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I work for a company that provides IT services to a corporation. About 6 months ago I had a surgery done. Following the surgery I was on a 2-month sick leave to heal up and rehabilitate. Now it turns out that I have to have a second surgery that will probably result in the same amount of sick leave time. I will have to report this fact to both my manager and the corporate manager. Potential problems:

  • 2 month of sick leave -> 4 month of work -> another 2 months of sick leave looks bad on paper.
  • My first sick leave resulted in a temporary replacement. The temp did almost no work done. It reflected negatively on my company. I have reasons to believe that this time won't be different.
  • My manager won't be pleased when he hears about me going on another extended sick leave.

How do I approach this?

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    How do I approach this? With a doctors backup.
    – Kilisi
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 9:18
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    Are you able to take on any light duties or work from home during your recovery? If you are able to offer this, it would go a long way towards improving your boss' perception of the situation.
    – JohnHC
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 9:25
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    Your health is more important than any job - you can always get another job - that is not true for your health. All (most?) people understand that this cannot be avoided
    – Ed Heal
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 9:30
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    @JohnHC - I believe this is illegal (at least in my country). I once offered the exact same thing to my previous employer and they said there is no such option.
    – DanteeChaos
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 10:14
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    "another 2 months of sick leave looks bad on paper" - You know what looks even worse on paper? Not being able to work anymore at all (or at greatly reduced effectiveness) because your condition deteriorated because you didn't take care of it. I hope your boss doesn't want to turn your fixable health issue into a harder-to-fix or unfixable health issue by making you work when you should be recovering. Best of luck and I hope you get well soon!
    – AllTheKingsHorses
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 10:31

2 Answers 2

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another 2 months of sick leave looks bad on paper

Nothing you can do about this. Medical problems aren't in your control.

The temp did almost no work done.

This is your employer's fault, not yours. They should hire a competent temp this time, and if they accidentally hire an incompetent one again, should replace them before two months are up.

My manager won't be pleased when he hears about me going on another extended sick leave.

See first point.

How do I approach this?

Know what your employment rights are. Get advice if necessary. You've just got to tell your managers what's happening, and then be prepared to handle any fallout.

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    Also make sure to get documentation from doctors about the situation incase its needed later.
    – David says Reinstate Monica
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 14:48
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I like Philip Kendall's answer and I'd like to expand on it:

Nothing you can do about this. Medical problems aren't in your control.

Exactly, and this is also the mindset you have to put yourself into before talking to your boss. Your health problem isn't something that you can decide to suddenly not have or that will go away if your boss pressures you hard enough. Accept that you have to take this sick leave as a fact yourself, don't feel guilty about it, don't think there is anything to negotiate about it, and state it as a fact to your boss.

I would hope that it is in your bosses best interest to have you recover as soon as possible and as completely as possible. You can frame it for him that way: "Boss, I want to make sure I'm healthy and at my best so that I can give my best for the company again once I've recovered."

You can also offer to help mitigate your absence if that mitigation doesn't endanger your recovery. Offer to help select and/or train a temp (if you have enough time for that before the surgery) and document your work so that the temp can pick it up easily. Basically anything you can do before the surgery so that you don't have to do anything while you're recovering.

Some would see this as helping your boss replace you and, depending on the boss/company, they may be right. However, you have to balance this risk with the risk of being let go because your availability for your company isn't "guaranteed" (in the bosses mind) any more. That's something you have to judge for yourself.

And, of course:

Know what your employment rights are. Get advice if necessary.

Ask your local employee representation organisation (union? citizen advice office?) about it; maybe your doctor or health insurance can point you to information about it. If that doesn't help, consider consulting a lawyer.

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  • Unless @DanteeChaos is doing a more or less entry level job, two months is often less time than it takes to get a new hire up to speed in a new position. In my field we usually expect it to take six months to a year for A new hire to become useful. It's probably in the company's best interest to do what the can to ensure DC can come back to the same position.
    – Keith Davies
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 16:46
  • For that matter, even if it's an 'entry level' job they can't count on finding someone trained. My daughter -- smart kid, talented in many areas -- got a job at a coffee shop last summer and it was last week that they declared her training complete. I suspect that if she was going to be away for two months on medical reasons they'd expand other workers' hours to compensate and then bring her back when she was recovered... and she's a teenage barista.
    – Keith Davies
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 16:49
  • @KeithDavies Completely agree, but since the OP seems afraid that their boss will make trouble for them because of the sick leave, they (sadly) may need to make their boss aware of said best interest.
    – AllTheKingsHorses
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 17:03
  • indeed, that's why I mentioned it, so it could be used when OP discusses with OP's boss. (Thanks for pointing this out. I have a bad habit of assuming people will see the same implications I do, so I don't always say everything because it's not needed, right?)
    – Keith Davies
    Commented Feb 23, 2017 at 17:13

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