Questions about sickness and occ health questionnaires when applying for new job

yasminejobadvice

I’m currently employed by a big broadband company and have been off sick for the past 8 months. It’s quite complicated, but basically lots of conflict with my manager and constantly feeling victimised made me a bit ill. As soon as I produced a doctor’s note stating that I was suffering from depression and anxiety issues, it all escalated massively. I was harassed daily and it made things worse and worse. It even persisted after my doctor wrote to him to explain the negative impact their actions were having on me.

Now, I’m finally feeling like I’m ready to work, but I know I can’t go back to the same place. The thought of putting myself in that stressful situation with the people who put me through hell will probably just push me right back to square one. I’m worried about the implications that my time off will have on finding a new job though. If I’m asked about my time off, there’s no way any employer is going to consider me. So, I’m just hoping I don’t get asked about it. I know I’m fine to start a new job, but a new company will probably see me as too risky.

How common is it to be required to answer questions about previous illness and fill in occupational health forms that request things like sickness days? I’m not sure if this is only standard in certain industries.

If I use a manager at my current place of employment as a reference, and a new company contact him to ask for a reference, are the company also likely to contact the HR department of my current employer for additional information, such as proof of employment or absence history?

It’s not my intention to deceive anyone, I’m just thinking if I get lucky and they don’t ask about my sickness and they don’t ask my reference, am I in the clear? Or is it also standard practice to contact HR to request general employment information? It’s difficult because I’m having to move house too, so if I find a job and arrange the move to a new area, and everything seems fine, I don’t know if I’ll be able to put my mind at ease or if there’s still a chance of my absence coming back and biting me in the !!! and I end up in a new place and unemployed. I just feel totally stuck as I can’t commit to moving until I’ve found the job, but then there’s a chance it could be taken away (sorry for the essay).

ohreally

Chances are if a reference request is taken up it will likely be through hr channels.

sangie595

It sort of depends on industry, but these days asking the question of candidates and referees is pretty common. I think you really need to consider what kind of explanation you might offer to prospective employers when asked, rather than rely on them not asking.

May I ask - what happened? You say got were "a bit sick", but that's a couple of days off, not eight months. And how could they harass you daily if you weren't in work? How did your employment end - resignations or dismissal?. It's no great secret now, so if toy can provide an explanation to us we may be able to guide you in a direction to construct that explanation.

Timpu

yasminejobadvice wrote: »

It’s not my intention to deceive anyone, I’m just thinking if I get lucky and they don’t ask about my sickness and they don’t ask my reference, am I in the clear?

You don't say what area you specialise in but in my line of work, it would be deemed reasonable to ask a candidate about an 8mth break. It would be asked in a sensitive manner though. Personally, I would focus on what has changed and means you're ready to work. That would be my answer when asked the question.

As for refs, I've had references handled by HR but phone calls to managers who are asked for opinions. Sometimes you can put more than one referee down.

yasminejobadvice

ohreally wrote: »

Chances are if a reference request is taken up it will likely be through hr channels.

Even if I provide contact details for a specific manager within the company?

sangie595 wrote: »

May I ask - what happened? You say got were "a bit sick", but that's a couple of days off, not eight months. And how could they harass you daily if you weren't in work? How did your employment end - resignations or dismissal?. It's no great secret now, so if toy can provide an explanation to us we may be able to guide you in a direction to construct that explanation.

It's a long story, but to try and summarise it... It was a minor issue at first. My doctor said I was just stressed and basically needed some rest. My manager phoned me daily though and would mess me about loads. He'd never call when he said he was going to. When I did speak to him, he'd question me about every single thing I'd been doing, about what I was doing to make sure I'd get back to work ASAP, how much longer was I going to drag this on for, etc. They'd insist on me going in to the office for meetings and they'd also arrange home visits. What began as a minor issue was made a million times worse by the way they treat me. It was awful.

I'm still technically employed by them. Now that I've made the decision not to return, I'm going to hand my notice in soon.

Timpu wrote: »

You don't say what area you specialise in but in my line of work, it would be deemed reasonable to ask a candidate about an 8mth break. It would be asked in a sensitive manner though. Personally, I would focus on what has changed and means you're ready to work. That would be my answer when asked the question.

As for refs, I've had references handled by HR but phone calls to managers who are asked for opinions. Sometimes you can put more than one referee down.

It's just a call centre at the moment, but I'm looking for admin and secretarial roles at the moment.

elsien

In my company, if an employee came to me directly for a work reference I had to pass it on to my line manager. Chances were I'd write it and they'd just sign it, but the policy was in place to protect the company and to ensure the reference didn't include something that could get them sued. It does depend on your specific company policy.

