How could getting signed off due to ill mental health impact a job search or buying a house?

74jax

vegasvisitor wrote: »

They should only ask for sickness records after making a job offer, and should not withdraw an offer of employment due to sickness records. I know this may not always happen, but that's the law. Think it's Equality law of some sort.

https://knowhow.ncvo.org.uk/how-to/how-to-avoid-illegal-or-innapropriate-interview-questions

You think wrong.

nicechap

vegasvisitor wrote: »

There are certainly articles suggesting it's a question that shouldn't be asked before offering employment. If they do ask, and they do use it as a reason to not offer a job or withdraw a job offer it's thin ice. Either way, a good employer will not penalise you when they don't know the facts. People can be ill for a number or reasons and they are unlikely to know the detail.

I don't think OP should be worrying too much about it.

What thin ice would that be? Specifically what sanction or redress could a prospective employee take and how would they prove it. Or is there some government department that could do it for the prospective employee?

And of course, sickness record is a fact that can be used to differentiate between prospective employees.

Offering the OP false hope is not helpful.

Blatchford

vegasvisitor wrote: »

There are certainly articles suggesting it's a question that shouldn't be asked before offering employment. If they do ask, and they do use it as a reason to not offer a job or withdraw a job offer it's thin ice. Either way, a good employer will not penalise you when they don't know the facts. People can be ill for a number or reasons and they are unlikely to know the detail.

I don't think OP should be worrying too much about it.

Tot started out saying it's the law, and now you've decided it was just written in some articles. It is you who is skating on thin ice, telling someone "facts" that are not true.

Sickness absence is a perfectly legitimate basis upon which to withdraw a job offer. I realise it's a silly concept, but most employers are recruiting people who will turn up to work. If someone had a record of not being at work, that is really off-putting.

What you are referring to is the fact that an employer cannot legally / should not discriminate against someone in recruitment due to a disability. There is no evidence here that the poster has a disability - many disabled people have no sickness record at all, so the two things do not go together. It is therefore advisable not to ask about sickness before an offer is made so that an employer cannot be accused of taking into account av disability as a reason for rejection. But even if someone has a disability, if their sickness absence is unacceptable, that is a legitimate reason to not employ them.

The poster is asking a perfectly fair question about how a period of sickness might be seen by a potential employer. The answers they have received, with the exception of yours, are correct. It is advisable to avoid significant time off work for sickness absence, as this can be a red flag to a potential employer. Even "good ones".

pickledonionspaceraider

It all depends on you. Neither option is a bad one - but all come with pitfalls IMO

I have been off sick with stress before, and upon return I have to be honest and say I felt attitudes had negatively changed towards me.

You ask HOW DO YOU HEAL. Well part of the healing, is planning for a better future - ie job hunting.

I do not think I have ever gotten through an interview or reference process without sickness - in the last job - being brought up.

Dont worry about it 'looking bad'' - you have to put yourself first sometimes.

When going for a mortgage, I think our bank asked us for the last six months wage slips - so if there is a dip in your pay, that will be the problem for the bank - not the fact you are signed off. If you are signed off on FULL PAY, I dont see how it will make a difference to the house search...
OTHER THAN - on a practical note - you need to be financially secure to take on a mortgage, being on the sick is not the best time to do it as you dont know if you are going back to your present job or where your next paycheque is coming from, so you are just saving up a problem for tomorrow ie more stress

So sort your job out. Then sort a house out

ONE THING AT A TIME

(sorry i'm not shouting at you btw, just being clear

Mistral001

Crasher wrote: »

Hi there -

I was recently referred to an occupational health psychiatrist due to really struggling at work (I'm in the final stages of an improvement plan and I don't think it's going brilliantly) who has told me she would recommend that I get signed off. I'd asked my counselor if she would recommend this recently, and she said no because she thinks I'm good at avoiding things when I'm stressed out by them and it would be better for me just to power through, find a new role, and leave on my own terms. It's not been a great fit for me.

There is something a bit wrong here. If you have both a counsellor and a psychiatrist, then the two of them should be consulting each other and coming up with a recommendation that they are both generally in agreement with.

Crasher

Mistral001 wrote: »

There is something a bit wrong here. If you have both a counsellor and a psychiatrist, then the two of them should be consulting each other and coming up with a recommendation that they are both generally in agreement with.

The Psychiatrist was an occupational health worker who I met with once for 45 minutes. The counselor is someone I see regularly.

Crasher

pickledonionspaceraider wrote: »

It all depends on you. Neither option is a bad one - but all come with pitfalls IMO

I have been off sick with stress before, and upon return I have to be honest and say I felt attitudes had negatively changed towards me.

You ask HOW DO YOU HEAL. Well part of the healing, is planning for a better future - ie job hunting.

I do not think I have ever gotten through an interview or reference process without sickness - in the last job - being brought up.

Dont worry about it 'looking bad'' - you have to put yourself first sometimes.

When going for a mortgage, I think our bank asked us for the last six months wage slips - so if there is a dip in your pay, that will be the problem for the bank - not the fact you are signed off. If you are signed off on FULL PAY, I dont see how it will make a difference to the house search...
OTHER THAN - on a practical note - you need to be financially secure to take on a mortgage, being on the sick is not the best time to do it as you dont know if you are going back to your present job or where your next paycheque is coming from, so you are just saving up a problem for tomorrow ie more stress

So sort your job out. Then sort a house out

ONE THING AT A TIME

(sorry i'm not shouting at you btw, just being clear

Thanks for this. I'm just so so tired and want to feel all energetic and ready to go. Instead I feel like this and I just can't work out how to get from here to there. I want to just push through it.