Sickness policy for most employers is unfair

Liz3yy

It varies from company to company. I worked for an educational establishment in Essex for two years, whilst there I was unlucky enough to have tonsillitis and was ill enough with it to visit A&E twice. I had 3 weeks off in the end as I was so weak that I kept fainting (tonsils so painful I couldn't swallow anything, even water) My boss at the time was so annoyed she implied I should come into work and they would have sent me home had I really been that bad.....charming.

At the other end of the scale my previous job was with a small manufacturing firm, if anyone was ill enough to stay home no questions were asked, they would rather people were fit and well to do their jobs. Three years ago I broke my arm following a snow ball fight outside the office....long story, but I slipped on the ice trying to dodge a snowball

I need to visit hospital twice in 5 weeks for check ups and to have my cast checked / x-rays etc....as I couldn't drive with a cast on I had no way of getting back to work after my appointments so I offered to take the days as holiday....my manager (the MD) immediately he said no, we need you here, call a cab from the hospital and we will pay. Now that was a good company to work for, such a shame they had to close down.

Shas21

Thats a strict policy all right. Thank goodness it is not a policy my employers enforce.

Evilm

My employers have a strict Bradford policy in their staff handbook. However that only triggers a discussion with the employee - not immediate action based on the raw number of times/days off. They work with people to check if they are just pulling sickies, see what they can do to help etc.

John1993_2

It's interesting to see how much sickness leave "well" people think is normal. Unless a person has a long-term condition, it's pretty unlikely that they'll have more than one absence in a year, yet some job functions seem or run at an average of five to ten days per year off.

It seems that in some companies sick leave is seen as something to be used up, not a safety net.

amiehall

My employer does monitor sickness and more than 2 incidents in 3 months automatically triggers a meeting to discuss it (not formal disciplinary action)

But honestly, 3 separate sicknesses in 3 months seems an excessive amount to me. I think having a conversation about it would be merited!!

StephenM_2

I've no idea what the policy is concerning multiple sick periods, because I've very rarely been off sick and have never been questioned about it when I am, except being asked to fill in a form. But I am allowed up to 45 weeks full sick pay, which I guess is pretty good.

TrickyWicky

Two of my former employers actively encouraged people to go sick. The longer you went sick the better they'd treat you when you went back too. How screwed up is that?

I'll never forget one woman, started the job, went sick the next day, came back when the sick pay ran out and then went sick the day after returning

The other job they had a new guy start, did one day, said it was too stressful and got signed off until they sacked him lol.

flossy_splodge

in the hospitality industry there seems generally to be a no tolerance policy.
A certain very large restaurant chain are appalling to their employees.
If you work for someone who is reasonable, value it!

Savvy_Sue

flossy_splodge wrote: »

in the hospitality industry there seems generally to be a no tolerance policy.
A certain very large restaurant chain are appalling to their employees.
If you work for someone who is reasonable, value it!

I'm not condoning unreasonable behaviour, but if you're working anywhere where it's mission critical to have a certain no. of bums in the building, it must be very difficult for managers to manage when staff are sick at short notice, or it's unclear whether they'll be back tomorrow or next month.

I once worked somewhere where the switchboard operators and receptionists seemed to have very poor attendance records. But maybe I only noticed because every time one of them was sick, I had to pull one of my team off their normal job to cover.

FBaby

All this has been triggered purely because people have gradually taken more liberty of the benefits of being paid whilst being at home with minor ailmants. It has almost become the norm, and the excuse of 'because otherwise I'll get everyone poorly' becoming the standard excuse.

My boss suffered a nasty cold three weeks ago. He came to work anyway. He sat in a small office with me and my colleague. Did we catch it? No. As a matter of fact, every time I do catch a cold, I can't figure out who I got it from.

People have become very dramatic about their diagnoses too. Cold are automatically relabled flu, stomach upsets become norovirus, sore throats tonsillitis etc... As for those who needs weeks after weeks to recover after surgery, it's amazing how the 'up to 6 weeks' become a definite 6 weeks from the start!

The reality is that people have become much less likely to get to work unless they are perfectly healthy, and this is what has led to these measures. It is indeed frightening for anyone who could suddenly suffer from a sudden succession of serious illnesses/injuries. I would however hope that a employer would show more sympathy in that case. It is one thing to be disciplined because procedures have to be followed, but with no different outcome than it is being disciplined because the company know one has been taking the p*** and wants to get rid of an employee.