Employer making me work while sick

General_Grant

Dox said:

KatrinaWaves said:

General_Grant said:

KatrinaWaves said:

elsien said:

KatrinaWaves said:

1 Is furlough not preferable to using up your leave? Leave wouldn’t last the full ‘lockdown’

2 depending on the work environment, calling names that you describe could be absolutely fine

3 you can refuse to do the shift. You’re sick. But I’d personally prefer the option to get paid, not have a sickness day on record and if I miss calls I miss calls...

I wouldn't say that was something that would ever be fine, personally speaking. Then again I wouldn't have anyone work related anywhere near my whatsapp unless it was a work phone number I was using for it. 
The employer is also taking advantage by making employees take leave but they pay it at the lower furlough rate. 
The question is, how big an issue does the OP want to make of it? 

Which is why I said depending on the work environment...

It’s a swear word. That’s all. It’s not racist or homophobic or anything. Some people seem to dislike it more than the various other swears but thats personal...

Sexist?   Very offensive (in any environment, which is why it is used).

I disagree it’s sexist anymore than the many many many swears associated with male genitals! And people seem to view c*** much harsher than b**** which could also be sexist, but also d*** c*** b**e** n**head w***** etc etc! If we’re gonna take offense to the c word we have to attribute the same to all the others, and we don’t. Therefore I do not see the c word as any worse than any other swear you can call
someone! 

How does this sort of bickering answer OP's question?

The OP clearly found it offensive.  So there is disagreement about whether this is something the OP should feel is wrong.

Currently it appears two of us plus the OP seem to find in unacceptable).  We could run a poll on it but let's not bother.

[Deleted User]

The language used by the other employees and the way that your employer is treating you, is unacceptable.
You should be able to have a sick day off, if you are sick - doesn't matter that they have said it's working from home, and only in the am.
Unfortunately, with only up to 2 years of employment they can let you go without a reason. If I were you, I would start looking for another job. You deserve to be treated better, and with respect.

epm-84

Diamandis said:

You say you're only calling in sick because you want to use your own bathroom. Working from home here seems like a good compromise. If you're actually too sick to work at all then you need to tell them that. If not just let them know you might miss some calls. 

I don't get that impression from the post but I know what IBS is like.  There is more than one form of IBS but in some cases a bad outbreak can mean you need to go to the toilet immediately, not in a couple of minutes after you wrap up a phone call, or wait for someone else to finish in the toilet first, immediately.

A medical condition which can have a significant affect on your day to day ability to do things can actually be classed as a disability, meaning an employer is required to make reasonable adjustments by law.  Obviously if the condition prevents you doing the type of work of work you're employed to do then it's a different matter e.g. a construction company doesn't have to allow someone who lost use of their limbs to continue working as a roofer, as they can't make reasonable adjustments to allow them to continue in the role.

Undervalued

epm-84 said:

Diamandis said:

You say you're only calling in sick because you want to use your own bathroom. Working from home here seems like a good compromise. If you're actually too sick to work at all then you need to tell them that. If not just let them know you might miss some calls. 

I don't get that impression from the post but I know what IBS is like.  There is more than one form of IBS but in some cases a bad outbreak can mean you need to go to the toilet immediately, not in a couple of minutes after you wrap up a phone call, or wait for someone else to finish in the toilet first, immediately.

A medical condition which can have a significant affect on your day to day ability to do things can actually be classed as a disability, meaning an employer is required to make reasonable adjustments by law.  Obviously if the condition prevents you doing the type of work of work you're employed to do then it's a different matter e.g. a construction company doesn't have to allow someone who lost use of their limbs to continue working as a roofer, as they can't make reasonable adjustments to allow them to continue in the role.

Indeed, but whether the OP's condition crosses that threshold could be the subject of considerable debate. Far more information would be needed to form a useful opinion.

This, and the OP's other thread, give the impression that he is almost looking for a fight with his employer? If so than that often doesn't end well.

epm-84

Undervalued said:

epm-84 said:

Diamandis said:

You say you're only calling in sick because you want to use your own bathroom. Working from home here seems like a good compromise. If you're actually too sick to work at all then you need to tell them that. If not just let them know you might miss some calls. 

I don't get that impression from the post but I know what IBS is like.  There is more than one form of IBS but in some cases a bad outbreak can mean you need to go to the toilet immediately, not in a couple of minutes after you wrap up a phone call, or wait for someone else to finish in the toilet first, immediately.

A medical condition which can have a significant affect on your day to day ability to do things can actually be classed as a disability, meaning an employer is required to make reasonable adjustments by law.  Obviously if the condition prevents you doing the type of work of work you're employed to do then it's a different matter e.g. a construction company doesn't have to allow someone who lost use of their limbs to continue working as a roofer, as they can't make reasonable adjustments to allow them to continue in the role.

Indeed, but whether the OP's condition crosses that threshold could be the subject of considerable debate. Far more information would be needed to form a useful opinion.

This, and the OP's other thread, give the impression that he is almost looking for a fight with his employer? If so than that often doesn't end well.

NHS advice says if you have diarrhea then you should stay off work sick until 48 hours after it calms down as you can be infectious, as well as dehydrated.  If you have diarrhea as a symptom of IBS then it's different as you can have diarrhea without being infectious and it can come and go more rapidly.  As the employer expected them to carry on with work I would suggest they weren't treating them as if they were sick but trying to make adjustments due to their condition.

The OP mentioned they used to work for BA, so as they are used to working for a big company they are probably used to the employer being aware of everything related to employment law, having a designated HR department and having trade union representation, so they won't try anything funny with regards to ignorance of employee rights.  Sometimes smaller employees get things wrong and the decent ones will hold up their hands and admit their mistake if someone points them to the relevant page on the government site, others will get really annoyed with the employee even if they are in the wrong.  When paternity leave was first introduced for men there was a young male employee at where I worked whose girlfriend had an unplanned baby and he requested paternity leave and the directors of the company weren't very happy about him requesting paternity leave.

Also given that more women than men worked in travel and more women than men have IBS, I wouldn't jump to the conclusion of the poster being a 'he'.  There certainly men with IBS who have worked in travel but there's more women.

Manxman_in_exile

epm-84 said:

The OP mentioned they used to work for BA, so as they are used to working for a big company they are probably used to the employer being aware of everything related to employment law,

I thought they'd worked for the NHS, according to (one of) their other threads?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6220147/ex-employer-keeps-paying-me#latest

Sorry - wrong thread - it was this one  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6220174/help-put-my-mind-at-ease-ex-employer-keeps-paying-me#latest

So the OP has two current threads on their former employer (NHS not a large british airline) an two on their current employer?

epm-84

Manxman_in_exile said:

epm-84 said:

The OP mentioned they used to work for BA, so as they are used to working for a big company they are probably used to the employer being aware of everything related to employment law,

I thought they'd worked for the NHS, according to (one of) their other threads?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6220147/ex-employer-keeps-paying-me#latest

Sorry - wrong thread - it was this one  https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6220174/help-put-my-mind-at-ease-ex-employer-keeps-paying-me#latest

So the OP has two current threads on their former employer (NHS not a large british airline) an two on their current employer?

On re-reading they actually said a British Airline in this thread, not specifically BA.  However, it is possible they worked for an airline until the COVID pandemic and then took a temporary support role with the NHS, which has since ended.