Off sick for 4 weeks boss insisting on visiting me at home.

PaulusCliftus

Hi all.

I'm signed off work with mental health issues. Partly due to strain at work and partly due to personal/family problems.

I had a week off, then signed off by doctor for 2 weeks, and a week ago I gave them a note from the doctor for a further 3 weeks. I also sent them an email a few days ago saying that because of past medical history and my fathers medical history the doctor was dropping in words such as 'schizophrenia' which has me very worried about my mental well being.

I received a letter today from my boss asking to come visit me Friday. I politely responded via email telling him I feel I will get pressured into making a decision when I dont feel I've got the mental capacity at the moment to do so.

He replied being pretty insistent they come see me.

"It is common practice today for employers to meet with employees
who have been away from work for an extended period to try and work out
a "back-to-work" strategy.
We have your best interests at heart and would like to see you back with us as soon as possible."

Now surely a back to work strategy is for when someone has been told they should go back to work? My doctor actually advised me that if I did get the urge to go back to work before my next appointment that I should phone him 1st to discuss it with him, as he is obviously concerned for my mental well being.

Another thing to bear in mind is that shortly after giving my 2nd note in my boss was already advertising my position, infact he is interviewing someone Friday afternoon, only mere hours after apparently wanting to to see me to make sure I'm ok. I know for a fact that they are not recruiting someone to help me in my duties, because the company can barely afford me, even though I am paid abismally (16.5k a year for a web developer!) and the company is doing so bad that my boss has to work for another company just to keep it afloat.

Last year he insisted I forgo my remaining holidays (5 days) to make time up after a couple of short term illnesses. Even though he said "Legally I probably cant insist on this" I still felt pressured into not taking them. Which is what happened. So he really does not believe that employees have rights. Infact I've not had a pay review in 2 years apart from him sat there saying "Well I think because you've had some time off that I'm paying you too much", and then asking if he put that in writing could I sign it! I think our office manager managed to talk him out of doing that though.

It's only 3 of us in the company. The boss is away 4 days a week working elsewhere while I have a totally stupid workload not made any easier by him not doing his side of the job which is to write up specifications for the software I'm meant to be developing. The specs are usually incomplete or non existent.

Hope someone can give some good advice, its actually making me feel ill just thinking about it right now

SueC_2

What's your actual question?

PaulusCliftus

SueC wrote: »

What's your actual question?

Can I tell him that I do not want to meet with him on Friday.

Can he insist that they can.

Am I being unreasonable considering work is a massive part of why I feel ill.

heretolearn_2

Some employers do home visits, yes, on long-term sick. I don't consider 5 weeks to be that long. It's in our employee handbook though that we can go visit - but I don't know if it's something an employee can refuse if it isn't in your contract/handbook.

Keep a dated copy of the advert for your job in case this all goes horrible and you end up at a tribunal. It does sound as if he wants you out. But this isn't the way to go about it.

Call ACAS for help and advice, they are terrific, neutral between employers and employees, but will give you all the legal aspects and advice on what is best practise.

LeeSouthEast

You can make reasonable adjustments to their suggestion of visit times, but you can't really get out of letting them come round. It doesn't have to be 'at home' though, despite the names. It can be at a neutral location like a coffee shop. My mob will do a 'home' visit after more than 2 sets of shifts off work (a total of 20 days including days off), but as I say these can be somewhere mutually agreeable.

PaulusCliftus

heretolearn wrote: »

Some employers do home visits, yes, on long-term sick. I don't consider 5 weeks to be that long. It's in our employee handbook though that we can go visit - but I don't know if it's something an employee can refuse if it isn't in your contract/handbook.

Keep a dated copy of the advert for your job in case this all goes horrible and you end up at a tribunal. It does sound as if he wants you out. But this isn't the way to go about it.

Call ACAS for help and advice, they are terrific, neutral between employers and employees, but will give you all the legal aspects and advice on what is best practise.

The employee handbook reffered to in my contract does not actually exist. I suspect he just copied and pasted the contract from somewhere without actually even reading it. In my contract it does not mention anything about being able to visit me, just mentions the usual stuff about notes etc, which I've already complied with.

Just to let people know the nature of my boss and what kind of dishonest person he is. Some of our customers get government grants from various agencies to help pay for our work, these customers are ussually close friends of his. I just found out that one of these customers had to provide rival quotes, so my boss used my home address and my name and wrote a fictional quote apparently from me any my non existant company and then emailed it to the client and got them to submit it as there rival quote. I'm fuming mad!

PaulusCliftus

heretolearn wrote: »

Call ACAS for help and advice, they are terrific, neutral between employers and employees, but will give you all the legal aspects and advice on what is best practise.

Great advice.

Just rang them and they said my boss is within his rights to request they visit me but I'm also well within my rights to say no.

I probably sound like I'm being awkward towards my boss, but with his track record of dishonesty and bullying and also implicating me in what I believe to be fraud I think he does not deserve me to make myself ill by bending over and letting him shaft me.

Fire_Fox

Your GP is clearly willing to support you here. :T If you feel pressurised any further ask your GP if he will write you a letter explaining that you are not well enough to discuss a return to work strategy and that any proposed meetings may be detrimental to your recovery. Send all doctors certificates recorded delivery and keep the receipts, keep copies of all e-mails and a copy of the job advertisement. Try not to worry as there are laws to protect you from being unlawfully sacked; sometimes being lawfully made unemployed on the grounds of ill health can be the best thing for your long term mental wellbeing.

heretolearn_2

Keep photocopies of all your sick certs as well, don't just send them in to your employer.

PaulusCliftus

Fire_Fox wrote: »

sometimes being lawfully made unemployed on the grounds of ill health can be the best thing for your long term mental wellbeing.

That is something I've been considering as it would be good for me as I can concentrate on getting better and if my mental health issues are as potentially bad as my doctor has hinted then I really need to get it sorted and that won't be an overnight fix. I'm just quite angry at what I think is being bullied into making a choice by a boss who is not as caring as he is trying to make out.

kurgon

As a mental health worker I have dealt with this issue on two occasions. ACAS are not giving you the correct advise possibly. I do not know what your mental health problems are but if it is possible that they may continue for 1 year then you would be covered ny the DDA (disability discrimination act) and under this auspice, it would be considered harrassment for your employer to visit you at home while you are sick. It is also considered harrassment if they are contacting you at home while you have a signed sick cerificate. The only step that can be taken is for you to be referred and seen by an occupational health doctor. ACAS ar really good, but it is always worth phoning a couple fo times, as the advice can often differ, depending on who you get, and their area of expertise.