To attach an additional "info" note with a docs sick note?

Nine_Lives

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Savvy_Sue

FWIW I think that was a good idea ...

nightingalesgarden

Actually it's very reasonable that you have a phased back to work plan and you can start working on it now with your employer.

A couple of tips:

Don't rely on Doctors/Occupational Health or work to write a back to work programme for you - basically you, and only you will know how much you can work without harming you physically and mentally. Doctors notes have changed - now you get a fitness certificate rather than the off/on that you used to get. Your next note may say - fit to be back to work on phased hours (you can ask that it says this/discuss with your Doctor/GP and they will write the best advice they can on the certificate).

Don't expect to go back full time one day one. Think about the exhaustion that you feel going back to work after 2 weeks holiday - then multiply this against the time you have had off.

You may just want more breaks, shorter hours (avoiding rush hour for a week or two), or restricted duties for a number of weeks. You certainly want a meeting once a week with a manager to discuss your progress.

Your employer should not refuse a back to work programme.

I would sit down and think what a 2, 4 or 6 week plan would look like to you, why you want this and how this will work you back to full time working (or if you need to request part time).

Post it here and loads of people will help with content and support before and after you approach your employer.

ohreally

K_P83 wrote: »

Imy employer wrote to me for permission to obtain a docs report which i granted (i've not had the report back to me yet, so i wonder whether they (employer) were waiting to see whether i return to work after the current note or whether i extend it (like i have done)

Who requested this, the employer or the occupational health provider?

Hopefully you have restricted consent to reflect your current incident and not your entire history (I've seen this happen).

Are you aware who will have access to this information one it reaches the employer and how will this be controlled?

zzzLazyDaisy

nightingalesgarden wrote: »

Your employer should not refuse a back to work programme.

Hopefully the employer will co-operate but do bear in mind the following...

1 you have no contractual right to insist on a phased return
2 the above advice might be different if the reason for your absence was a health condition amounting to a disability under EA 2010, but that does not appear to be the case
3 if the employer agrees to a phased return to work, it is only obliged to pay you for the work done, so if you go back on (say) 20 hrs a week, then that is all they are obliged to pay you for. Some employers will be more generous, but that is at their discretion unless your contract provides otherwise (as you are on SSP only, that seems unlikely but worth checking)

BobQ

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Hopefully the employer will co-operate but do bear in mind the following...

1 you have no contractual right to insist on a phased return

That may be so but if a medical practitioner recommends a phased return to work it would be very unwise of an employer to ignore it.

I think the OP would have been better advised to speak to her GP, report what the hospital had told her) and ask the GP to issue a fitness to work certificate (they are not sick notes these days!) that indicated what the employee was capable of doing and what she was not. But this is overtaken by events.

tizerbelle

BobQ wrote: »

That may be so but if a medical practitioner recommends a phased return to work it would be very unwise of an employer to ignore it.

I think the OP would have been better advised to speak to her GP, report what the hospital had told her) and ask the GP to issue a fitness to work certificate (they are not sick notes these days!) that indicated what the employee was capable of doing and what she was not. But this is overtaken by events.

Even if a doctor recommends phased return/adjustments on a fit note, the employer is under no obligation, statutory or otherwise to follow them. The employer is entitled to say "you are either fit for work or you are not, there is no half way". The impact of that is that the employee remains off sick for the length of that note and there is nothing the employee or anyone else can do about that.

zzzLazyDaisy

I remember from contributing to OP's other threads that he has an appalling sickness record. The employer appears to have been quite supportive in the past, but has more recently set up the process for obtaining a medical report.

If the company was my client, I would be advising them to proceed to obtain the report immediately. If OP is right and he will be able to return to some form of work in the near future the GP will confirm this. However, if the employer is unable to offer a phased return to work for some reason, and/or the GP is unable to give any indication as to when he might be able to resume the normal duties under his contract, then they could well consider dismissal on the grounds of (in)capability.

They will of course have to follow procedures if such a dismissal is to be fair, and obtaining a GP's report is the first step.

ohreally

Are you folks unionised? ^

BobQ

tizerbelle wrote: »

Even if a doctor recommends phased return/adjustments on a fit note, the employer is under no obligation, statutory or otherwise to follow them. The employer is entitled to say "you are either fit for work or you are not, there is no half way". The impact of that is that the employee remains off sick for the length of that note and there is nothing the employee or anyone else can do about that.

I never said this. I said they would be unwise to ignore it. For example if it subsequently resulted in an accident at work from the employee being effectively coerced into doing more than a GP had said they were capable of doing the employer could be held to be partially responsible.

zzzLazyDaisy

K_P83 wrote: »

* Regarding the docs report request - my employer requested it through their HR person, who from a previous post i've discovered isn't what you guys would call "proper" HR. This HR person has other roles in the business also & is good friends with my employers outside of work as well.
The request didn't say exactly what information they'd have access to, although they are just requesting a report about this current incident. I don't think they'll be too interested about me splitting my head open when i was 5 years old.
As for who will have access - i know that the HR person will, as they are applying for it on behalf of my employer. Therefore my employer will also have access to it, and likely the General Manager too.
As things are often not kept confidential there, i suspect any other Tom, !!!!!! & Harry will be told something about it. By things not kept confidential - i mean we've had people tell the employer [something] in strict confidence, only for the entire company to know about it the following week. Complaints have gone in about [an employee] & the complainants have requested to remain anonymous, only for the entire company to know about it in the days that followed. This next one isn't so much a confidential thing - but i called up one time to report i wouldn't be able to attend work for a reason. I had ONLY spoken to the General Manager. When i finally returned, the story that was going around the place was TOTALLY different to the reason i had given (it was worse - in the fact that it was a story that'd cause trouble for me!). This came to me from my supervisor. Now between the GM & my supervisor, someone had twisted my story & created a new one. This doesn't automatically mean it was the GM just because i spoke to the GM - my supervisor is also a major troublemaker in the company (creates & twists stories to keep his nose brown).

I am not clear what point you are making here.

I understood that you have already signed the consent form for the employer to obtain the report? This means that there is now nothing you can do to stop the request going in. You do, however, have the right to see the report before your GP sends it to your employer, and to ask for changes to be made. If the change is because of an error, then it will normally cause no problem. But if it is due to a difference in opinion between you and your GP, then he may simply state 'the patient has asked me to say that....' which is shorthand for - this is not my professional opinion, and I am merely complying with the patient's request'... which means nothing.

The bottom line is that once they have requested the report, they will want to see it. Even after you return, they will probably want guidance on whether you are fully fit for your normal duties, and whether the injury has left you with any long term effects that might amount to a disability under EA 2010. If you refuse to co-operate with the employer's request for a medical, they can proceed on the basis of the information available to them, and you will not later be able to say that they should have known x,y and z about your ability to fulfil the requirements of your contract to reliably attend work and carry out your normal duties.

If you go off sick again in the near future because you are not physically or mentally able to cope with your job, they will be able to proceed on the basis of the information they have, and in the absence of a supporting GP'd note, your continued employment will become increasingly at risk.

So rather than blocking the GP's report (not saying you will do this) you will be better off working with the GP to produce a report that accurately reflects the situation without revealing too much confidential information.