Treatment in two stages - one or two periods of sickness

Legacy_user

How do most employers treat this?

There is 90% chance of both of my eyes receiving treatment - need to be done separately - for me able to see anything! Need 1-2 weeks off per eye as it will be painful, eyes very light sensitive and need to apply eye drops very regularly.

Do employers classify this as one or two periods of sickness? As the procedure cannot be done all at once - think there is about a 1.5-2 month gap between treatments. I will be able to work during the interim period.

My employer does this fairly common practice re sickness - three periods of sickness in a rolling 12 month period, a disciplinary happens. I had a period of sickness in June - a sickness bug.

It's not my fault this treatment needs to be done in two stages and don't want to get stressed with a disciplinary.

I don't want to discuss this with my managers yet, until I know what is going on

antonic

I would check what your staff manual says and consult your Union (If you are a Union member).

An enlightened employer *may* say your your second bout of treatment is a continuation of your first bout of treatment, but you will only find out if you ask and provide the medical evidence.

Carrot007

Mine would treat it as two periods. But any investigation would then find it as a reasonable absence due to what it was.

The triggers are generally set in stone. The actions depend on what caused the triggers.

TELLIT01

Only your employer can give a definitive answer on that one. For SSP purposes it would one single period of linked sickness.

ACG

I think most would treat it as 2, but unless they are actively looking for reasons to get rid of people I am sure most would just put it down as one of those things and move on without making a meal of it.

Darksparkle

In my work if you go off sick, return to work then go back off sick then it's two instances.

sangie595

Almost certainly two periods. I can't think of a single employer who would treat is as one. But if it comes to it you will still only be in stage one - bad luck but it happens to plenty of people, so don't let it stress you. If this is an unusual pattern of sickness for you, it will just be a warning to reduce your sickness and no further action will be taken. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things!

FBaby

It might not even be a warning. In my organisation, it just means that your manager must review and have a conversation to identify any trends or risk to yourself/company. In your instance, it would lead to nothing, not even a mention in your file.

TELLIT01

For planned medical treatment it would be a pretty inflexible employer who started down the warning route. Most would see the absences for what they are and take no action other than that outlined by FBaby.

sangie595

FBaby wrote: »

It might not even be a warning. In my organisation, it just means that your manager must review and have a conversation to identify any trends or risk to yourself/company. In your instance, it would lead to nothing, not even a mention in your file.

Except for the fact that the OP has already said that their stage 1 is a disciplinary meeting. In which case, to meet the requirements of fair process, there has to be some outcome because this is a managing sickness policy. It may be a new set of targets, perhaps with adjustments if applicable. It may be (but is unlikely to be) just a review. But there has to be a formal recorded outcome pf a disciplinary meeting, otherwise the precedent blows the employers policy out of the water.

DigForVictory

ScarletMarble, are you a civil servant? Just how reasonable is your current line manager? As I'd guess the machines would see it as two periods, but managers do have a certain amount of wriggle room.

Plus the union, whist largely a paper kitten, has had a fair bit of recent experience with the gently aging workforce & so should be in a better position to know every loophole & where there is scope of interpretation.

Let them know in advance (union & line manager) & see how things go? It is nerve wracking, which *never* helped the immune system, but planned, agreed, understood surgery to manage a health condition where the bad end game is *blindness*? Ought to be much less hazardous.

Are you one amongst several folk getting on a bit, or are you a statistical outlier? How old (& canny) is your manager? Has the office as a whole any experience in folk needing surgery to prevent being shoved into a disability? Is there any useful training that might inform/educate colleagues & line manager?

Finally, if you can get one eye done "one year" & t'other "the next", it is all so much simpler but really you probably won't be given a choice as to timing so start to 'prepare the ground' with manager & colleagues now.

Very best of luck!