Sickness At Work

Fergie76

What are the rules for sickness at work?

My daughter works in a call centre and on Wednesday she had two wisdom teeth taking out. She was off Thursday and Friday (not sure if she took sick days, holidays or rota'd day off) and went back to work today . I received a text from her to say she has been sick at work and it causing her stitches to split and her mouth is bleeding, but if she goes home she will receive a stage 1 disciplinary warning.

She has had a couple of days of previously, with toothache/infection from wisdom teeth and she also suffers from migraines and I think they have sent her home for this previously.

Surely they have a duty of care while she is being sick? And being on the end of a phone call is probably not the best place to be when you want to throw up?

theoretica

They aren't forcing her to stay at work, it is her decision. She has reached a number of sick days where this causes the employer concern, and their impersonal procedures result in a warning. She needs to decide if it is better for her to be off now and take the warning and have more incentive to come in if she is poorly in future, or if she will stay in to avoid the warning.

[Deleted User]

Obviously, your daughter's firm is taking a "zero tolerance" stance on absenteeism.

Repeated absences are at fault here, not her current sickness.

She can appeal any disciplinary action, but it doesn't sound as if she has a case.

How long has she worked there? If only for a short time, she needs to be careful or she'll be out-of-a-job.

Undervalued

It sounds like her firm have a very tight sickness policy and that can be perfectly lawful if they go about it properly.

It has nothing to do with whether she is genuinely ill or not, it will be triggered by factor based on the number of absences in a certain period of time and the length of those absences.

You don't say how long she has worked there. Keep in mind that if it is under two years she has no job security at all and even by following a very tight procedure they are actually doing more that is legally required.

Fergie76

She has worked there less than a year.

I think she is sticking it out, but surely they don't want someone to potential be sick at there desk while on the phone to a customer?

So an employer has no duty of care to send you home when you are unwell?

Undervalued

Fergie76 wrote: »

So an employer has no duty of care to send you home when you are unwell?

That is a different issue. Is your daughter an adult or a minor?

[Deleted User]

Fergie76 wrote: »

So an employer has no duty of care to send you home when you are unwell?

Not really. It depends on the illness and it's severity.

Regardless, being sent home would not in itself prevent it being treated as another absence for the purposes of disciplinary action.

As I said earlier, it sounds like she needs to be treading carefully. Out of interest, how old is your daughter (i.e. Is she over eighteen)?

Fergie76

Thanks for your replies. Yes, she is over 18.

[Deleted User]

Fergie76 wrote: »

Yes, she is over 18.

So it's her own responsibility, I'm afraid.

theoretica

Fergie76 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. Yes, she is over 18.

If she worked with food, or someplace like a hospital they would have a duty of care to their customers to send her home.

As an adult, they are letting her decide if being at work will actually be bad for her or just be less comfortable than being at home.

Undervalued

Fergie76 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. Yes, she is over 18.

It isn't really down to the employer, who is presumably not medically qualified, to decide who is well enough to be at work. That is a doctor's job!

Obviously if somebody is clearly so unwell they need urgent medical attention then the employer (and indeed other employees) have a duty to summon help. Or, if they sustain an injury at work then they should provide basic first aid.

If she is well enough to be at work then she should be there, that is what she has contracted to do. If she is not well enough then she should stay at home. She can't only be well enough because they have a tough absence policy. That is the same as saying "it is OK to pull a sickie as my employer's very lax"!