Bad sickness record, looking for new job

Sanne

As an applicant:
All of my employers have asked the last one about sickness records; these again asked for my permission before revealing this information but not much you can do about it.

I had quite a bit of time off over the last 12 months so (one longer period but also a fair amount of days and half days all over the place as I was trying to work whenever possible, partially from home, instead of taking a whole long period).

Once I had a job offer, I've been open to the HR Manager about this and took the opportunity to explain so there wouldn't be a bad surprise at reference stage. She was absolutely fine as there was a genuine reason - and she had to know about ongoing treatment anyway as it means I need to be away from work for a couple of hours every few weeks to see my nurse.

If she hadn't liked it, I wouldn't have accepted the offer so there wouldn't have been a reference request... as, I suspect, that would have thrown up questions and I may not have had the opportunity to answer them.

As a recruiting manager:
I've recruited people who had a lot of sick leave previously but for good reasons. When looking at sick records, I consider if there was one or two long period (say due to a heart attack) or if there were a lot of Mondays. If someone was off sick for three months for one reason I'd be fine with it - if someone was off every couple of Mondays and Fridays then... no, thanks but no.

DaveTheMus

If you've had lots of time off sick your current employer will probably be glad to get rid of you