sick leave advice needed

maplegirl2011

hi could anyone tell me where i can find information regarding working for another employer whilst on sick leave.
my mum has 4 jobs and has been signed off sick since nov 2006. she asked to come back to work since january but they haven't let her,always putting obstacles in the way(eventually let her back at the end of june). the job that she has been signed off from was a night job and she has always done extra shifts for agencies during the day(which were declared)now the nature of her injury didn't prevent her from the agency shifts but did prevent the night work. inland revenue say its not illegal to work for another employer if fit to do so, but she now has a disciplinary for gross misconduct and they are seeking dismissal. another thing is they told her on a friday afternoon that there was to be a hearing knowing that she was on a months annual leave in a foreign country from the next day and have set a hearing for 3 days after her return,therefore not allowing her enough time to liase with the union etc,but they state that as she has 5 weeks notice thats adequate(even though she left the country the following day and they know that)
just wondered if anyone knew where it states that you can work for another employer whilst on sick leave. phoned the inland revenue and they confirmed it but said tell the employer to ring us,but we would prefer to have it in writing.
thanks

Conor_3

Personally, I think that the employer has a right to be annoyed. If you're signed off sick, you're signed off sick and I can see their point entirely. They're looking at someone who signed off sick and who they'd have to cover with agency staff but who was well enough to work elsewhere, not only working but doing extra shifts!

Stinks doesn't it when you look at it like that? She's going to have a hard time explaining that. Basically, it's not the law she's arguing rather what is in her contract of employment with that company. Just because the law says it's OK doesn't mean you're problem free if there's something in the contract of employment.

maplegirl2011

her contract and terms and conditions don't mention about working for other employers. the agency work was during the day and she was sick from her night job. yes i can see your point of view,but if she had gone sick from the other jobs (2 permanent contracts and 1 as and when agency day work) then surely that would be fraud because she was fit for them jobs.

maplegirl2011

oh and her work never had to be covered by anyone else because her place of work shut down and she was told she had to move 20 miles away and double cover their work. they have too many staff and are now making provisions for redundancies because of this.
this was the reason for her sickness as she has a ankle problem and the change of workplace meant she physically couldn't get there without a 2 hr each way journey involving 2 taxis and 3 trains on each leg. the employers occupational nurse agreed it was too much and her ankle condition would make it impossible.(the other jobs are local and involve no walking and she could get dropped to them by her partner,but he works nights too so couldn't drop her to the new place of work)

HappyG1rl

charb wrote: »

oh and her work never had to be covered by anyone else because her place of work shut down and she was told she had to move 20 miles away and double cover their work. they have too many staff and are now making provisions for redundancies because of this.
this was the reason for her sickness as she has a ankle problem and the change of workplace meant she physically couldn't get there without a 2 hr each way journey involving 2 taxis and 3 trains on each leg. the employers occupational nurse agreed it was too much and her ankle condition would make it impossible.(the other jobs are local and involve no walking and she could get dropped to them by her partner,but he works nights too so couldn't drop her to the new place of work)

Having an ankle problem would surely have affected the ability to work at all of her jobs?

I can understand totally why someone would not want to spend so much time travelling but this does sound to me as if it was extremely inconvenient for her to get to work and not that it was as a direct result of an ankle problem.