Sick at work

housebuyer143

I worked at a place like this - if you made it in, going home was made virtually impossible. People therefore just didn't come in if they felt even remotely ill, as not to risk it. Stupid from an employers point of view really!

He needs to be saying " I have been sick 4 times so I am going home and I probably won't be in tomorrow" rather than asking to go. He's been there long enough that they can't just sack him without reason.

stu12345_2

you don't want to work for the royal mail. they have a clause in the contract that gives them the right to  sack you if you have been off sick on a certain number of occasions in any one year

it's to do with causing a disruption to the delivery of mail service, even if you have a doctors note.

it was better in their eyes to have  3 weeks off in one  occasion.only,  than it was to have  4 separate occasions of say  3 days off at a time  in any one year.

 that was a few years back as a postman. can anyone confirm if they still have that rule.

elsien

You are thinking of something like Bradford scores and it’s not as simple as saying they can just sack you if you’re off a certain amount of time. 

It is a system that a lot of companies use, not just Royal mail. 

Savvy_Sue

It's surely a health and safety matter, report to the H&S manager. And in that kind of workplace, join the union.

LightFlare

elsien said:

You are thinking of something like Bradford scores and it’s not as simple as saying they can just sack you if you’re off a certain amount of time. 

It is a system that a lot of companies use, not just Royal mail. 

Indeed - the NHS also uses this system.

To get to the point of being sacked though is not a quick and/or simple procedure and involves quite a few steps beyond the occurrences of sickness 

stu12345_2

yes, Bradford scores, always wondered how an employer can legally sack an employee if they have been employed for over 2 years, yet have doctors sick lines.

I always remember as a postman something I had to sign agreeing to allow the royal mail to sack me if I was ill too often, it was part of the contract 

Elliott.T123

I was going to agree with some of the other posts on here. If he feels sick for a 5th time, rather than I assume going to the toilet he does it somewhere that will cause an issue for the boss. "sorry Boss I must be sicker than I thought I have thrown up on your desk/the office printer/the main corridor through the office"

Bradden

Just to give a different perspective. The manager may be refusing to send the employee home whilst not refusing for them to go off sick.. It's a small difference in law but if an employer sends staff home they cannot count it as absence. 

vacheron

Why not get them to write a short letter along the lines of

"I <manager> am refusing to allow <employee> to go home sick despite the fact that he has requested this from me and has stated that he has been sick on four occasions since arriving at work this morning."

Then tell them to give it to their manager and see if they are prepared to put their signature against it! 

 
 

annoan

The employer's or manager's stupid attitude.  Whether he wanted to or not, any responsible boss would send him home because of how contagious the norovirus is.  Many general practitioners will wait until after seven days to submit a sick note since they are aware that the law allows self-certification during that time.