Taking sick leave while on probation

wills93

I will apologise straight away for the length of this post; I just want to make all the facts clear.

Just a bit of background: I'm a 22-year-old, first-year university student, and I work (or am contracted to work) 12 hours a week in a call centre, selling insurance down the phone - four on a Tuesday, seven on a Friday, then I make up the missing hour from each week with a four-hour shift once a month on a Saturday. I've worked there since the start of November, but haven't passed probation yet due to always missing a target by an absolute whisker each month (last month the reason was that I hadn't up-sold enough of a side product we offer). I've also had three instances of a full day's sick absence; it would have been four, but they kindly didn't count one of them as it had been the result of me being violently mugged in January, rather than just a stomach upset.

When I started in November, I was doing incredibly, incredibly well. Everyone has a monthly target, and, in general, people on the "main floor" (i.e. who've passed probation) hit their target and exceed it by between 10 and 25%. In November, I exceeded my target by 76%, so it was a hugely successful month for me - I made the kind of money in commission that most students can only dream of, and the only reason that I didn't pass probation after that month is that part-timers can't pass it after one month, which I guess makes sense as the full-timers do 35 hours a week, and they want to assess you over roughly a similar number of hours, thus a 12-hour part-timer is eligible to be signed off after three months, when they've worked the same number of hours as a full-timer. At this point, they don't look at a part-timer's stats over the last, single month; rather they look at them, combined, over the last three months, so that, essentially, when they're considering whether to sign someone off or not, they're assessing them over the last 140 hours of work or so, to achieve parity between part-timers and full-timers.

So, December came, and things did get quite tough for me. I didn't hit my target (if I remember right it was 16 and I got 11 or something). January came and went, and wasn't a great month for me either (I think I got 8 out of a target of 13 or something). This was also the month where I was mugged. Onto February, and it was a pretty standard month. I think I was bang on-target, and I would have been signed off had I not been weak in terms of up-selling. We get to halfway through March, and my team leader says she's being moved to inbound, and is being allowed to take a few people over with her - would I be interested? I was delighted at the opportunity to move to inbound, because I couldn't stand reading the same script over and over. So I get told there's a week-and-a-half of full-time training to move to inbound, and I replied that that was fine, as I'd just take a week off of uni, as there were no important classes that week.

So, come last Friday, the 13th (Had to be, really, didn't it). Had a reasonable day at work, just the one sale when I would hope to get two at least over a 7-hour shift, but absolutely fine. I went out with my mates that evening to a party on our uni campus, and some drunk little idiot headbutts me. I'm quite a big guy (gentle giant is the best description), so I didn't retaliate, just reported it to the security. However, although there really was minimal damage (barely even a bruise) I wanted to get it checked out by my GP, as I'd had a nasty concussion from the mugging 2 months earlier, and just wanted to get it checked over, to make sure that it hadn't caused any kind of knock-on effect from the mugging. But it's the weekend, and I didn't feel it was urgent enough for an out-of-hours appointment, so, come Sunday evening, I got the phone number of my new manager (my old one hadn't moved in the end anyway), and sent her a text asking whether it would be OK for me to come in late the next morning (Monday 16th) so I could go to GP early in the morning to get head checked. She replied, apologetically, that I couldn't as training couldn't be missed. So, I just thought I'd assume I'd be OK, as I didn't have any symptoms, and only wanted to see a doctor as a precautionary step due to my recent concussion. Went into work that morning to start training, and was unfortunately late by "exactly 17 minutes" due to bad traffic. I just got on with it though, I was feeling alright, but then, in the mid-afternoon, I was hauled out by my new team leader, and her manager. My new team leader (whom I had known well beforehand, despite her not being my TL, and is genuinely a really nice girl) said that I had not been myself all day, and had been a little unsteady on my feet, and said that she insisted I walk up the road, about 200m, to a drop-in GP clinic, as she was obviously concerned about the fact I'd been headbutted, wasn't overly steady on my feet (though I do have two injured knees at the minute:rotfl: ). I was feeling a little off-colour, but more in a stomach-bug kind-of-way, rather than a concussion kind-of-way. I said I would be fine, and would prefer that I just carry on with the training, but she insisted that I go, as I was under her duty of care. So I walked up the road to the clinic, waited about 45 minutes to see a doctor, who confirmed that I was absolutely fine. I got back, went to see my TL, who then dragged me in with her line manager, commented on the fact I'd been late, and had made a comment about how there was no pen at the spot I sat at when I got to work that morning. I made the point that the comment about the pen had been off-the-cuff, with no malice, and had just been a little ice-breaker with the woman training us, whom I had never met before. Apparently though, especially due to the fact I was late, the comment was "flippant" and "disruptive". I think anyone who knows me would confirm that when I'm at work, those are the last two things I am, but I stated that I apologised, as I could understand how they might be seen as such, rather than an off-the-cuff icebreaker (for the record, I think the comment was something like, "Oh do I not get a pen?" with a cheeky grin on my face, and an exaggerated sense of injustice in my voice; I was surprised that it was interpreted as an issue, because, believe me, call centre training rooms hear much worse, most of it based around sexual/misogynistic themes).

