Sick at work

General_Grant

stu12345_2 said:

yes it's called a fit note, not a sick note you get it only when doctors say you can return to work.

 that employer sounds horrible. are they qualified doctors, for goodness sake?

Medical certificates can be referred to as either a sick note or a fit note.  
Doctors can issue a fit/sick note when you are not fit to return to work.

Bradden

General_Grant said:

stu12345_2 said:

yes it's called a fit note, not a sick note you get it only when doctors say you can return to work.

 that employer sounds horrible. are they qualified doctors, for goodness sake?

Medical certificates can be referred to as either a sick note or a fit note.  
Doctors can issue a fit/sick note when you are not fit to return to work.

I beleive it's actuallly caslled a "Statement of Fitness to Work" 

https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/caring-carers-and-long-term-conditions/when-do-i-need-a-fit-note/

Andy_L

stu12345_2 said:

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.

any employer can sack you for to much time off sick

elsien

Bradden said:

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. 

That is a good point. I did sometimes have staff wanting me to tell them to go home, (not for anything obviously infectious, just when they were drooping around the place) and I used to say it was their decision whether to stay or go but if they stayed they needed to stop drooping and start working. Or words to that effect. 

EnPointe

stu12345_2 said:

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.

you appear to misunderstanding  fairly common  attendance management and capability policies 

Savvy_Sue

elsien said:

Bradden said:

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. 

That is a good point. I did sometimes have staff wanting me to tell them to go home, (not for anything obviously infectious, just when they were drooping around the place) and I used to say it was their decision whether to stay or go but if they stayed they needed to stop drooping and start working. Or words to that effect. 

Fair point, but OP says son was "not allowed" to leave.

Although on the rare occasions I threw up at work, or could not stand without holding on to walls, no-one could have kept me there longer than it took DH to come for me ... (It was labyrinthitis, I'd feel OK first thing, not so much later.)

stu12345_2

my work mate is 67 and has so many ailments.he was off work for 3 months with pneumonia. then doesn't come in when the pavement is icy incase he falls. he has been there for 10 years. I complained to boss I was fed up covering for him by having to do his job and mines. the answer I got was he is old and not very well . he has COPD and 3 years ago. he had a heart attack at work and kept on working. during shift. he did not know it was a heart attack he had had. just large pain in chest. unbelievable., but true.
 he works so slowly, his work standards are poor. but work refuse to get rid of him.
 he told me he rents private and his OAP pension won't cover it, so he works part time at work. 

I said to my boss, in the job application it states do you have any ailments and if he was applying today he wouldn't even get an interview.
but bosses don't care what ailments you get once you've been in a long time, if your face fits, I guess

elsien

stu12345_2 said:

my work mate is 67 and has so many ailments.he was off work for 3 months with pneumonia. then doesn't come in when the pavement is icy incase he falls. he has been there for 10 years. I complained to boss I was fed up covering for him by having to do his job and mines. the answer I got was he is old and not very well . he has COPD and 3 years ago. he had a heart attack at work and kept on working. during shift. he did not know it was a heart attack he had had. just large pain in chest. unbelievable., but true.
 he works so slowly, his work standards are poor. but work refuse to get rid of him.
 he told me he rents private and his OAP pension won't cover it, so he works part time at work. 

I said to my boss, in the job application it states do you have any ailments and if he was applying today he wouldn't even get an interview.
but bosses don't care what ailments you get once you've been in a long time, if your face fits, I guess

Wrong again. Any health disclosures come at the end of the application/recruitment process not at the start. 

Under the Equality Act It is unlawful to ask about health/disability before a job has been offered aside from some prescribed very specific circumstances- for example someone might need a reasonable adjustments to take part in the interview.

NCC1701-A

stu12345_2 said:

my work mate is 67 and has so many ailments.he was off work for 3 months with pneumonia. then doesn't come in when the pavement is icy incase he falls. he has been there for 10 years. I complained to boss I was fed up covering for him by having to do his job and mines. the answer I got was he is old and not very well . he has COPD and 3 years ago. he had a heart attack at work and kept on working. during shift. he did not know it was a heart attack he had had. just large pain in chest. unbelievable., but true.
 he works so slowly, his work standards are poor. but work refuse to get rid of him.
 he told me he rents private and his OAP pension won't cover it, so he works part time at work. 

I said to my boss, in the job application it states do you have any ailments and if he was applying today he wouldn't even get an interview.
but bosses don't care what ailments you get once you've been in a long time, if your face fits, I guess

How many firms have you owned or run? 

stu12345_2

basically the bosses know he rents private and will always struggle for money . so they let the amount of times he has been off sick as a  second thought .my point about not getting an interview was a general comment, as  in the job description it states must  you must be physically fit to cope with the demands of the job. and if he was applying today, he doesn't meet the standards of being able to  the job, due to his ailments