Advice needed urgently re disciplinary

GotToChange

If your illness is indeed RSI (do you actually play tennis or golf.....?), then it should be classed as such by a health professional - and also have been raised with your Occ Health dept at work.

If this is the case, then your type of work is actually causing your ailment and therefore absence. They should have investigated and rectified the problem long ago - the fact that they haven't and are now trying to get rid of you is all kinds of wrong and they are in actual fact leaving themselves open to a claim of industrial injury. But the fact remains that somebody somewhere has to try and fix the problem and that includes you. It is a bit passive to simply remain on sick pay (I assume, because I'm inclined to think that you might be pushing a little harder to return to/hang onto your job if you weren't being paid....?) and then almost allow them to fire you, regardless of the jargon they use in their letters.


(PS - I say this from experience, I have been fired whilst off sick, in the end I didn't give a stuff about what they called it and have never allowed them to offer a reason for my leaving. Arguing semantics wouldn't have got me anywhere.)

(PPS - I have worked for a global food manufactuer and was trained as a Workplace/VDU Assessor; main reason being that they didn't want anyone suing them for back/eye strain or RSI type conditions; Occ Health always got involved, recommendations followed through and treatment carried out. This was always with the interests of the company in mind but they would never have left someone to languish at home on company sick pay (paid in full for one year) if they wanted that person in the workplace.)

hendec

To be fair, the problems started with my elbow/arm after my husband bought me a nintendo wii, I did go a bit mad on it and as a result was unable to even pull a plug out of the socket, lift a cup of coffee etc without severe pains in my arm, I was quite honest with the company that the doc (1st doc) blamed it on the wii, so I'm not sure that they will be thinking I will try and claim against them, however, the doc that has been giving me the cortisone injections is blaming it on the constant typing, I have not told them this as yet, I did get a response yesterday from my Manager, she told me that they were going to send another letter, to be honest it all happened so fast I couldnt remember everything she said, I argued that the disciplinary/misconduct was inappropriate in this case but she tried to say that the meeting was only going to be the first step as to how decide the way foward, has she forgotten that the letter actaully states '' the allegations amount to misconduct under the company policy''....so I'm still no wiser, but will wait and see what the next letter says....will keep you all informed and i really appreciate the feedback I've got....p.s I am not being paid for my absence and am receiving ssp

GotToChange

hendec wrote: »

To be fair, the problems started with my elbow/arm after my husband bought me a nintendo wii, I did go a bit mad on it

*sigh*

I must be old/fashioned.

An injury from a playing a virtual exercise/sport machine. I am soooo behind the times.

I'm bowing out pf this thread as I'm afraid my sympathy is evaporating fast. Good for you for being up front; I hope you don't get the word misconduct used in your (almost inevitable) letter of dismissal - or that you can hang onto your "job"/sickpay until your relocation comes through.

Uncertain

Sorry, this is getting muddled!

How the OP came by her injury has no effect on her right to sick pay (or not). Where would you stop if you went down this line?

Injured in a car crash? Sorry should have stayed at home!

But I was on my way to work! Sorry, should have bought a better car that would have given you more protection.

It wouldn't have! Sorry, should have gone on an advanced driving course! etc. etc.

How she cam by her problem may well affect her chances of claiming compensation but not her right to sick pay or to be treated correctly in any capability decision.

GotToChange

I didn't say that it should affect the right to company or statutory sick pay; what I said was that how the "injury" occurred diminishes my sympathy and that is because I am old school - and prefer real experiences/sports to virtual ones.

The case here is of a self-inflicted ailment that sooner or later the OP must take responsibility for and some kind of action. Accidents happen and injuries are sustained, fair enough but it is good sense to not put yourself at risk - even, it seems, from doing damage to yourself in front of a screen in your own sitting room.

(This is from someone who actually broke a toe last night when stubbed it on the stand of my exercise bike so not said without humour but sympathy is gone. I am saying no more.)

zzzLazyDaisy

Uncertain wrote: »

How she cam by her problem may well affect her chances of claiming compensation but not her right to sick pay or to be treated correctly in any capability decision.

Exactly!

OP has never implied that she is considering seeking compensation - quite the opposite, she has told her employer how she sustained the original injury (an incident outside the workplace).

She has also confirmed that she is not in receipt of company sick pay, just SSP (which she is entitled to claim as long as she remains unfit for work in her GP's opinion, regardless of how she sustained her injury)

In fact OP has been completely clear from her first post that her only concern is that she should not end up with a 'misconduct dismissal' on her records, when the real reason she will be leaving her job (whether she resigns or is dismissed) is not capable of doing her job as a typist, owing to a health condition.

Please let's not 'muddy the waters' by introducing additional elements to the discussion and then berating the OP because she does not fit that particular scenario.

hendec

can I just say in my defense that I did not intentially inflict this injury on myself and the doc who is currently treating me does not believe that the wii was responsible but a coincidence.....this is all really hard for me, up to having my son 7 years ago I had spent 12 years managing call centres and had a very successful career, I have been suffering from depression as well as the physical injury and when I was sent to occ health she confirmed I was border line depression, if I thought I could leave the company quietly and there would be no reference to this disciplinary/misconduct then i would do this but as I cant then I have to go through this awful demeaning process that is making me ill....a few years ago I would have been hitting this head on and dealing with it but I'm not that person anymore and don't think she will ever resurface again........

zzzLazyDaisy

GotToChange wrote: »

(This is from someone who actually broke a toe last night when stubbed it on the stand of my exercise bike so not said without humour but sympathy is gone. I am saying no more.)

To be fair to OP, she has not come onto the MSE forums asking for sympathy.

She has asked for advice about the labelling by her employer of her current sick-leave as misconduct. That is a perfectly reasonable concern, and (in my view) OP deserves to be answered without allocating blame, or seeking to judge her for how she came by her injury.

GotToChange

I apologise for taking things off on a tangent - but it seemed at first that the role/type of work may have played some part in the injury; in which case the employer has a duty of care towards it's employees to ensure that no harm comes to them when carrying out their duties.

And whilst it wasn't sustained intentionally it was self-inflicted surely? Pretty much like the ankle injury I got when my horse stumbled, threw me off and landed on top of me.

But I do know that's not the actual point and I sympathise entirely with the whole process you are going through, especially if you are fighting depression when this can surely only add to it. The main thing now I suppose is damage limitation and it may be worth looking into some sort of compromise agreement - that they - if they "must" fire you - be careful and considerate with their wording and any reference they may provide. I would say though that the chances are they they don't technically have to, but I'm no expert and can only go on my (reams of, sadly) own experiences.

GotToChange

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

To be fair to OP, she has not come onto the MSE forums asking for sympathy.

She has asked for advice about the labelling by her employer of her current sick-leave as misconduct. That is a perfectly reasonable concern, and (in my view) OP deserves to be answered without allocating blame, or seeking to judge her for how she came by her injury.

And to be fair right back - it was my fault for expressing sympathy in the fisrt place and then withdrawing it. Call it understanding, empathy, whatever you like - in my case, it tends to go hand in hand with what I hope is interest, advice and the occasional word of wisdom based on experience (which is I know far from unique).

I have apologised above and will sincerely try to say no more on this matter.

OP - best of luck.
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