sickness

ckerrd

Fly_Baby wrote: »

I work for myself so I can sign myself off at any time and sink into depression. Yet I didn't. It took effort and professional help, of course.

I appreciate that it did. And well done for working through it. Not easy, I know.

Ewarwoowar2

Intermitant periods of sick leave - three days here and there - is usually a good indicator of someone taking the mick.

Instead of getting a sick note for 'migraine', why don't you get one for vomiting and blackouts.

Oldernotwiser

callywally wrote: »

I have a few days off with a genuine problem for which I have medical records for and am taking steps to improve the problem, but am questioned and made to fell like i am lying.
.

But you don't have medical records, do you? As you say "as I cant go to te drs every time I get one ". Odd days off sick will always lead to more problems than a certificated illness lasting weeks or months.

callywally

Yes I do have medical records. I have been to my gp several times and referred to hospital with this condidtion.
I said that I cant go to the drs every time i get a migraine.
I am on medication and this has helped but not completely stopped the migraines.
I do understand why my company has questioned it, but does this meanI should give up work and go on benefits?
I like my job and do it well, I am trying to sort out he problem and believe me I would love for the migraines to stop.
As i said the ten days includes a stomach bug which I got from work anyway.
with a bad migraine it can last a couple of days before the vomiting stops.
I will speak to my doctor again and my employer to see what can be done.
Thanks for the advice, some of you have been helpful.

POCKETROCKET_3

Hello callywally,

I too used to suffer from migraines and like yourself I suffered visual problems and vomiting. One of the problems is that if you have never suffered a real migraine you cannot possibly understand how debilitating they are, I couldn't even stand up. People sometimes say they have a migraine whilst at work, to me this just isn't possible and what they actually have is a headache. I'm sure you are aware that certain foods can trigger an attack, along with not drinking enough water or eating enough and that you are trying to avoid your triggers. I did sometimes wonder if stress was a factor but strangely I did not have a single migraine during the four years I was under most stress. I hope you find your line manager sympathetic and that you can come to some agreement. The only bit of hope I can give you is that they do become less frequent as you get older. I am mid 50s now and have only had 1 migraine in probably the last 7 or 8 years, they were as frequent as every 6 weeks or so when I was younger.

Good luck.

ckerrd

callywally wrote: »

Yes I do have medical records. I have been to my gp several times and referred to hospital with this condidtion.
I said that I cant go to the drs every time i get a migraine.
I am on medication and this has helped but not completely stopped the migraines.
I do understand why my company has questioned it, but does this meanI should give up work and go on benefits?
I like my job and do it well, I am trying to sort out he problem and believe me I would love for the migraines to stop.
As i said the ten days includes a stomach bug which I got from work anyway.
with a bad migraine it can last a couple of days before the vomiting stops.
I will speak to my doctor again and my employer to see what can be done.
Thanks for the advice, some of you have been helpful.

Presumably your employer knows about this and what the cause was and it will have been dealt with, so this shouldn't be an issue.

See if you can think of a way that you can still cover the work that needs to be done. Keep looking for solutions.

Oldernotwiser

callywally wrote: »

Yes I do have medical records. I have been to my gp several times and referred to hospital with this condidtion.
I said that I cant go to the drs every time i get a migraine.
I am on medication and this has helped but not completely stopped the migraines.

You're missing my point and thinking that I'm having a go at you.

If you haven't been to the doctor each time you've been absent from work (and I do understand your reasons for not going) then there are no medical records regarding these absences. Your doctor could inform people that you are a migraine sufferer but not that this was the reason for your absences on particular days.

Even migraine sufferers could skive off occasionally (not implying that you were)!

Zazen999

You're also missing my point - don't compare your illness to anyone else's - it really does wind the management up as they will be trying to address this legally behind the scenes. Just try and manage your illness with them; and be flexible if you can be, and get the backup documentation as mentioned.

Uncertain

Sickness is one of the most difficult issues in any workplace. Overall, in a very large organisation, it averages out and HR know that they will get 8 (or whatever the current figure is) less days work from each employee per year than they pay for.

In a small company it can be crippling if one or two out of, say, five staff are sick a lot. Within a small department of a large concern the same applies.

However, the sickness benefits (if any) at a company are part of the overall package you sign up to. Presumably if you were not entitled to any sick pay (apart from statutory) you would / should be paid more!

A company should not be making judgements about who is / is not ill. This is a Doctors job. If the illness is certificated then it is not for anybody to say "my stress is worse than your hernia" or whatever.

Most Doctors take a dim view of their medical judgement being questioned or their patients health being put at risk by unfair pressure at work. Certainly when this happend to me my Doctor's response was to write longer sick notes!

My suggestion would be to discuss the situation with your Doctor ASAP. He will probably be willing to issue certificates, even for short illnesses, if he feels that your health is being made worse by unfair pressure at work for otherwise uncertificated sick leave.

Emmzi

however even if the illness is demonstrated as genuine the employer needs to know callywally is fit to fulfil the terms of her contract.

still waiting for an answer to the question "what have you done to try and make good the work."

This makes a HUGE difference to me with ny team! it may only be an extra half hour or so on the day they are back (well), or phoning me to tell me what is urgent and needs to be dealt with - but helping me avoid problems does carry a lot of goodwill with me.

(we do still dismiss persistent sick leave people to, genuine and lead swinging)