A mum-to-be who told her employer she was too sick to work, has been spotted holidaying in Greece.
The woman in question had been on sick leave for five weeks citing Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG), a severe and chronic form of morning sickness, as the reason when she was busted by a female colleague through a mutual friend on Facebook.
The colleague took to a parenting forum to raise the matter, and seek advice as to what she should do with her newfound information.
“By complete coincidence she is Facebook friends with a friend of mine,” the woman wrote.
“My friend has put some pictures on Facebook this morning of her Greek holiday she’s still on, and my work colleague is in most of them – sunbathing, eating, swimming in the sea, playing volleyball. She has obviously blocked me as she is tagged in the pictures but her name is unclickable.
“I’m gonna sound like a complete cow but I think she’s faking her sickness,” she said.
The woman went on to express her concerns about the financial pressures the leave had placed upon the company, and team.
“She’s on full pay from work and we’re having to pay an agency temp to cover her work too. It’s a small company that is struggling and I doubt we’re going to make any profit this month due to this,” she added.
A number of women who spotted the post on the forum were all too familiar with the experience of HG during their pregnancies, and confirmed that it was very unlikely that the woman was suffering from it given her activities.
“I had hyperemesis with dd [darling daughter],” one woman wrote.
“Getting on a flight? Volleyball? I couldn’t get out of bed without being sick. I went down to six-and-a-half stone (41 kg) and had to have iron injections. This woman may have had morning sickness, but clearly a very mild case indeed of hyperemesis.”
“If she has hyperemesis there is no way on earth she would have had the energy or ability to get to the airport let alone get on a plane and play volleyball!” said another woman, who revealed that was currently suffering from HG and had been in and out of hospital.
Meanwhile a host of other users advised the woman to reveal the images to management.
“She is a piss-taker, show your boss the photos,” urged one.
“Take screenshots and show the boss,” another said.
“People doing things like this are a big part of the reason why sick pay is shit and women’s pregnancy symptoms are doubted imo [in my opinion]. It’s her own fault.”
According to a report on news.com.au, the woman has since taken on board the advice, and told her boss about her colleague’s holiday in Greece.
Taking sick leave for reasons other than genuinely being ill is a common occurrence. A survey conducted by software company TSheets earlier this year revealed only 52 per cent of workers in Australia are being genuine when they take a sick day, with almost half using the leave to take a long weekend, spend time with friends and family, enjoy a day at the beach or go to a job interview.
