Feeling ill, dragging myself to work as don't want disciplinary
Comments
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Whilst employers certainly don't give medals for working through minor illnesses, they do give disciplinaries for not! Or at least disciplinaries for taking excessive amounts of time off with self certified illnesses.
To be clear, I said that if OP's current cold was exacerbating her asthma, that took it into a different category. I still stand by my view that most employers would not tolerate an employee with an already poor sickness record taking self certified time off for a common cold unless there were exceptional circumstances. It's up to OP whether she genuinely feels ill enough to run the risk of a disciplinary though.
My own personal rule of thumb for things other than D and V, is that if I would be spending the day in bed, mostly asleep then I need the time off sick. If I'd be sitting on the sofa watching TV or doing a hobby at home or interacting with friends on the phone or internet, I'm well enough for work and might as well be feeling rough at work as at home, even if my productivity is lower. That's for an office based job. If I was operating heavy machinery or driving, then I'd have to factor in whether being below par would put others at risk.0 -
There is a cold bug going round, I have had the blooming cold for over a week and been up town already today in shops coughing fits and all if I make it into work then of course I've every right to go out for fresh air and stock myself up, though I wondered exactly like you last weekend on the work front when I dosed myself up trying to get rid quickly esp as relatively new starter, only to walk in on Monday with others poorly.. so we could be just re infecting one another. It isn't always about the dirty customers you know as you've fessed up yourself to being poorly. :cool:
Go in and let them send you home imo - it worked for 1 in 5 where I was. I think the people sent home were a bit weepier then others.
Hope you feel better soon x0 -
Asthma is a disability. Have you asked for reasonable adjustments to the sickness target?
You need to provide evidence for that I'm afraid, because on the face of it you seem to be taking a "you tick the box so why not play the card?" sort of attitude.
I say that because first google search found the following about Social Security Disability (though it would be interesting to see what the UK says about it!). This site says that you only qualify for disability benefits (in the US I believe) if "your Asthma is severe enough to prevent you from engaging in gainful activity" - OP can still work
Plus, it also says:
http://www.disability-benefits-help.org/disabling-conditions/asthma-and-social-security-disability....and if they are severe enough to require “intensive” treatment, which is defined by the SSA as:
intravenous bronchodilator,
antibiotic administration, or
prolonged inhalational bronchodilator therapy in a hospital, emergency room or equivalent setting
So I'm immediately skeptical as to whether Asthma in a mild form would be considered a disability. The US doesn't seem to think so!
There are genuinely disabled people out there and I think it is a bit of an insult to them if someone with mild asthma, exasperated at certain times (ie infections) and not requiring substantial support (like the 3 above; OP would have been quick to mention those I reckon!), were to call themselves disabled.0 -
Looks like OP has gone to work after all, as she hasn't been back. If she's reading in her break though some practical suggestions could be:
1 to find her line manager and let them know that she's feeling rotten but didn't take time off sick due to the risk of disciplinary but would like to take a few days AL over the next few days instead. The LM will either say "don't be silly, you're clearly ill, take the time off sick" or "that's fine have some AL", or "sorry you don't look ill to me and it's too short notice for AL"
2. If the LM refuses AL and sickness without a disciplinary, then if OP feels her GP will support her, she can ask for a referral to Occupational Health for reasonable adjustments to manage her asthma
3 if the GP and OH agree that her asthma means she needs to be able to take more time off than others, then she can ask the employer to put these in place. Though she needs to be realistic about what she is entitled to, and what would be a reasonable adjustment in these circumstances
4 If the GP and OH don't think her asthma puts her in the disabled category, then unfortunately she has to soldier on as we all do, or look for a role with a different sickness policy0 -
Yes, to be fair, asthma which is mild would not affect someone enough to necessarily count as a disability for employment adjustments ( although, given US attitudes to employment and just about everything else, I don't give a fig what they think). But it is not about "playing a card" and I am surprised that any regular here would think that I would suggest that! But having a more severe reaction to viral infection is a fact, and so there is nothing at all wrong with asking (which is what I said - ask) for a reasonable adjustment on that basis. The OP has had very little sickness, in fact, and that often counts in someone's favour when asking. It isn't as though they are going to get carte blanche.
As a "genuinely disabled person" myself, I don't ASSUME that someone's asthma is mild (the OP did not say this), and nor am I slightly offended by the idea. The law does not mention "requiring substantial support" at all, and that isn't a criteria. Diabetes, which can be controlled solely by diet in some cases, is a disability. As is asthma. It is a lifelong condition ("has lasted, or will last, at least a year") which impacts on someone's ability to function normally on a day to day basis (quite normal situations can trigger asthma even in mild cases, as I am sure you know). So it is a disability. Whether or not it warrants a reasonable adjustment is another matter.
And I actually am offended that some people here think they have the ability to judge what a "genuinely disabled person" is. Nobody here can say who is genuine or not, and people with disabilities do not have to give toy a quick medical history to prove they have a disability. It's beginning to sound like an ATOS staff meeting around here!0 -
I don't get why you're offended.
