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09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rechu

At what point would you think of requesting stress leave from work?

Here:
Work Gripes Thread
You can see my post about the current situation at my workplace. There are some other posts in that thread a bit farther back as well.

A little while back, things had improved a lot, but between my boss’s mystery health issues and the situation with the new system they are going downhill. No problems have been resolved, but we are still expected to meet certain deadlines, which is nearly impossible. I spent 4 hours this morning on something that would have taken me 10 minutes before, yet they still force us to use this system.

I am trying to tell myself it’s not my problem; I didn’t create it. But, it’s hard to keep up that thinking when I get constant messages and emails from our boss telling me that I need to finish such and such by 12 to send to a client.

Today I got so frustrated I broke down in tears. I made a minor mistake, forgetting to get a clarification when I made a phone call and the editor chewed me out. It’s been a while since I was pushed to that. At least I work from home, so no one saw me. From what I hear from co-workers EVERYONE has been doing things like that and is on edge, since we are distracted by trying to use a system that isn’t working properly.

I am thinking either to take some vacation days or stress leave (which is a thing in this country). My husband said if I go to the private clinic that has a psych ER where he has gone in the past, they’d probably give me a week at least. Maybe by the time I got back things would have improved somewhat. I’ve been with the company over two years and have only taken two days of sick leave in all that time, so I don’t think I’d have issues with getting approval.

Any thoughts? Stick it out or try and take some sort of break? Obviously the plus of the stress leave is to not use my vacation time.

Hello Rechu. So sorry you are struggling with this. I have experienced two rough jobs which definitely affected my health. I have never taken sick leave for stress. I left instead. While I would never tell you not to do it, I would respectfully caution you to think it over and only use it as a last resort. Whether we care to admit it or not, sick leave for psychological reasons is frowned upon. It can affect a person's career and future jobs after they return...word tends to get out whether legal or not. Where I live, you can't take sick leave without specifying the reason and the boss does become aware of that but perhaps it is different where you are? Workers in certain fields avoid this like the plague because it can be assumed later (though unfairly) that they just can't handle the work. I've known several colleagues who experienced that. One told me that his MD said "I'll write the line for you but I don't recommend that unless you are desperate." Once you ring the bell, you can't un-ring it so to speak. Where my mother works, people who take sick leave for stress are deemed malingering or "loony." I would encourage you to get another job before resigning. Or take some vacation time if you are not sure about resigning. Though if you are truly miserable, I am not sure why you wouldn't want to resign. Crying at work is an indication of a need for change.
While crying itself is okay in the right setting, being so overwhelmed in the workplace is not appropriate. Sounds like you need a break. Trust me, resigning and going to a different job will likely play out very differently for your future career than being out on sick leave for stress.

I wish you peace, hope, and a bright future.