Called liar for being off sick

strewth71

Hi all, I'm fuming. My hubby has worked for a large company for 14 months and only had 2 days off sick whn he had swine flu. He was due to work New Years Eve overnight (12 hour shift 6 til 6) which he didn't mind at all as we never do anything for New Year as it's all about Christmas with the kids in our house. That morning he started having excruciating stomach pains and vomiting, he also had a very high temperature. It escalated through the day and he had to call in sick. He was ill all weekend and started to feel a little better on the Monday.

He went back to work for his next shift on Tuesday still not right but better. His manager is in today and has just "told him off" and said that he doesn't believe my hubby was ill. Surely he's not allowed to call him a liar like that.

My hubby has Ulcerative Colitis and never has time off with it even when he's having a bad time with it. He times hospital and doctors appointments around his shifts so he doesn't take time off work. Other staff members have had 15 days off sick over the year and nothing has been said. It seems that this teling off is because my hubby happened to be ill on New Years Eve.

Any advice on how to deal with this would be welcome.

globetraveller

As swine flu was confirmed that presumably you have a doctor who can confirm?
I would get him to contact his union.

strewth71

Hi, thanks Globetraveller. Sorry for the confusion - he had 2 days earlier last year with confirmed swine flu. New Years Eve it was some kind of stomach bug which may have been aggravated by the colitis but he didn't see the doc - although he has an appointment for Friday as he's still getting pains and has some other worrying symptoms. He's just working on regardless though. He's not in a union but is thinking of speaking to HR.

duchy

If the manager simply implied he was lying there's probably not much he can do about it. If he said outright he was lying -in front of witnesses -it would be a matter of contacting HR and raising a grievence.

TBH so many people DO pull sick days for NYE/Day and it's often impossible to get cover that he was probably just (unprofessionally) venting.

KiKi

It was very unprofessional of the manager to call him a liar, but assuming that's the only comeback (ie, he's not losing pay etc), then the only thing you can really do is put in a grievance about being called a liar. What did the 'telling off' comprise? If it's going on his file, then the grievance should be about that, too.

I can understand the manager being wary - after all, hardly anyone would want to work NYE - but to call someone a liar is very stupid.

But other than raising a grievance about something that has actually happened as a consequence there's little you can do, I'm afraid. Some managers are just a bit stupid.

KiKi

Anna*_2-2

Hi,

If your husband has Ulcerative Colitis he should be covered by the Equality Act 2010. He could get a letter from his GP stating that he does suffer from UC and this can be kept on file with HR, if his boss wants to be a pain he can send him for an occupational health assessment or ask for a GP report (with consent). This would be no bad thing in this case as his boss may have to provide 'reasonable' adjustments for him in the workplace.

Strider590

He made the mistake of having just one day off sick, they don't believe you if it's only one day!

BRSurvivor

strewth71 wrote: »

Any advice on how to deal with this would be welcome.

I would leave it and see if the situation calms down. Unprofessional ranting from the manager, no doubts. If it continues to be an issue, he can ask the manager or HR to provide a copy of the grievance procedure.

Can I just say, full marks to your hubby for having such an excellent attendence record while having UC.

SevenOfNine

I'm with Anna*, get letter of confirmation of Ulcerative Colitis from GP, to include possible symptoms, and give it to the boss, and hubby should remind him of his sickness record so far at the same time - which has been negligible.

On the flip side, perhaps he was just angry because hubby could have phoned in earlier? Just goes to show though, hubby gets no thanks for struggling in on the days he's in pain/unwell. Difficult as it is when you have a responsible nature, perhaps he should think more carefully about bothering on the days when he's not really up to it.

Mustn't do anything angrily though, a calm "can I have 5 minutes of your time", followed by an explanation of why boss upset him with his comments will suffice. Is boss actually already aware of hubbies health probs?

strewth71

Thanks everyone, boss had his rant when no one else was in the office so no witnesses - don't think he's following it up by putting it on the record though. Hubby's shifts are 3 on 3 off rotating days and nights and his sick day was on his last night of 3 meaning he had the following 3 days to recover as well. He should really have gone to the docs on Tuesday when they reopened after the bank holiday as some of the symptoms are quite alaming but we don't know if it's caused in combo with the UC. He's made an appointment for Friday so's not to have any more time off. He's going to ask the doc for a letter to confirm his condition although we could use one of the ones from his cunsultant at at the hospital (maybe a bit too much personal info about symptoms and test results on them though).

Boss had the cheek to comment when he saw hubby eating some cereal that he's obviously fit and well cos he's able to eat - go fathom. Maybe he's just having a bad day and thought he was pulling the wool being sick on NYE, makes me so angry but have advised hubby to keep a cool head and to have a quiet word with his manager to let him know the facts and that it was genuine.

Thanks so much for taking the time everyone, much appreciated x

Strider590

strewth71 wrote: »

Boss had the cheek to comment when he saw hubby eating some cereal that he's obviously fit and well cos he's able to eat - go fathom.

Boss sounds like a tw4t....

How'd he get to be boss? Im betting he's either a recent uni student OR he's 7ft tall......