Employers sickness review procedure

custardy

Uncertain wrote: »

No, not really.

Where do you draw the line with this type of approach. Search everybody leaving the building incase one or two are thieves?

I can understand the need to keep an eye on staff taking many short periods of uncertificated sick leave. However, once it has been certified by a doctor then a totally seperate procedure should apply.

RM have really ramped it up
last time i was off i phoned it at 0530,by 9am i had an SD letter delivered outlining the sick procedure and was required to attend a meeting with the manager in 3 days.(i dont even live in the same postcode as my office covers)
at 1000 i had a phonecall from another manager asking when i would be back
daily phonecalls after that.

[Deleted User]

Vader123 wrote: »

The NHS's sickness policy is the best out there and the envy of other companies.

After a qualfiying period you get 6 months full pay. Add in the annual cost of living payrise, heavy union membership, being recession proof*, its not a bad deal.

Vader

(* = to a degree)

I'm not denying that the NHS has a very good sickness pay scheme but then so do a lot of companies.

[Deleted User]

custardy wrote: »

RM have really ramped it up
last time i was off i phoned it at 0530,by 9am i had an SD letter delivered outlining the sick procedure and was required to attend a meeting with the manager in 3 days.(i dont even live in the same postcode as my office covers)
at 1000 i had a phonecall from another manager asking when i would be back
daily phonecalls after that.

That seems a bit much. Surely thats not far off being harrassment...

I remember when I was off work with depression, my manager was almost too scared to phone me at home !!!! When I said I was planning to come back he was almost talking me out of it....

custardy

[quote=[Deleted User];25966635]That seems a bit much. Surely thats not far off being harrassment...

I remember when I was off work with depression, my manager was almost too scared to phone me at home !!!! When I said I was planning to come back he was almost talking me out of it....[/QUOTE]

well the phone calls are to 'check you are okay and follow your progress' :rolleyes:
its the way it is with RM,people are harrased while off sick.
another favourite is being asked to return under 'light duties'
however once the person is back they will be pushed/harassed into basically taking full duties out.
a couple of months ago i saw a lad out delivering and stopping to throw up between driveways :eek:
manager had talked him into coming in when he thought he had flu

Pssst

Sickness management procedures are commonplace is most workplaces and to be honest, i would rather have a formal procdure,signed onto by both sides,than have some arbitrary judgements being made by individual managers.

On the whole there is nothing to fear if you follow the procedure,are honest with your employer,and keep them informed.

If the end result is that you can no longer work due to illness then that is how it has to be. Employers are not benevolent societies.

My own,a mega company,has a comprehensive sickness management proc. They also have performance monitoring,performance improvement and tons and tons of other procs for everything under the sun. I've never fallen foul of them but have occasionally been held accountable for matters pertaining to them and have given good account.

chrisd8780

[quote=[Deleted User];25914611]My argument is that there does need to be some discretion. I appreciate that 'odd' random sick days are a problem for most employers but I think the employer needs to look at the whole picture.

For instance, another person who works with my wife accrued two sickness instances when her mother died and she needed some time off. Somehow dont think thats fair?[/QUOTE]I`m going through something similar but have been off continuously. Acas told me they have to pay you one weeks notice for every year served.Think companies get away with too much.Any sickness certified by a doctor ought to be paid time off.instead of people working next to deaths door just to keep a roof over their heads.

Liz3yy

glossgal wrote: »

Can understand what you are saying OP but the bottom line is people who keep being off sick are a pain in the a*** for an employer, whether they are genuine or not-the crucial point being you often have no way of telling the difference until you start applying a little pressure in the way of meetings, reviews etc. I think you have to stand back and try to be objective- your wife has had four different reasons for being off sick-if these are all in a reletively short period then can you blame any employer for addessing it?

I'm not unsympathetic and have been on sickness review myself, it's annoying but you have to play the game.

I can appreciate both sides of the argument. In my previous job I had almost a month off due to tonsillitis. I had complications due to being sensitive to the penicillin I was given and ended up in casualty. When I returned to work my manager gave me no end of grief for the time I had been away. I was rather annoyed to say the least.

Now the boot is on the other foot, a colleague I work closely with has been off sick several times since I've known her, and the current run of sick leave has been going on since July! it's caused me endless stress and anxiety as I don't know if or when she'll be back.

It's costing the company money in having to hire a temp to cover her work and also to keep me sane.

It's a minefield concerning sick leave. Employees need protection for when they are genuinely ill, but employers also need protection from people taking the mick

custardy

Liz3yy wrote: »

I can appreciate both sides of the argument. In my previous job I had almost a month off due to tonsillitis. I had complications due to being sensitive to the penicillin I was given and ended up in casualty. When I returned to work my manager gave me no end of grief for the time I had been away. I was rather annoyed to say the least.

Now the boot is on the other foot, a colleague I work closely with has been off sick several times since I've known her, and the current run of sick leave has been going on since July! it's caused me endless stress and anxiety as I don't know if or when she'll be back.

It's costing the company money in having to hire a temp to cover her work and also to keep me sane.

It's a minefield concerning sick leave. Employees need protection for when they are genuinely ill, but employers also need protection from people taking the mick

agreed,in RM you can work a 2 week 'holiday' into every 12 months if you wanted to with no penalty
however if like me you have 1 illness in a 6 month period that triggers a sick 'stage' it doesnt matter you weren't off at all in the 10 months before

its never easy to have a fair and workable system

Emmzi

just to add, employer sick pay is not there to replace eg incapacity benefit. the employer pays a wage. they are entitled to expect work. these policies help replace people who cannot work, often through no fault of their own, but certainly at no fault of the employers, with people who can work.

and yes, I do know what it is like to be unwell. I have a chronic decision and one day I expect to be at the pointy end of a policy.

[Deleted User]

Update

Wife is a little better and has gone back to work this week. First day back and shes had a sickness absence interview and told her the next sickness review in feb is stage 3.

She tried to explain that shes been to the doctors x no of times, been to see specialist, and is currently waiting to see another specialist. She asked them what she was expected to do. Their attitude was they need someone who can do the job and not be off sick. Nice one.

Time to get the union involved I think.