If it's a personal rather than work reference, that's a different matter.

ohreally

yasminejobadvice wrote: »

Even if I provide contact details for a specific manager within the company?

Yes.

You may use an individual of your choice to provide a testament however a prospective employer will almost certainly dictate reference provision is from an HR source and your present employer may also have a policy stating reference requests to be submitted to HR.

Masomnia

Have you asked about returning to a different department?

jobbingmusician

The other thing that screams out at me is a compromise agreement. Your employer, if they have any sense, will be feeling quite twitchy about the possibility you will take them to tribunal. I don't suppose there's a Union involved?

If you are up to it, you need to request a meeting with HR and explain that it is a without prejudice meeting. Say that you have been victimised by the company and that you are anxious about returning. You are prepared to walk away with a good reference (plus anything else you want to throw into the mix.) As all your sick leave has presumably been supported by medical certificates I'm not sure how far you can go in asking them to recategorise this, but someone else might know. If possible, you should get them to agree that some of this leave was a neutral suspension to allow them to reorganise their procedures so that you were not victimised. IF this is possible, the problem is solved from all angles - you have a good reference and reduced sick leave record, they have no risk of an employee (justifiably) taking them to tribunal.

sangie595

jobbingmusician wrote: »

The other thing that screams out at me is a compromise agreement. Your employer, if they have any sense, will be feeling quite twitchy about the possibility you will take them to tribunal. I don't suppose there's a Union involved?

If you are up to it, you need to request a meeting with HR and explain that it is a without prejudice meeting. Say that you have been victimised by the company and that you are anxious about returning. You are prepared to walk away with a good reference (plus anything else you want to throw into the mix.) As all your sick leave has presumably been supported by medical certificates I'm not sure how far you can go in asking them to recategorise this, but someone else might know. If possible, you should get them to agree that some of this leave was a neutral suspension to allow them to reorganise their procedures so that you were not victimised. IF this is possible, the problem is solved from all angles - you have a good reference and reduced sick leave record, they have no risk of an employee (justifiably) taking them to tribunal.

Whilst this may be a viable option, I want to urge a little caution because this does seem to infer that they ought to jump at the chance of a settlement because of the risk of legal action. I think that suggesting the employee could "justifiably" take them to a tribunal is accepting something not in evidence.

If we look at what the OP has said, actually there is little evidence of wrong doing by the employer. What we know is that the OP was "stressed" and signed off sick for an unspecified period. The manager phoned her daily - well why didn't she simply not answer the phone? They "messed her about" by not phoning when they said they would- well, in the first place that implies that the OP agreed to the calls; and secondly, this is a manager we are talking about, in a workplace - things happen that need doing our need attention and sometimes you can't do things on a schedule. They wanted to know how the OP was doing and when they would be able to return to work - that isn't entirely unexpected or unreasonable, since they ate employers and want their employees in work and not off sick. They insisted on them going in for meetings or for home visits - this is both normal and good practice; and especially so after months of sickness absence. I realise that this was a summary of their transgressions - but actually none of this is really substantiating the employer having done something wrong or harassment.

Sometimes there are gulfs between what an employee thinks is happening and what an employer thinks is happening for all sorts of reasons. Whether that is the case here or not is not clear, but it is certainly possible based on what the OP has said. But on the other side of this, the employer has done nothing to dismiss - after eight months most would have done. And the worst they seem to have done is try to get the OP back to work, which is what they are supposed to do!

So let's not assume that the OP has "leverage" to get a settlement agreement, or that the employer is "twitchy" about being "justifiably" taken to a tribunal - it is equally possible that putting such threats out there could cause them to dig in their heels.

I also very much doubt that the employer is going to agree to a lie. That would put them at risk of being sued. Not saying something is one thing, especially if you aren't asked; but lying about a sickness record in a reference to another employer - that is asking to be sued if they get found out. And I cannot see any possibly whatsoever that they are going to agree to saying that they were reorganizing their procedures in order that the OP was not victimized - they have no reason to say that, it is a lie, AND they are not going to admit to something that hasn't happened.

Asking for a mutually agreed termination, that is one thing. But asking an employer to lie, and to do so with a threat, is another. If you threaten, then you had better be very sure you have evidence to back it up. Or you will risk having hell rain down on you, and getting the very opposite of what you asked for.

sangie595

OP, how long have you worked for this employer? What is your notice period?