So anyway, onto Tuesday, I come in as normal, perfectly on time (30 minutes early in fact), but I was feeling pretty ill, in a stomach-upset kind of way. I lasted until 2.30pm when I had to ask my TL to let me go home, as it had worsened through the day, and I can honestly say that at that point, I had not felt so ill since I was a small child. She let me go, reminding me to call the absence line in the morning if I was going to be ill on Wednesday too. Come Wednesday morning, after having a light dinner and what I will describe as a very eventful bowel movement, I actually felt well enough to go into work, but I wanted to see my GP first, just to check things were OK with me, and also to discuss the issue of my depression, which has gotten very, very bad, lately. We have a great system at the GP surgery on campus where it's drop-in all morning - everyone gets seen by a nurse, and if it's an issue that needs a doctor, you only have to wait 10 or 15 minutes to see your doctor. I called the absence line at work, and told them I would be in, but would be in late, due to going to the doctor. Due to what I will admit have been extremely severe mental health problems in the past, my GP, (who is absolutely fantastic!) usually gets me straight into her, without having to see a nurse, and she did so on this occasion. We quickly established that I was physically OK, and it had just been a very, very nasty tummy upset, but she was more concerned about my mental health, and suggested that she would be happy to write me off work for a while. I would have gone for that option, were it not for the fact that I was in full-time training to go into inbound at work, so didn't really think I was in a position to be taking time off work, so she just prescribed me some diazepam to take the edge off the worst moments. I was just leaving the surgery to go to work, when my team leader from work called me, saying that I had missed too much of training, and would have to go back to outbound. I accepted that decision very gracefully on the phone, but was absolutely gutted, to the point where I had started writing my notice to hand in at work. Decided against it, and thought I had better think about it again at a time when I wasn't so upset (this move to inbound meant a lot to me). I went in for my normal full-time shift on the Friday, and didn't do too terribly, getting 1 sale (the target for a 7-hour shift work at around 2.1 sales). However, my mental health has just been getting worse and worse, and it definitely showed in my 4-hour shift last night - I was miserable, got anxious, stumbled over words, and went an entire shift without a single sale for only the third time in 5 months. It's become obvious that many of my mental health issues have been caused by previously undiagnosed ADHD, and, after kicking up a lot of stink (it's incredibly hard to get an adult ADHD diagnosis on the NHS - some people wait 6 months, some are refused one flat-out), I have achieved a miracle, and after speaking to the head of mental health services for the entire clinical commissioning group, have managed to secure a full and proper assessment on Thursday 9th April!

