is this legal?

newbyteacher

Hi, hopefully someone can advise me. My Father is currently off work sick. He has been diagnosed with bronchitis, he is quite ill and usually he would drag himself into work. He has a sick note but his boss is insisting he has to phone him first thing in the morning and also at night everyday. Is this usual practise? He has a job where he has to travel all over the county and be out in all weather. I have asked him to get his contract out so i can see if this is stipulated in his T&Cs.
I would be grateful if anyone could answer.:o

BitterAndTwisted

How long has your father been signed off work for? It's not reasonable to expect someone to phone in twice a day when they've been signed off by their doctor, but whether it's legal to ask them to do so, I dunno.

newbyteacher

hi thanks for the reply, he self certified last week and has a note covering the next 7 days, I am concerned as he isn't sleeping well at night so is catching sleep whenever he can, but if hes stressing about contacting work he's not going to get any sleep.

BitterAndTwisted

If he's been signed off for the next seven days then he's signed off and the employer has no need to know on the phone whether he will be coming in or not, as he obviously will not.

Whether the employer will see it that way is open to question. Under the circs I would try and do as asked whether it's "legal" or not.

Why anyone would be "stressed" about having to make a phone call or two a day is a mystery to me.

ohreally

A contract is unlikely to answer your questions; your father needs to access the relevant policy - sickness absence/ reporting procedure.

newbyteacher

thanks he is going to look into it, perhaps stressing about the call wasn't what i meant, he's a really good employee and he's feeling guilty about being off work, i personally think he's a bit paranoid he thinks they are looking for ways to trip him up. I have told him not to worry but in the current climate i guess he's worried about him losing his job.

Valli

And is your father in a union? Because if he isn't I suggest he joins; sharpish.

Just in case;)

But no, it isn't usual; he should have sent the certificate in and the boss should be aware your father will not be in to work until *at least* a certain date.

Is the purpose of the call merely to 'remind' the boss that dad is ill or is it to update dad with what's been happening?

newbyteacher

no specific reason he just wants him to phone him.

not in a union, neither are any of his colleagues. as far as i can see he is a great employee. he always completes his jobs, covers for others when they are ill ensuring customers are not let down and works overtime when asked to. I'm not being biased either I wish my work colleagues were more like him.

dora87

the company I work for requires us to phone the manager daily whilst off sick to 'keep in touch' - though once a doctors certificate has been produced we tend to only have to phone maybe once a week to keep them informed if we will be getting another note or if we will be returning to work when the note expires.

Maybe your dad could explain that he is having difficulty sleeping and that it is not possible for him to ring the boss twice a day and offer to ring maybe every couple of days??

zzzLazyDaisy

As someone else has said, the first port of call is to check the absence reporting procedure. This may be in the contract, an employee handbook, or a separate sick pay scheme document. But no, having to telephone morning and night is not usual.

What you would normally expect to see is telephone reporting first thing in the morning for the first 7 days, and then once a fit note (sick note) has been issued, there would not normally be any need to report again until the next fit note is due.

The employer is entitled to have a reasonable absence reporting procedure, but I suspect that this is a manager taking it upon himself to enforce a stricter requirement than set down by the company policy (if there is one).

I can see why it might be stressing your father, as he needs to rest and sleep, and give himself chance to recover. That means forgetting about work for a while. Is there anyone who could make the call on his behalf, and say he is sleeping right now as he is really poorly, so you are making the call for him? If you do that, keep a call log, so the same manager doesn't pull him up on failing to follow instructions, when he does return to work.

tradeskill

I think any employee who informed about his illness to his boss as per doctor's advice. There is no need to inform to his boss or any other person to his company. If any urgent work which suffers due to that employee, company authority should take permission to his doctors to consult with that employee. If doctor deny the permission, nobody can consult with that employee. Thanks.