Warning for being ill

ka7e

My son was offered "counselling" for taking a day off sick while a student working at Saisburys. too. He had proper 'flu and couldn't even get out of bed. I phoned in for him 9 hrs before his shift was due to start and was told he should really phone in himself (he was 16 at the time).
3 and a half years on, he doesn't get any flack when he phones in sick now. They know him now and that he wouldn't take time off if it wasn't serious. I think it's a ruse to frighten young employees!

Debt_Free_Chick

Unfortunately, employers are tied up in a lot of employment law & procedures. At the end of the day, you can be dismissed for being ill, on the grounds that you are not capable of doing your job. However, in order to get to that point, the employer must demonstrate that they went through a proper process including following the stated disciplinary procedure.

As employers don't know who might end up being incapable of work, the "default" position is to apply the process to everyone who calls in sick.

It's just a process. Take it seriously, but don't get too hung up on it.

maggut

Yep its true, at Tesco the policy there is if you go over a 3% absence you have a review. 3% is a very low amount. I recently had a verbal warning for having 8 days off in 6 months 5 of which i was signed off by my doc. Its disgusting that i was penalised for having geniune time off. i'm a hard worker and dont take the mickey. If i was to have had any more time off in the six weeks after my verbal it could have gone to a written warning! Makes you wonder why you bother telling the truth, next time i'll tell them my son is ill, that way they cant penalise me!!!!

Lyndsay_21

well i dont know the ins and outs of it its just my mum mentioned it the other day cos she said she was going to ring them to sort it out.
It was just unbelievable, i mean he's worked there long enough to get a discount card (not sure of how long?) yet when he faints and THEY send him home he gets a warning, just seems ott.
thanks for all your advice

Debt_Free_Chick

Lyndsay_21 wrote:

It was just unbelievable, i mean he's worked there long enough to get a discount card (not sure of how long?) yet when he faints and THEY send him home

They are covering their backs in case he was seriously ill and they allowed him to continue working. Employers owe employees a "duty of care" and they have to consider whether allowing him to continue to work could do him more damage or prevent him getting medical treatment. They did the right thing, here.

he gets a warning, just seems ott.
thanks for all your advice

Yes it does seem OTT, but Employment Law is such that they are scared of getting wrong, so they've gone OTT instead.

Don't feel that it's a blot on his record/character. It's just a damn silly process created by civil servants who enact poorly worded legislation.

Torby

My wife was employed by sainsburys, she has been off ill for over 15 months after an injury caused during work (she was not trained in the procedure and was told to do something contrary to what sainsburys policy was by an over enthusiastic checkout manager, case pending with union solicitors).
Anyway, she was just released or as they put it "medically dismissed",during that period you could count the number of times anyone called, or enquired about her health on the fingers of one hand. Her "dismissal" interview basically consisted of..."what sort of job do you think you could do in the store?...ok, so there's nothing you could do...so we will be really nice employers, give you some money for the 7 years you've worked and you are now medically dismissed.
Apparently they may have contravened some disability at work law in the way they have done this....I personally think that as she was unable to perform any job in Sainsburys....AND LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS THEY HAVE !...she should have been medically retired on an ill health pension...'cos if she couldn't work for them...who else could she work for....she has no qualifications and has only ever done shop work...sainsburys...bunch of jokers....and in my experience have no idea how to look after their staff...

Mods...if this is too long winded and you think not relevant to this post please shift...I may even look to a new thread myself....blood starting to boil...Grrrr!

BFG_2

The other side of the coin.....

Can I point out that contrary to what many posters believe/say, employees do not get 'warnings '/disciplinary action for being 'sick'.

They get 'warnings'/disciplinary action for being 'absent from work'. There is a diference!!

It is perfectly legal to dismiss someone for not being at work (whatever the reason for the absence)(provided the process has been followed, ie 1st, 2nd, final warning etc).

If the person in question has a good attendance record going forward, the warning will disappear off their record (within6/12 months) and they will have a clean slate again. If they don't improve they will go to the next level and so on.

Disciplinary procedures are there to be fair to everyone. How would you like it if you had 100% attendance and someone else has lots of 'sickness absence' (usually less than 3 days in duration (so they don't have to go to the doctors to get a sick-note) and usually has a lot of one day sicknesses on a Friday or a Monday? The procedure would quickly resolve this issue.
In this scenario, the employer is not allowed to say 'I think you're a liar and not really sick' so instead they say 'You were not at work (reason immaterial), your contract says you must attend work, you've failed, therefore giving you a warning'.

No employer worth their salt would sack someone for a single spell of absence. Believe it or not, All trade unions support firms in having a disciplinary process!!

Again people need to stop thinking that this 'warning' is a 'punishment for being genuinely ill' - it's not. It's a warning for the FUTURE that if things were to continue the way they have done, there would be consequences.

Can I also point out that if your son/daughter has less than 1 yrs service they could be sacked without any form of warnings being given to them (unless pregnant).

Debt_Free_Chick

Excellent post BFG

Lyndsay_21

i spoke to my mum yesterday and in fact my brother hasn't had a lot of days off sick, maybe one or two in the last year+ he has been late a couple of times.
I mean they know he was genuinely ill as it was at work he fainted. i can understand if he had called in sick and this raised alarm bells because of they other few days off.

zodiac

Sainsburys are real bums to work for anyway. The tills interfeared with my hearing aid and I couldn't wear it to work as it gave on a high pitch sound (which I couldn't hear but other people could).
The checkout manager didn't give me any help or leeway because of my disablitys (I have Meniere's Disease and tinnitus as well as being deaf in my right ear), such as being able to leave the checkout when I feel a Meniere's attack coming on so it was not a surprise when I left.

Why dont you pay a vist to the CAB as see what rights he has got, because he is under 18 the shop have different rules for younger workers.