Advice on how to proceed with bullying problem at work desperately needed!!

NiceGuyFinishingLast

Thanks Daisy, once again you have set my mind at rest just in time for bed! I really would rather not let her see my record in all its details though, especially as I feel she should be satisfied with the info she already has. Unless I can request certain details be left out, but that may not always be possible, I understand. What would be the consequences, do you think, if I refused her request altogether, either now or after Ive seen them for myself? Could I be sacked under my particular circumstances? Or would she have to accept my refusal and let me get on with my job? (wishful thinking, Im guessing...)

zzzLazyDaisy

If you refuse to cooperate she is entitled to make a decision based on the information she has available. In 'Plain English' this means that if you wish to keep your job, you don't have a lot of choice.

Having said that, she s not entitled to request a blanket access to your medical records. The point of you informing your GP that you wish to see his/her response before it goes to the employer is so that you can agree with the GP what is made available to the employer, before it is sent.

KiKi

Daisy, can I please ask:

Are you saying that an employer can request medical records access at any time even if someone is declared fit?

I find it odd that if the GP says the OP is well, that the employer would even ask to see medical records after 8 days off. I don't understand why - after being declared fit - a manager should be entitled to request for medical info then make a decision based on co-operation or not. I genuinely don't understand why this would be allowed if the GP has declared the OP fit...?

(Not disputing what you've said, by the way - I just genuinely don't get it!)

KiKi

zzzLazyDaisy

Hi KiKi

No I am not saying that at all. I am just dealing with OP's situation.

The employer has suspended OP on medical grounds and is 'taking advice about procedures'. I suspect that they may have been advised to obtain a medical report because of the potential implications for a 'Walker Case' type of scenario, and/or EA2010 concerns, owing to his long term history of depression and anxiety, and the fact that the recent episode of illness appears to be connected with work-related issues.

Obviously I am guessing, but if that is the case, the employer is entitled to act on advice, and this is not an unreasonable request.

Given what OP has told us about what has been happening at work, a point blank refusal would (in my view) just be playing into the employers hands.

So this is why (in my view) it is in OP's interests to cooperate for the moment. The Access to Medical Records Act gives him the right to withdraw consent at any stage. Once the GP has received the request, OP has the right to see it, and he can then make an informed decision on whether to withdraw consent at that stage.

Of course this is based on the premise that the employer is in fact taking advice. If she isn't, she will probably shoot herself in the foot by failing to restore OP to full pay during the period of medical suspension and/or failing to follow the procedures laid down by the Act, which at the very least will show her up to be an incompetent employer.

There is also the possibility that if OP calls their bluff and agrees to their request for a medical report, they may not follow through. It doesn't happen very often, but just occasionally an unscrupulous adviser may suggest this as a tactic in the hope that the employee WILL refuse, and in doing so give the employer the excuse they are looking for....

Dx

Sambucus_Nigra

I also don't understand - surely not having a sick note [ie a fit note that expires and is not reissued] IS a medical report saying the OP is fit for work? Isn't that the whole point of them?

zzzLazyDaisy

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

I also don't understand - surely not having a sick note [ie a fit note that expires and is not reissued] IS a medical report saying the OP is fit for work? Isn't that the whole point of them?

The Access to Medical Records Act procedure is different from the fit note procedure, and in fact doesn't even always follow a period of sick leave.

Sambucus_Nigra

Yeah I understand that - but the OP is now fit according to the fit note so if he says 'no, I will not allow access' and turns up for work where does that leave the OP?

zzzLazyDaisy

I think I already explained that in my earlier reply to KiKi?

Provided the employer really is taking competent professional advice (as she claims) and follows proper procedures THEN a refusal by OP to cooperate may well result in him losing his job.

I guess we will know more today, since (if I understand things correctly) this is the last day of the fit note, and tomorrow is OP's first day back at work. So if the employer has not already done so, she needs to get something in writing to him today.

Mojisola

I wonder if someone has suggested to her that NiceGuy is trying to set her up to claim that the working conditions have caused a deterioration in his health and she's trying to cover herself?

On the other hand, she could have decided that it's going to be easier to make his life difficult so that he leaves rather than deal with the NastyWoman.

zzzLazyDaisy

Mojisola wrote: »

I wonder if someone has suggested to her that NiceGuy is trying to set her up to claim that the working conditions have caused a deterioration in his health and she's trying to cover herself?

On the other hand, she could have decided that it's going to be easier to make his life difficult so that he leaves rather than deal with the NastyWoman.

Thanks - that is a very neat precis!