Disciplinary over sickness absence!

TwistedPsycho

sandraroffey: I would be asking the manager if they could place their request in writing for something like that, because if they forced your sister back to work and contributed towards complications from the surgery then I am sure a line of no-win no-fee lawyers would be forming at your sisters hospital bed!

BLT_2

bendix wrote: »

Precisely my point. Stress is just another way of saying 'I can't cope'. I suspect the public sector not only is a more natural home for such employees to gravitate towards, but that the very cultural and pseudo-politically correct environment of the public sector actually encourages such wishy washy-ness.

Whilst I would argue with your point that the public sector is a place for those who are easily stressed to gravitate to (I work in the public sector, do get stressed, but have not taken a day off sick in 30+ years) I do agree that there seems to be greater incidence of this complaint in the public sector.

Unfortunately the public sector is rife with employees who believe that as they can take so many days sick per year without investigation this equates to the equivalent number of days holiday entitlement.

That said if you work in a billion dollar legal environment the rewards are far greater, you are not going to engender the same high levels of motivation and corporate loyalty paying an individual 14k a year

ceridwen

sandraroffey wrote: »

my sister has had major surgery onher shoulder and cant work yet. her consultant has signed her off. and she cant work for another at least 6 weeks. this week her manager at tesco called her and told her she had to call her consultant and tell him to sign her off so she can go and stand in the store foyer to talk to people about their club cards. then he asked her about her med certs. 'is your doctors name on there. i will be phoning her', i really dont think he can do this!!!!

another example of harrassment when you are off sick. although technically she isnt sick - she is recovering from major surgery.

The thought that occurred to me is that your sister may go back to work believing that handing out clubcards would be ALL she was required to do - but they are planning to swop her over to more physically arduous duties after a week or two....:cool:

Set a sprat to catch a mackerel - as they say... or something.

"Thin end of wedge" is another relevant phrase.

IF she does go back to work - then I think she needs to have one of those new "fit for work" certificates (think thats the name?) - whereby the doctor specifically states exactly what duties she is well enough to do - ie he puts "handing out clubcards" and specifically rules out any other duties until such time as she is well enough for other duties.

That way - she would be co-operating - but would have official say-so from the doctor that that duty was the ONLY one she was to do.

Googlewhacker

sandraroffey wrote: »

my sister has had major surgery onher shoulder and cant work yet. her consultant has signed her off. and she cant work for another at least 6 weeks. this week her manager at tesco called her and told her she had to call her consultant and tell him to sign her off so she can go and stand in the store foyer to talk to people about their club cards. then he asked her about her med certs. 'is your doctors name on there. i will be phoning her', i really dont think he can do this!!!!

another example of harrassment when you are off sick. although technically she isnt sick - she is recovering from major surgery.

What that 'manager' is doing is just unacceptable, now presuming she has been there over a year she should raise a grievance about the harrassment. If the Dr has signed her of for 6 weeks then that is what she should be off for. If in the later stages of recovery she feels she is upto getting back to work then she can ask for a fit for note to replace the sick note which would state what type of work she can do and then the company can accept or reject this.

Googlewhacker

ceridwen wrote: »

But then - there is a saying "Pay peanuts..get monkeys".

I can see both sides of that argument - both the "Minimum Wage = minimum effort" one and the "Pay peanuts - get monkeys" one.

There is also a saying (that I just made up)

Minimum effort= Stay on minimum wage.

Ie if you are just putting the minimum effort in then you are unlikely to progress to a better payscale either through internal promotion or external promotion

Mr_Oink

It's probably fair, if somewhat unpalatable, for an employer to make checks regarding an employee telling the truth about sickness. Some firms even have employees sign medical disclosure forms to expedite this. The problem may stem from too many people taking the pee with sickness - particularly in mediocre or unpleasant jobs. The net result of this is genuine cases are viewed with suspicion.

You will find a lot of 'The employer should not do this' and 'they should not say that' and 'you should do this and that' but here is the simple reality; Jobs are scarce and if you mark your card, you'll probably find just how scarce they are in a short period of time - because if an employer wants you gone, there are ways and means to achieve that easily. In short, be very careful about *what* you do and say, and be grateful for having a job to go sick from!

When someone goes 'sick', be it genuine or otherwise, the work they normally do falls on the shoulders of their colleagues for no extra money. Perhaps they have to lose breaks or work overtime to cover it, and add to their own stress and discomfort levels. This is likely to make you about as welcome as a pin in a Durex factory upon your return.

For me the metric is simple: Bradford scale > 125. Goodbye. I'll happily see you at a tribunal. If you are well enough to sit at a PC on MSE with a cup of coffee, you are well enough to work.

TwistedPsycho

Googlewhacker wrote: »

Minimum effort= Stay on minimum wage.

Does not work like that.

Current example. A colleague who comes to work, spends most of the day making models or painting and has at least one "non-safety failure" a month and at least one "risk of injury or death" failure a quarter and still manages to keep their job earning in excess of double the minimum wage.

Googlewhacker

TwistedPsycho wrote: »

Does not work like that.

Current example. A colleague who comes to work, spends most of the day making models or painting and has at least one "non-safety failure" a month and at least one "risk of injury or death" failure a quarter and still manages to keep their job earning in excess of double the minimum wage.

raise a grievance?

Jacey53

sandraroffey wrote: »

my sister has had major surgery onher shoulder and cant work yet. her consultant has signed her off. and she cant work for another at least 6 weeks. this week her manager at tesco called her and told her she had to call her consultant and tell him to sign her off so she can go and stand in the store foyer to talk to people about their club cards. then he asked her about her med certs. 'is your doctors name on there. i will be phoning her', i really dont think he can do this!!!!

another example of harrassment when you are off sick. although technically she isnt sick - she is recovering from major surgery.

Firstly, the manager can call the doctor as often as he/she wants to - however the doctor would not give out any information so it's a waste of time and calls.
Secondly, the manager needs to be made aware that if an employee comes into work during a period of certified sickness then it could invalidate any insurance policy held for that workplace (even if the employee spilled water - nothing to do with sickness - and a customer slipped)
Thirdly, the manager needs to speak to HR/personnel for some training on sick absence and the new fitness to work procedures - he seems to have misunderstood?

As the manager is probably not going to do any of those things i suggest that you contact HR and explain that you are being told to ask your doctor for a certificate to come back to work before your current certificate expires - explain that the manager is offering alternative work that is still not suitable (repetitive use of arm and shoulder - confirm with medic??) and ask them for suggestions as to the best course of action.

TwistedPsycho

TwistedPsycho wrote: »

Does not work like that.

Current example. A colleague who comes to work, spends most of the day making models or painting and has at least one "non-safety failure" a month and at least one "risk of injury or death" failure a quarter and still manages to keep their job earning in excess of double the minimum wage.

Googlewhacker wrote: »

raise a grievance?

It's not as easy as that. The person concerned is still "under investigation" for their latest "risk" error that could theoretcially have led to electrocuting a lot of staff.

They have been allowed back to work after having their preliminary interview because we are short of staff and the nature of our work means that if our post is not covered, the job stops.

I have spoken to our union who has pointed out that has a huge probability of blowing up in my face, based on the management style of the company.