Resignation during sick leave due to job offer

Gunn85

Hi all,

I have been signed off by my GP recently due to anxiety and depression. This has been due to personal issues I have had combined with the stress of the job so i have been seeking work during my absence.
I have now been successful in being offered a job with another company so wish to resign, however wanted to know if there would be any issue with a reference if i do this whilst still signed off.
If i resign now whilst i still have nearly 3 weeks left on my sick note, do I need to return to work to work my notice period of a month? Should i be honest with them and tell them i have been offered a job? I want to ensure a reference wont be an issue for them to provide and that i cover myself.

Guest101

The reference will be factual (there may be a policy of providing neutral reference or simply start / end date - check the company policies) but certainly the company can say you were off sick for x period(s)


Your employer can demand you work your notice.

TBagpuss

The employer can require you to work your notice, but they cannot require you to retun to work while you are sick. (They may querey whether you are still unwell if you are fit enough to start a new job)

So if you hand in your notice today, your notice will expire one month from tomorrow. Assumign that you are still too ill to work, tjen your current sick note runs out in 3 weeks, so you wouldthen ned to work the last week of your notice, unless you have untaken holiday and your wmployer agrees to you taking that.

Alternatively, if your new job wants you start earlier, you could ask your wemployer whether they would agree to a shorter notice period, which would mean that your employent with them ended sooner (good for them as they don't have to pay you, good for you as you can start your new job sooner)

If you are fit to work thenit would be appropriat to let you current employer know that, and to arrange to return to work now to work your notice (you don't have to stay off for the full duration of your fit note, if you have recovered sooner than anticipated)

Ozzuk

I could well be wrong but I thought whether you could return to work depends on the wording of the 'fit note'. If its says you aren't fit for work then I *think* this means you shouldn't be in work, could even be an insurance problem for your employer. On that basis you'd need to get your doctor to amend the note.

We had contractor employee try to come back early and his contract company wouldn't allow it until the fit note was altered.

Undervalued

Ozzuk wrote: »

I could well be wrong but I thought whether you could return to work depends on the wording of the 'fit note'. If its says you aren't fit for work then I *think* this means you shouldn't be in work, could even be an insurance problem for your employer. On that basis you'd need to get your doctor to amend the note.

We had contractor employee try to come back early and his contract company wouldn't allow it until the fit note was altered.

Technically you are wrong but it is a common misconception.

Unless a person has a notifiable illness or is sectioned under the mental health act any advice a doctor gives them is advisory and they are under no obligation to follow it!

A fit note is also advisory and indeed the old fashioned "sick notes" used to say on them "for social security purposes only". The fact that employers used them or required them for other purposes doesn't change that.

Obviously an employer can set their own rules and make any company sick pay conditional on following them but no law directly prevents a person from working despite having a "fit note" advising them not to.

maninthestreet

So will the OP turn up for work on day 1 of their new job, or call in sick?

Nicki

maninthestreet wrote: »

So will the OP turn up for work on day 1 of their new job, or call in sick?

If the prospect of a new job relieves some of OP's stress and anxiety, then I imagine they will turn up for work on the first day of the new job. That doesn't mean however that they are currently well enough to be working in the existing job if that's what you are implying. I'd like to think that their GP, a trained professional who has actually met them and assessed their condition, is better placed to judge whether they are faking than some random stranger on the internet working off three short paragraphs of text...

sangie595

The standard advice should apply anyway. You do not resign until you have an unconditional offer, and that is only going to happen after references have been taken up. Otherwise you could end up with no job at all.