How to overcome sick leave guilt

The case for using up your sick leave.

When it comes to taking a sick day, everyone seems to have their own threshold. Some people wait until they’re on their death’s door before making the call, while I’ve known others to refuse to come in at the first sign of a sore throat.

Then there are people who use their sick leave for slightly more nefarious purposes. I’ve had friends shamelessly phone in sick while on a weekend away, just as I’ve had friends whose own bosses have encouraged them to take a day off for their boyfriend’s birthday. Personally, I’ve always been racked by guilt, no matter how sick I actually am.

Looking for a new nine-to-five? Head to our Careers page for new listings daily. 

Generally speaking, the purpose of ‘sick’ or ‘personal’ leave is to give you paid time off if, due to illness or injury, you can’t work. In Australia, full-time workers are entitled to 10 days per year (plus annual leave), while part-time employees typically get pro-rata. You don’t need to give a detailed reason when using it, but in some cases, your work will ask for a medical certificate.

Each year, your unused sick leave accumulates. This means that whatever you don’t use out of your allocated 10 days will carry over into the next year you spend at the company. The thing is, unlike annual or long service leave, you don’t typically receive any compensation for unused sick leave if you leave your job.

So, considering your sick leave is there either way, and you can’t take it with you if you ever quit, should you just use it all up?

Overcoming sick leave guilt

I’ve often tried to interrogate where the guilt in taking a sick day comes from. Thinking about it, it’s less about being a martyr than it is about self-doubt and anxiety. According to careers coach Lara Nercessian, it’s a fairly common experience.

“For many people, their sense of self-worth and identity is tied to their job and taking any time away from it makes them feel uncomfortable or uneasy,” she explains. This can evolve into a host of anxieties surrounding perception, and the feeling that your boss might think you aren’t hardworking, that you aren’t committed or that you aren’t a team player.

It also largely depends on your role and team. For people in small teams, shift workers, teachers and anyone in the health and beauty sectors – it’s also about letting other people down. If you aren’t available, it might mean certain jobs won’t get done or appointments will need to be rebooked, which can have a ripple effect.

Lara’s advice is to keep it simple, instead of thinking too far ahead. “The biggest way you can overcome sick leave guilt is to ask yourself, ‘Am I genuinely unwell?’ If the answer is yes, you can put the guilt down.” If you’re one to deep-dive, then her suggestion is to get introspective. “Consider your character and the essence of who you are. If you are, by nature, an honest, hardworking, committed person, then taking genuine time off from work does not change that.”

Of course, it’s easier said than done. But if you’re not feeling well, whether that’s because you had a terrible night’s sleep, have bad period pains or because you have a fever, then that’s enough.

What if you’re not physically sick?

As Lara explains, the definition of sick leave has evolved over the years. “There’s a better understanding that health and wellness encompasses more than just physical health.” Now, it’s widely accepted that mental health is just as important.

Mental health is a broad category, and what you experience (and your bandwidth for handling it) is subjective. However, anyone who’s experienced a bad bout of anxiety or depression, for example, will know that it can be just as debilitating as a physical ailment. If you’re experiencing burnout, insomnia, dissociation, or panic attacks, it’s just as valid as if you were struck down with the flu.

Of course, planning a holiday or booking a spa day is a slightly different story. If you know you need the day off in advance, it sort of defeats the purpose of needing a ‘sick’ day. That kind of pre-planning is usually where your annual leave comes in handy. After all, calling in sick and then being tagged in an Instagram story living it up is a surefire way to lose all trust between you and your boss.

So, what happens to unused sick leave?

On paper, your personal leave is designed for when you are actually unwell. What exactly this encompasses depends. Where some employers are unflinchingly strict, others will be more lenient. Most will prefer you to be cautious rather than risk you infecting the office, or prefer you take a day for yourself if you’re feeling stressed to avoid burning yourself out later down the track.

How far you take this is a morally grey area. It’s ultimately up to you what constitutes being ‘unable to work’. But it’s worth keeping in mind that at the end of the day, you don’t get a gold medal for never using your sick leave up.

For more workplace advice, try this.