So, after that massive story, my question is this:
My GP indicated to me last Wednesday when I went to see her that she would be very happy to see me again this week, and also said she'd be happy to write me off work for a period, until the black cloud that's constantly above my head clears, which I suspect will be round about the time I get the ADHD diagnosis (I know I will, I have all the symptoms, both childhood and adulthood; my mum has also been diagnosed with it and it's genetic). Given that I've had several absences already, would it be wise for me to accept my doctor's offer to write me off work for a few weeks? Or do you think it's likely that my job would just sack me?

N.b. I did declare that I suffered from depression when I started at the company, had to have a quick interview with Occupational Health, and have told my new TL that it has got much worse, which she has put on file/sent to OH.

I do enjoy my job, even on outbound, but not when I'm depressed, as depressed people don't sell well, which makes them more depressed, which makes them sell even less...you get where I'm going! I want to keep my job, as I've made lots of money from it in the past, and, truth be told, they are a reasonable employer, and the people in charge there are decent. I know this thread might come across as a little whiny about the fact they took me off the training and put me on outbound, but it's not; I just want to know what my options are, and what few rights I have (being on probation)

Thanks, and sorry for long post. I would do a tl;dr, but it would probably be longer than a standard post!

sammyjammy

You don't have any rights as you have worked there for less than two years. Taking several days off with an upset stomach in a period of a few months would mean if I were your employer I would seriously consider letting you go.

For future reference Walk in centres are available in big cities and open all over the weekend, it doesn't have to be urgent to attend.

unlikelyheroine

In my experience those who visit the GP and say they are struggling normally find it reasonably straightforward to be signed off for a couple of weeks. Whilst this is a certified medical absence, employers have different approaches to these things and varying levels of patience. You have had four separate instances of absence (albeit brief absences) in less than five months - other than the mugging (which sounds awful, sorry about that), these were for minor ailments and that is the sort of absence that would throw up queries in many organisations - it is very high. Your employer can expect at the current rate for you to call in sick at least two weeks of the year but spread across odd dates here and there. It is a red flag. I am sympathetic as I suffer from severe stomach upsets but I have had to find ways of looking after myself so that my absences from these are minimal.

Your proposal now is to be off because you're not really feeling up to it. Is your depression so severe right now that you cannot work? Forgive me but I am not sure it sounds it. I appreciate a diagnosis may well be coming through that suggests that you need particular support, but you seem to be asking whether it's a good idea to be off right now. Forgive me but that doesn't suggest you absolutely cannot work and must be signed off but more that you are debating the point. Given your near-zero rights in the first two years, if you're well enough to go into work (and if you are not, then so be it), then my advice would be to go in. You may be lucky enough to have a sympathetic employer who appreciates the good results you have achieved but I know of people who will say "I'm a great worker!" - they mean when they are actually in the office, but are off a lot with minor things, not realising that part of being a good worker is reliability and showing up every day except for once in a blue moon when you're absolutely too sick to work, not having a day off a month through not being 100%.

I'm totally sympathetic re your depression as well btw. I have to work through my own as the unconscionable alternative is not working. If you can't then you can't. If you can then you probably should.

wills93

To be fair, it wasn't just a case of me feeling a little off. I've been struggling with depression for years, and it had got a lot, lot worse over the last few weeks, and I'd seen my doctor several times in states of utter desperation. I went to her this morning, after writing the OP, and she's written me off work for 3 weeks, until after an appointment I have for undiagnosed ADHD, which could well (and seems likely to me) to be at the root of all my mental health problems. If that is diagnosed, and I have a treatment plan including medication put in place, then I can highlight this at the "return to work" meeting I'll have to have as evîdence that I can improve in future.

elaine373

You need to carry on with your assessment of Adhd. You shouldn't be carrying with the work, for your own sake, if you believe it's making you worse. I have a 32 year old who has struggled immensely with depression through what I believe was caused by untreated adhd. Get yourself sorted first. You are doing a degree. Something has to give and don't let it be your mental health.xx