AO in a key role working fulltime. I may need to go for an operation soon. This and recovery time may take months.

I manage a small department with very little capacity to absorb my work. The other more junior people all work part time.

I am nervous about work building up when I am gone having to return before I feel ready. Would my manager be allowed move another AO or HEO into my role for the absence? I would find this a great comfort. I know they may stay in the role and I may be put to another section on my return from sick leave. I would be fine with this. I like my work however I would get very stressed if on leave for eg 4 months and my role was not covered.

How could I approach this?
 
buzybee said:
Would my manager be allowed move another AO or HEO into my role for the absence?
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It depends, but in principle yes in particular if its an operational rather than policy role.
buzybee said:
on my return from sick leave. I would be fine with this. I like my work however I would get very stressed if on leave for eg 4 months and my role was not covered.


How could I approach this?
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Just focus on your health. Covering the workload if a job for your management. Just be clear about how long your recovery is likely to take. It's their job to make sure the work gets done.
 
I can't believe in what I'm reading on the original post. My mother (not university educated or even secondary school educated) always advised us that Everybody Can Be Done Without. You can translate this any way you wish but you are not indispensable and neither is anybody else. You'll be taking time off from work due to health issues and my advice is for you to use this time and more if necessary. You're a paid employee and your obligations cease once you leave work for hospital. You are not the conscience of the state.

If you are head of the CIA, MI5, MI6 or even the KGB I'll listen to you further and the only key person I ever worked with was the cleaner who ensured all our safety in her work.
 
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buzybee said:
I am AO in a key role working fulltime. I may need to go for an operation soon. This and recovery time may take months.

I manage a small department with very little capacity to absorb my work. The other more junior people all work part time.

I am nervous about work building up when I am gone having to return before I feel ready. Would my manager be allowed move another AO or HEO into my role for the absence? I would find this a great comfort. I know they may stay in the role and I may be put to another section on my return from sick leave. I would be fine with this. I like my work however I would get very stressed if on leave for eg 4 months and my role was not covered.

How could I approach this?
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These are not really your concerns. Sick leave absences are a feature of the working environment and it is the function/responsibility of more senior grades to provide any cover that is deemed necessary.

The only expectation of you would be that you provide notice of your absence (if possible) and update your manager occasionally on when you might be likely to return.

As said above, your priority is your health and for the duration of your absence, you shouldn’t worry about the workplace.
 
Thank you all. I am in a very busy department and if the work was not covered it would be awful returning. I am a worrier and I would not want to return at all if I had to cope with a backlog.

I am considering part time hours when I return as I am in my 50s and just don't have the energy to continue full time, look after a growing family and deal with this. I would actually be happier if I returned to a role with no backlog.
 
You need to discuss this with your boss. Explain how long you will be off for and ask him who is covering in your absence?. In particular, if there is anything that requires authorisation, he should be doing it or delegating the responsibility to someone else in your absence.
 
I would hope to take a reasonable amount of time off, as I already get very tired from working fulltime, taking dcs to sports and dealing with the house. If I thought there was a huge backlog I would feel guilty staying out longer than is strictly necessary. However, I understand that everyone is just a number. I would be half considering not returning at all rather than face a busy department, where work is just left even if I look for part time.
 
buzybee,

Sorry to hear that you are ill and worrying about this situation. The worry will not help your recovery and I'm speaking from experience here. Its either the nature of the beast or not, and no amount of anyone telling you to do otherwise will most likely not work. Everyone means well but sometimes it can make you feel worse. All you can do is try to relax about it and concentrate on YOU.

If it were me I would wait until after the surgery, and have a chat with your G.P., to see if a recommendation from them for shorter working hours, would be possible. If not you could use your return to work, to explain to the powers that be, that you would, if possible, like to work shorter hours, possibly through a move or job sharing. The timing of asking after illness may help your situation.
 
Thank you Sue Ellen and all who answered. I have not said it to anyone about already finding everything very tiring and stressful, as they may think I am using the illness as an excuse to get out of working. My husband and close friends kniw that I worry about work, remembering all with dcs etc. Everything is wriiten down but I feel I have little free time. My husband also works fulltime and doesn't get why I am so anxious. He is a grade more junior to me so may not have the stress.
 
buzybee,

One thing that you might need to check out carefully before any move is your pension. You certainly don't want to upset that :)

Perhaps a query in the Pension forum would help you out there or even a Money Makeover thread.
 
buzybee said:
I would hope to take a reasonable amount of time off, as I already get very tired from working fulltime, taking dcs to sports and dealing with the house. If I thought there was a huge backlog I would feel guilty staying out longer than is strictly necessary.
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Is there a possibility that you’re taking things a bit more seriously than you should? You’re in a graduate entry position which should be challenging but not stressful.

