Employee Signed Off, but really...?!

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  • tomtontom
    tomtontom Posts: 7,929 Forumite
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    I would be going down the capability route. It is not up to you to remind them that they are not helping themselves, perhaps a first warning will give them the nudge they need to get their act together. If not, you have the option of further disciplinary action.

    I would not suggest immediate dismissal because it seems that they have until this point been a good employee, but also in case of any discrimination claim. Doing it properly will cost you a few months SSP, but that will be cheaper than defending a claim.
  • Opinion
    Opinion Posts: 401 Forumite
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    tomtontom wrote: »
    I would be going down the capability route. It is not up to you to remind them that they are not helping themselves, perhaps a first warning will give them the nudge they need to get their act together. If not, you have the option of further disciplinary action.

    I would not suggest immediate dismissal because it seems that they have until this point been a good employee, but also in case of any discrimination claim. Doing it properly will cost you a few months SSP, but that will be cheaper than defending a claim.

    Would there be any potential ramifications giving a warning while they are off sick? If she was off with stress I obviously wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, but...
  • tomtontom
    tomtontom Posts: 7,929 Forumite
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    Opinion wrote: »
    Would there be any potential ramifications giving a warning while they are off sick? If she was off with stress I obviously wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, but...

    There shouldn't be. Do you have a sickness absence policy, and/ or a disciplinary or capability policy? In effect you are giving them a warning because they are failing to fulfil their role, you can do that irrespective of why they are off.

    The only caveat I would give is if they are classed as disabled - is this an isolated issue or a long term problem? If the latter they may be classed as disabled, in which case you need to make reasonable adjustments for them, which may involve being more flexible with absences - but that still doesn't mean you cannot discipline them, just that you might give them longer than a non disabled employee before taking action.
  • pelirocco
    pelirocco Posts: 8,274 Forumite
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    Beware the disability at work act . Seems to protect employees while off sick no matter how short a time they have been employed....speaking from bitter experience
    Vuja De - the feeling you'll be here later
  • paddyrg
    paddyrg Posts: 13,543 Forumite
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    I would personally be looking at the incident of going to their own place of work and getting bladdered as being potential misconduct (if you have such a policy in place - staff, even off-duty, drinking in their workplace can be offputting to other punters. Maybe after a discussion they need a more flexible contract, perhaps a zero-hour one so they can still work occasionally on the good days and not be a problem for you on their down days?
  • tomtontom
    tomtontom Posts: 7,929 Forumite
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    pelirocco wrote: »
    Beware the disability at work act . Seems to protect employees while off sick no matter how short a time they have been employed....speaking from bitter experience

    This is the third time I've seen you post this and it is completely wrong. There is no such thing as the disability at work act. The relevant law is the Equality Act 2010, and it provides for reasonable adjustments (as described above) and protection from discrimination. It does not stop sometime being dismissed if they cannot fulfil their role.

    Please stop posting incorrect information!
  • IronWolf
    IronWolf Posts: 6,423 Forumite
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    It seems very odd to go to your place of work while off sick and get drunk. Definitely not something someone of the right mind would do.

    When I was off sick work for depression, I didn't drink, but I did go out and about and do things. If someone had seen me they might have thought I was just skiving but I was in absolutely no fit state to work, I could barely watch tv and keep concentration for more than 20 seconds at a time. Appearances dont always show whats really going on inside their head.
    Faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
  • Takeaway_Addict
    Takeaway_Addict Posts: 6,538 Forumite
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    OP

    I would have investigated bringing your company into disrepute when they came and got smashed and sick.

    I would probably have looked at a written warning as I agree with you in giving the employee as much chance as possible but it also starts protecting you as a company as well if you take any further action.

    Do you have any employment help from professionals? If not it might be worth looking into it. It might also be worth inviting the employee to a meeting (send one letter recoreded and one with proof of posting) to discuss what the issues are, and whether the employer can help them return to work asap.

    This way if you do get taken to a tribunal you can prove that you have tried to help the employee to look at reasonable adjustments.

    And SSP is not reclaimable now as of April for ALL companies.

    The employee is an idiot to get drunk at your place but the beer in a park is not really your concern and nothing you can do about it.
    Don't trust a forum for advice. Get proper paid advice. Any advice given should always be checked
  • Takeaway_Addict
    Takeaway_Addict Posts: 6,538 Forumite
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    im-lost wrote: »
    so someone with depression isn't allowed to go out the house?Op Didn't say this did they...

    is a depressed person supposed to just mope around and do nothing, getting even more depressed?OP didn't say this did they...

    You may find that they've been taking anti depressants, a week or so of feeling like complete !!!!, and then they start to kick in and hopefully lift your mood. Did you not see the OP has experience of this personally?

    Sometimes all feeling depressed needs are a few pills and a bit of time out.

    But there's not really much you can do about it, if a doctor has signed them off then they are in effect sick, despite your reservations.

    If they return to work whilst sick, your insurance wont cover them for any mishaps etc Not necessarily true....

    Just suck it up, im sure you're aware, its one of the things you need to deal with, when running a business.Suck it up and start taking measures to protect the company...absolutely right!

    Its great that you have other staff members that are qualified to diagnose the presence of a mental illness, have you though of branching out in to this line of work? it would be quite easy considering you have people capable of the work on the payroll already.
    Should staff not tell the boss anything, especially if they are feeling that they are picking the load up of someone on the sick?

    Your lack of understanding of people that don't understand depression is quite ironic really. Why should everyone know every nuance of the illness and surely the OP is doing teh right thing inquiring about it?
    Don't trust a forum for advice. Get proper paid advice. Any advice given should always be checked
  • Opinion
    Opinion Posts: 401 Forumite
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    Thank you for all the replies. As I have said, I wasn't posting as a witch hunt, I just wondered what others thought of the situation.
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