Absence from work - a word of advice

Dragonwoodshed

Hello,
I have recently and without warning had to leave my usual residence to take care of my terminally ill mother. However understanding your employer may be it may be worth registering with a local GP as a temporary resident and speaking to them about obtaining a medical exemption (my boss suggested on 'stress' grounds) certificate asap. This will take precedence over compassionate or discretionary leave for most employers and will ensure you are paid. It can be backdated as necessary and will buy you breathing space.

Sue14

I agree, as long as your employer pays you for sick leave, get a certificate and you should be paid. When my husband was told that his cancer was terminal, I didn't know what to do about work, as I wanted to spend every moment with him (he was told he only had a few weeks), but I couldn't afford to take time off work. The macmillan nurse told me to speak to my doctor, to get signed off with stress, which I did, and I got paid in full for the whole time I was off, which ended up being about 3 months as I didn't go back until a week after his funeral, and we had to wait nearly 3 weeks for that.

getmore4less

employers sick policy can kick in and it could be the end of that employment.

brewerdave

I've been retired for a few years,so my experience is not recent ,HOWEVER, my last couple of employing Companies would not have accepted a Drs. note on those grounds and in those circumstances -they would have granted some compassionate leave and then given leave without pay for a bit longer -but neither would have accepted open ended sick leave.

Yorkshireman99

brewerdave wrote: »

I've been retired for a few years,so my experience is not recent ,HOWEVER, my last couple of employing Companies would not have accepted a Drs. note on those grounds and in those circumstances -they would have granted some compassionate leave and then given leave without pay for a bit longer -but neither would have accepted open ended sick leave.

If a doctor has correctly certified it then the employer is on very dodgy ground legally if they choose to ignore it.

Bogalot

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

If a doctor has correctly certified it then the employer is on very dodgy ground legally if they choose to ignore it.

A fit note is not binding on an employer, it is an opinion, not a blanket ban from working. The employer may decide (depending on their sickness policy) to stop pay beyond SSP and they may take disciplinary action if appropriate.

On the face of it, it would only be an uncaring employer that would take such action, but it may be appropriate if the absence is long term or there has been a previous pattern of absence.

missbiggles1

Being signed off with stress if you're suffering from it is one thing, to ask a doctor to issue a false certificate for your convenience is quite different.

Sue14

It does depend on the employers sick leave policy, I was lucky as my employer allows sick pay of 6 months on full pay, then 6 months on half pay. They were very supportive throughout my husband's illness, and again when we were told it was terminal, all they wanted was for me to provide a certificate. When I returned to work they also arranged bereavement counselling for me, which I start next Monday.

Yorkshireman99

Bogalot wrote: »

A fit note is not binding on an employer, it is an opinion, not a blanket ban from working. The employer may decide (depending on their sickness policy) to stop pay beyond SSP and they may take disciplinary action if appropriate.

On the face of it, it would only be an uncaring employer that would take such action, but it may be appropriate if the absence is long term or there has been a previous pattern of absence.

It depends on exactly what the certifying doctor has said. An employer cannot legally just ignore it. If the employer doubts the validity then the appropriate action is for them to pay for an independent medical examination.

securityguy

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

It depends on exactly what the certifying doctor has said. An employer cannot legally just ignore it.

Indeed, but the employee's only recourse would be via an employment tribunal on the grounds of constructive dismissal (if the employer just said "no, we're not going to accept that note, your move") or unfair dismissal (if they said "and don't come back, either"). ETs are not things to enter into lightly.

It's also worth reading:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/464398/fit-note-employers-line_managers-sept-2015.pdf

From that document (and for some bizarre reason, probably due to ligatures in the PDF, "the" and "fit" have been replaced with "t", but you get the general drift).

"Is the t note binding on me?
No. The assessment about whether your employee is not t for work or may be t for work (and any other advice in the t note) is classed as advice, and it is for employers to determine whether or not to accept it.
Occasionally, you may believe that your employee is not t for work when they have been assessed as t for work by their doctor, or you may think that your employee could do some work when they have been assessed as ‘not t for work’ by their doctor.
In situations like this you are within your rights to gather other evidence about your employee’s tness for work from other doctors or healthcare professionals. You can choose to give this
other evidence precedence over the advice in the t note. Your employee may disagree with you, and you may need to demonstrate to an employment tribunal why the alternative source of evidence was more acceptable to you than the t note."