I have a recognised disability too, and as a result only work 4 days a week. I understand though that adjustments need to correlate to the severity of the disability and that simply having a label doesn't entitle you to a full package of adjustments whether you need them or not.
OP has asthma. If the effect of that asthma means she needs adjustments, then she's entitled to ask for them. If her GP and OH don't agree that she needs the adjustments she wants, even though others with more severe asthma do need the things she is asking for, then that's the way it is. Some people with the same disability as me are only able to work 2 days a week, some aren't able to work at all and claim benefits. It's all individual, and taking offence at that concept is ridiculous!
I'm quite happy to put my hand up and say I am disabled but other people are more disabled than I am. It's not a binary label!0 -
Yes, to be fair, asthma which is mild would not affect someone enough to necessarily count as a disability for employment adjustments ( although, given US attitudes to employment and just about everything else, I don't give a fig what they think). But it is not about "playing a card" and I am surprised that any regular here would think that I would suggest that! But having a more severe reaction to viral infection is a fact, and so there is nothing at all wrong with asking (which is what I said - ask) for a reasonable adjustment on that basis. The OP has had very little sickness, in fact, and that often counts in someone's favour when asking. It isn't as though they are going to get carte blanche.
As a "genuinely disabled person" myself, I don't ASSUME that someone's asthma is mild (the OP did not say this), and nor am I slightly offended by the idea. The law does not mention "requiring substantial support" at all, and that isn't a criteria. Diabetes, which can be controlled solely by diet in some cases, is a disability. As is asthma. It is a lifelong condition ("has lasted, or will last, at least a year") which impacts on someone's ability to function normally on a day to day basis (quite normal situations can trigger asthma even in mild cases, as I am sure you know). So it is a disability. Whether or not it warrants a reasonable adjustment is another matter.
And I actually am offended that some people here think they have the ability to judge what a "genuinely disabled person" is. Nobody here can say who is genuine or not, and people with disabilities do not have to give toy a quick medical history to prove they have a disability. It's beginning to sound like an ATOS staff meeting around here!
Exactly, that is the key point.
Whether a reasonable adjustment is required and what constitutes one if it is has been debated quite a bit around here in the last week or so!
As you say nobody here has enough information to offer an expert opinion. Even if they did an opinion is all it would be. The bottom line is if the employee feels they need more than the employer is prepared to give their only options are to go to a tribunal and / or look for another job.0 -
I don't get why you're offended. I am using the terms of the other posters here. Apparently, as a "genuinely disabled person" I am supposed to feel insulted or offended by someone saying they have a disability. I am not offended by that. I am offended at the attitudes and assumptions being made.
I have a recognised disability too, and as a result only work 4 days a week. I understand though that adjustments need to correlate to the severity of the disability and that simply having a label doesn't entitle you to a full package of adjustments whether you need them or not. I did not suggest it did. I said that one may ASK. I wasn't the one running around assuming the disability was mild. Or otherwise. That was down to others. And I do not consider disability a label. It is a fact of life.Nobody is "labelling" me, not now, not ever. I am not my disability.
OP has asthma. If the effect of that asthma means she needs adjustments, then she's entitled to ask for them. If her GP and OH don't agree that she needs the adjustments she wants, even though others with more severe asthma do need the things she is asking for, then that's the way it is. Some people with the same disability as me are only able to work 2 days a week, some aren't able to work at all and claim benefits. It's all individual, and taking offence at that concept is ridiculous! If you read carefully what I said, that is exactly what I said to you! That sickness is individual and what you or I or others may do, and in what circumstances, are all different. I was not the one saying "I've just finished a week at work whilst suffering from a cold which I caught from a colleague. It didn't even cross my mind to take time off and if I'd felt I needed to, I'd have asked for a day AL not self certified sick." as if that had any relevance to what someone else should do. I think that was you!
I'm quite happy to put my hand up and say I am disabled but other people are more disabled than I am. It's not a binary label!
It isn't a label at all. Labels are what people attach to others so that they fit into nice boxes. Disability isn't a label and should never be treated as one.0 -
It would be very dangerous for the OP to announce to their boss that they have a disability based on some sweeping statements on here. People need to be careful not to mislead based on very little knowledge of the OP's condition.
Can I be quite clear here, since half the posters appear to be unable to read what I said. I said that asthma is a disability. It is. That is a fact. I asked whether the OP had asked about reasonable adjustments. I did not suggest that they run to the boss and make announcements, and I did not mislead anyone. The irrational reaction to that two sentence post appears to have left all reason behind here. It was down to others making sweeping statements that this was somehow "playing the disability card" and the whole subject growing legs based on other peoples assumptions that the asthma was not serious that has led us to this place.
I was, perhaps stupidly, thinking that the OP might answer the question I asked - not that a lynching party would be mounted at the mere mention of the word "disability"!
Now unless the OP has any further information to add - and in their shoes I'd probably not feel that I'd get too sympathetic a viewing if I did - I'm out.0 -
OP,
Dose yourself up with decongestant, painkiller, Olbas oil etc so you don't feel as rotten. Buy one of those disposable paper 'surgeon's' mask in Boots to wear in the office so you don't spread germs, something the Japanese do as a matter of course.0
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