Declaring sick leave on application form

westv

I have never been asked for information about sick days taken - what companies are asking for this info?

CCFC_80

Out of interest - would it also be a data protected thing as they certainly wouldn't be able to get this info by phone if held on a computer

Also a lot of agencies and applications still ask if you smoke? Is that still allowed as no-one is allowed to smoke in an enclosed working environment anyway and shouldn't effect your ability to do the job you applied for.

On another note, even if I had no days off sick in the past year I would be inclined to say I just had 1 or 2 as they probably wouldn't believe you.It would also put added pressure on you when you started the new job as they would expect you never to go sick

westv

CCFC_80 wrote: »

Also a lot of agencies and applications still ask if you smoke?

Again, that's something I have never been asked
.

Yorkie1

CCFC_80 wrote: »

On another note, even if I had no days off sick in the past year I would be inclined to say I just had 1 or 2 as they probably wouldn't believe you.

Risky approach - what happens when they take the reference from your current employer and the details don't match up? Even though the information from the employer puts you in a better light, you've still lied on the application form.

westv

Saying you've had sick days when you haven't makes no sense at all.

CCFC_80

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Risky approach - what happens when they take the reference from your current employer and the details don't match up? Even though the information from the employer puts you in a better light, you've still lied on the application form.

Lying in a positive way though .... and can't see it really happening

"By the way you have not got the job because you didn't have any sick time off last year but you put on your application form that you had 2 days sick off":rotfl:

Similar tactic by lying on your CV by understating your qualifications when you think that you might be over qualified for a role.

CCFC_80

westv wrote: »

Saying you've had sick days when you haven't makes no sense at all.

If you were the interviewer, would you not be a bit sceptical if someone said they never had any sick days off. I know its feasable. I myself hardly have any sick time off but always stated at an interview when this question was asked that I had about 2 days sick off in the last 12 months.

Also to reiterate, even if you had no sick time off, it would put pressure on you with your new employer as they will never expect you to go sick at all.

Ashles

CCFC_80 wrote: »

If you were the interviewer, would you not be a bit sceptical if someone said they never had any sick days off. I know its feasable. I myself hardly have any sick time off but always stated at an interview when this question was asked that I had about 2 days sick off in the last 12 months.

As an employer I woudn't doubt what they had told me. No days sickness, two days sickness... really wouldn't make any difference. If they had a lot of sickness, well you might ask about that, but otherwise it's really not an issue.

Putting fake sick days down is weird. Especially if the new employer actually checks - first thing they find out is that you lied about your sickness (and it wouldn't be seen as 'positive lying', just as a lie to present yourself in a better light, which would come across much worse than simply having no sick days.)

Also to reiterate, even if you had no sick time off, it would put pressure on you with your new employer as they will never expect you to go sick at all.

No it wouldn't. Sickness is out of anyone's control. No employer should be stupid enough to think an employee somehow has a magical and infallible immune system based on the fact they haven't been ill before. If they do then you don't want to be working there anyway.
Honestly this is a very odd way to view how employers might think.

MissSarah1972

marybelle01 wrote: »

For sure. Funnily enough, just because employers don't always know or pay attention to the law doesn't make it not the law. http://www.mddus.com/mddus/resource-library/2010/practice-manager-03/in-sickness-or-in-health.aspx



Leave it blank. If your application is just perfect, they will be so busy reading all the exciting stuff you have put on it that they won't notice. And if they do, they aren't going to throw a good application in the bin because you didn't answer this question.



Well if you don't like the fact that discrimination laws are managed by "human rights", blame the government - it was them that "brought it up" by combining the various bodies that support discrimination legislation into one Commission.

Thanks I will have a look at the link there

What if a company pick staff purely on the sick level or use this to pick staff? If you leave it blank that's you in the bin!

Then again would you want to work for them knowing this? Hmmm

marybelle01

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

Thanks I will have a look at the link there

What if a company pick staff purely on the sick level or use this to pick staff? If you leave it blank that's you in the bin!

Then again would you want to work for them knowing this? Hmmm

It isn't about sickness - it's about disability. They would have to be very sure that the sickness wasn't a result of a disability - which is pretty hard to be sure of.

D'ya know - people get awfully hung up about "leaving blanks" on application forms, and I don't know why. Just because someone in the depths of time thought that this looked like a good question to stick on an application form doesn't mean that recruiters actually read the answer or even notice the blank. Interviewers are focussed on whether the person meets their employee requirement and seldom care much about anything else - especially before the interviews.

Of course, if someone at interview asks you the question as to why there is a blank, you could politely point out that you are helping them to not break the law by not answering a question that shouldn't be on the form