Employer Contact while Sick (and passing details of sickness around)

honeypop

Hi all,

I have just been told about a workplace that phones employees on sick leave on day 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 in order to find out how they are and when they think they will be returning to work (If they have been signed off then days are agreed that they will be contacted). The person that has to call them thinks this is excessive but has been told it's ok to do. In the absence of anything in the company handbook on contact while off sick, are there any guidelines on what is acceptable for contact in this case? My friend doing the calling is their line manager (one of a group of line managers, they don't have just one).

Google gives conflicting info, such as it's harrassment/poor form but ok/sensible of the employer to know where they stand.

In addition, the branch manager has started to send out a daily spreadsheet detailing which employees are off sick, how long for and the reason why (along with if this is leading to a disciplinary for too much sick leave and whether they are being paid for the absence) - this goes out to all staff with email access, not just management. This obviously contains personal information and everyone is now aware of the reasons people are off sick, including some very sensitive information. Whereas the first scenario seems to be a bit of a grey area, this one seem very wrong, but he can't see anything wrong with it. Surely this is a breach of confidentiality, but is there any source of info that specifies the problems with this? My friend would like to point the manager to reasons why he shouldn't be doing it, as the HR dept don't seem to have done anything about it.

hcb42

Generally I would expect an employee to call in daily, but if they have a sick note then that would generally mean daily call not required.

Sending out personal details is not on.

Obviously this boss has issues with trusting staff, we of course dont know if this is because of sickness abuse in the past.

dseventy

Its very important for an employer to keep in touch with an employee who is absent from work.

Even those that are signed off , its good practice to keep in touch. Not only does an employer have a duty of care to the employee, but things happen at work that the employee needs to know about. Plus there are things that the employee only know (admittedly through bad practice) like passwords, last contacts, emails etc.

Indeed I have seen grievances were employees have been really annoyed that just because they have been off-sick, they have missed out on vital news.

That said, there is a line to cross. IF the employee is off for stress citing work, that needs to be handled differently than that of someone off for say a broken leg.

Its all about reasonableness.

D70

ILW

I would have thought they had perfect right to call if they are paying you.

spuunge

As far as I'm aware, a member of staff has a duty to phone in daily whilst self certified sick, which means it should not be necessary for an employer to phone them. However, if a staff member has a certificate, they only have to phone on the day it begins and that is it. An employer who then phones their employee is harassing them. Not sure if that is enshrined in law, but certainly the employers I have had have said exactly that. Maybe I've been lucky!

tizerbelle

Keepin in touch with the employee is not a problem as far as I can see however the details about employees sickness is sooo out of order it is unbelievable. This is classed as sensitive personal data under the Data Protection Act and your manager is breaking the law disclosing this to all and sundry - see page 34 of this guide from the ICO . I think a quiet word in someones ear (probably HR or your branch manager's manager) pointing out he is breaking the DPA rules should get this stopped pretty darn quickly and if not, then report it to the ICO.

bluenoseam

Any times i've been off "ill" (i.e. standard illness, vomiting, flu etc) then it's generally been a case of having to phone in to confirm status, might just be me, but i'd try to phone in the afternoon so they could get someone (if needed) to cover the next day, at the very worst an hour before your shift was due to start. When i was off "proper sick" (i.e. major illness, injury) i kept in contact with the Assistant Manager via email/facebook (not exactly professional i know, but it was only retail) as well as "regular" visits to the shop, if for nothing else than to check in with the guys and let them see themselves how things were going - no more than once a month or so. (it must be said that it was actually part of the terms of sick leave that i keep in regular contact, however the pleasant people at HR really were a bit hopeless at this and didn't send me out said guidelines until they sent me the notification of Back to Work meeting to discuss what was required when i was ready to return. The HR rep at the "meeting" did say that while it was advisable to phone in weekly that she knew when someone's really ill the fact is their workplace barely exists in an important context so they weren't fussed over this, my Manager said he was happy with me checking in on a weekly basis over FB & popping in as he felt it was about all he could mentally cope with - i'm told i didn't really look too clever...)

Disclosure of the details though is where he'd come undone, i know when i went down i had very strong feelings as to who i wanted to know what, we found out the situation in December, so the last thing i wanted was a dozen or so christmas temps remembering me as "the guy who had cancer" and i really didn't feel it appropriate for 2 of the newer part-time colleagues to know what was going on. It's up to the individual as to what they want people to know, the information SHOULDN'T be being given out unless the circumstance requires people they may have been in contact with be tested for similar cases (i.e. Swine Flu) - so that's where the employer will find out he's screwed.

If however during self-certification you phone in then the employer phones YOU i'd consider that a little bit OTT, unless there is a previous history of "faking it" in which case it's not entirely unreasonable.

pineapple

In a lifetime of work I've never known an employer hassle anyone like that. It should only happen imo if the employee is not keeping them informed. When I worked in residential care and we needed to know if a shift needed covering, contacting the person off sick was something we did very reluctantly and apologetically. I'm pretty sure the second is illegal. I'd confirm with ACAS or someone first on the exact grounds before tackling the employer - I also think it's a subtle form of bullying to deter people from going sick. Frankly I'm appalled.

Emmzi

calls are technically ok

sick DAYS info is ok (all staff know you aren't in anyway)

reasons why and disciplinary action is completely not ok, a breach of privacy, and possibly bullying.

I'd be having a chat and if not happy with the answer perhaps raising a grievance formally.

honeypop

dseventy wrote: »

Even those that are signed off , its good practice to keep in touch. Not only does an employer have a duty of care to the employee, but things happen at work that the employee needs to know about. Plus there are things that the employee only know (admittedly through bad practice) like passwords, last contacts, emails etc.

The phone calls are literally to see when they are coming back to work, there will be no other info like passwords/contacts etc that would be needed from these workers as it's not that sort of work. And there is no element of passing on vital info from the company, purely a check-up on sickness.

Indeed I have seen grievances were employees have been really annoyed that just because they have been off-sick, they have missed out on vital news.

That said, there is a line to cross. IF the employee is off for stress citing work, that needs to be handled differently than that of someone off for say a broken leg.

Its all about reasonableness.

D70

Thanks, it's the reasonableness that is hard to gauge. Already some replies on here have said the contact is needed and some have said it's excessive, so no straight answer.

tizerbelle wrote: »

Keepin in touch with the employee is not a problem as far as I can see however the details about employees sickness is sooo out of order it is unbelievable. This is classed as sensitive personal data under the Data Protection Act and your manager is breaking the law disclosing this to all and sundry - see page 34 of this guide from the ICO . I think a quiet word in someones ear (probably HR or your branch manager's manager) pointing out he is breaking the DPA rules should get this stopped pretty darn quickly and if not, then report it to the ICO.

Thank you, a link like that is exactly what I was looking for!

pineapple wrote: »

I also think it's a subtle form of bullying to deter people from going sick.

I believe it's in response to a high level of sickness absence that they are trying to lower. Doesn't excuse it though.

honeypop

Emmzi wrote: »

calls are technically ok

sick DAYS info is ok (all staff know you aren't in anyway)

reasons why and disciplinary action is completely not ok, a breach of privacy, and possibly bullying.

I'd be having a chat and if not happy with the answer perhaps raising a grievance formally.

My friend probably wouldn't want to raise a grievance, it hasn't involved him in anway apart from receiving the email update. Really just wanted a link to some firm info that what is happening regarding this info being sent to everyone is wrong, so he can be told and see for himself.


Thanks everyone for your opinions, which was exactly what I was expecting, but big thanks to tizerbelle for putting a link to the info we needed on the second query.

If anyone else can answer the questions in the OP, please add a post.