Alternatively, might it be that your manager is unreasonably delegating his/her responsibilities to you?


buzybee said:
However, I understand that everyone is just a number.
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Don’t ever fall into the trap of this belief, especially in the civil service where it will meet with fertile ground. Always value your abilities and contribution.
buzybee said:
I would be half considering not returning at all rather than face a busy department, where work is just left even if I look for part time.
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The civil service has a range of flexible/reduced working arrangements that you can apply for, including working from home. You would probably need to off probation to apply.
 
Sue Ellen said:
@Salvadore

Don't quite understand the reference to probation?
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AFAIK, individual departments are free to set their own eligibility for flexible/reduced working options and some may require that applicants have successfully completed probation. It certainly used to be a criterion for career breaks.

In any event, it probably isn’t a good look for a new entrant on probation to actively seek options for spending less time at work.
 
I don't understand the reference to a new entrant and probation. I am in my 50s, have 15 years service in my division. I am an AO for 4 years and manage a department with 12 staff. I was EO for yeats and got promoted when I was nearly at the top of the scale, I earn about 58k.

Prior to all this, I worked in accounts after doing my degree. I have over 30 years work experience in all, so hardly 'a new entrant trying to get out of work'. I have always worked fulltime even when children were small, so hardly 'trying to get out of work'.
 
buzybee said:
I don't understand the reference to a new entrant and probation. I am in my 50s, have 15 years service in my division. I am an AO for 4 years and manage a department with 12 staff. I was EO for yeats and got promoted when I was nearly at the top of the scale
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In fairness, most AOs are recruited from external competitions so it’s not unreasonable to consider, prior to the clarification you’ve just provided, that you may have been on probation.

buzybee said:
I have over 30 years work experience in all, so hardly 'a new entrant trying to get out of work'. I have always worked fulltime even when children were small, so hardly 'trying to get out of work'.
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Nobody suggested this but you raised the option of not returning if the work was too much.
 
I am actually in the same position, as I type. I did a handover, and asked for a brief meeting to explain work tasks that need to be completed, or will need to be covered when I go on extended sick leave. Some of the work will be done, some will not. If i come back to a mess, I will need to be clear on the expectations to senior management on what I can achieve in a realistic time frame. I am in a senior role but somebody else, higher than me, will need to delegate. It is out of my control. It is out of your control. Everyone will tell you not to worry, but you will.

I allowed myself to worry for a bit, and then I sought advice from different friends, who finally made me understand that it is out of my control, and that perhaps it is time to take some time out, or look to a different path i.e. shorter hours, a different job. One friend suggested after I recover I may feel better about it all and return as I did before. You will need to come to terms with what is important to you, and what will work for you.

Maybe the time off will allow you more head space to reflect. Is this what you want for the next few years? Maybe it is a reduced work contract, and it will be a good time now to ask for it. I suggest right now you are too worried about it to think clearly. The time off will assist.

The impact on your pension is wisely heard, you should reflect on this. Good luck with your time off, and healing will be better when you are focused on yourself, and the best you can do for yourself is leave work at work.
 
the13thwarrior, thank you very much for the post.

As it happens, further tests were done so I do not need an operation. However, it is no harm to consider reducing worklioad and just using the flexible working patterns, even if it means a step sideways.

I know I may need an operation in future, nothing is guaranteed. I know working reduced hours will decrease my pension but after this experience I may just be happy with free time doing low key activities. This means I may be able to manage on less income.

I would say that if you cone back to a mess, it would be no harm to request shorter hours. Generally not every section can have a head working shorter hours so they may move you to a new section. Failing that, go on sick keave again or retire if near the age.
 
buzybee said:
I know I may need an operation in future, nothing is guaranteed. I know working reduced hours will decrease my pension but after this experience I may just be happy with free time doing low key activities. This means I may be able to manage on less incom
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Reducing hours may not have as big an impact on income as you expect. Working (say) 0.7 WTE does not equate to 0.7 of previous take home pay.
 
Early Riser said:
Reducing hours may not have as big an impact on income as you expect. Working (say) 0.7 WTE does not equate to 0.7 of previous take home pay.
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One of the reasons why I recommended a Money Makeover above to cover pension etc.

buzybee said:
My husband also works fulltime and doesn't get why I am so anxious. He is a grade more junior to me so may not have the stress.
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I've seen so many people down through the years regretting their promotion which they thought would be worth the extra money. By the time the tax man is finished with the increase in salary, there is quite often not a big difference. Also people management (especially these days :oops: ), can quite often be the hardest part of the job, as many friends have told me.
 
Early Riser said:
Reducing hours may not have as big an impact on income as you expect. Working (say) 0.7 WTE does not equate to 0.7 of previous take home pay.
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This is very true.

But people tend to underestimate the cumulative impact on pension entitlements of prolonged periods shorter-working patterns.
 
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