General Chat

Interesting. ACAS stated to me very recently (April this year) when I undertook some preliminary research recently that it was a potential tribunal case to contact someone certified sick. The only department that is entitled to do this would be the Occupational Health or the company doctor. I fully understand the financial implications having been there because of a medical condition I have. I have also witnessed employers 'finding' reasons to dismiss employees who were 'underperforming'....or in many cases simply not liked by the management.

Its interesting how different things are over here. I have just seen a case go to court where a manual handling trainer, whilst conducting a course in how to lift properly, lifted incorrectly and hurt his back. He sued the employer and won a huge sum. This person was fully trained as a trainer for other people. What happened to taking responsibility for self.......anyway I digress!!

love Theresa

Theresa, If only it was.

It is not illegal to contact someone who is off sick, nor is it illegal to start proceedings which result in the person off sick loosing their job.

First of all if you are signed off sick, then it is unwise to return to work, in case something happens to you. Neither can employers force you back, but if it is a case of loosing money, you are between the proverbial rock and hard place, as Mc Ann has found.

Whether you get sick pay or not is part of your contract of employment. Employers who do pay are likely to want to ask for a sick note after 7 days, and sometimes reserve the right to stop paying if you fail to produce one.

Sadly, even if you satisfy all of these requirements, you can still find yourself in the position where you are forced out of your job. This is because employers are perfectly within their rights to fail your performance contract, on the basis that you have not done any work, and have failed all your targets etc. This then triggers a disciplinary, which can lead to dismissal. All perfectly legal

It sounds bizarre, I know, but it happens all the time and many well known companies and banks have it down to a fine art.

Unfortunately, much of the employment legislation introduced by this government ultimately proves far less effective than envisaged, as employers simply find ways to work around it. The age discrimination law is a good example, where those over 50 are now more likely to be forced to resign early, or accept salary reductions than ever before.

I would check this through with ACAS.

It is illegal to contact someone who is off work sick whilst they are signed out. its seen in the tribunals as harrassment. I'd say you have a case God forbid if they do make you redundant.

I do get what you mean about SSP, some companies switch immediately to SSP when you go out sick. A few years ago when I went out for a prolonged period I had SSP from the 4th day until the day I went back, It was hard work for 13 weeks thankfully I didnt have a mortgage at that time and the rent allowance went up whilst I was ill so we were saved so to speak.

Hope things are improving now!

love Theresa

Hi Anita, hope the scan shows all is well and you can get the cast off, but don't go mad at work straight away as you will need to take things slowly to get your arm back in use without support.
Glad your immediate boss is being good to you and hope life is soon back to normal again, whatever normal is lol
Lizxx

Good luck Anita, some bosses are good , some not, I know,


Caz xxxx

Good luck Anita. I know the situation isn't ideal, but hope that you cope ok.
I'm in the same position as you. My immediate management are ok, but the ones above are rubbish!! (can anyone remember me fighting for my 2 days unpaid leave when my dad died?)

Just seen this.
I am glad that your immediate boss seems okay, and hope that you will have the scan result soon.

It's just as well you are back then................the building trade is always the first to suffer in times of recession and you can't risk losing your home.

Good luck with the bonescan next week.

Well - I am back at work lol

My boss was okay - we had a good talk and agreed for me to do reduced hours - a) to help financially with off-peak travel and b) because i can't work for too long without resting my arm

As I have stated before - he wasn't making me return - he simply informed me that he had been instructed to stop paying me

Returning to work was my decision as there was no other option - i can't afford to only be getting SSP - i'm not prepared to risk losing my house cos i can't pay the bills, when i CAN go to work ............

And as the boss said - things are not good economically at work just now (building trade) he's already had to make a couple of redundancies and he said to me 'I don't want to lose you so we need to eliminate any reason for them to consider you as a potential redundancy and that could happen if you stay off longer and we continue to cover your work - they'll just see us managing without you' ....

So there you have it - no contest - i don't want to lose my job or my home so the compromise was drawn up :O)

Anyway I am off tomorrow (booked in May) and I have my bone scan next Tues and hopefully the result won't be too long after xx

Strangely, I joined last month as I have had enough of my line manager and her snidy remarks during our one to ones, and her blaming me for everyone elses mistakes (I'm the only admin with 8 'bosses' - actually since last month it's now 12!!) - another good reason for joining the union!!
Never have claimed to be psychic, so how do I know so and so wants something done when she thought it was a good idea but never asked me to do it!!!
But of course, I should have known!!!!

Oooh - do what Penny suggests LOL

May I have a moan on this thread about uncaring management?
I had a stomach virus attack me last Thursday evening, Stopped being sick on the Saturday, but the other end was working overtime until (touch wood) yesterday. I went to the doc on Monday, as although I knew it was probably a virus and nothing could be done about it, I was worried about my kidney - it hurt!!
Basically, I was suffering from dehydration - but no imodium or rehydration salts allowed.
Well, I have spent a lot of time sleeping, in between chain drinking tea (water not recommended either!!)
Daughter has kept work up to date. Have to see doc tomorrow for sick note and final check up.
My line manager phoned this morning. I told her what was wrong (even though daughter had told her) - and judging from the tone in her voice - she didn't believe me!! However I said I would probably be back Monday, as pain in kidney was slowly subsiding.
She said if i wasn't back by Monday, 'other arrangements' would have to be made.
Last time this happened (when I had a knee op) the temp stayed 1 day in he lovely presence and never returned!!
She also wanted a run down on just exactly WHY I couldn't take imodium or rehydration salts. Told her the doc said no, and she went 'humph'!!
Obviously the doc knows nothing!! LOL
Didn't tell her that I now have a sort of hangover headache - she'd presume I'd been boozing.
How do I explain politely that, amazingly, my health is more important than work and, since she has had a humour lobotomy, I would much rather be at home than in her 'pleasant' company!!!

Hope you are feeling a bit better about your return to work sweetie!

I think the issue maybe that they saw you coping when it first happened and therefore think you can do it again!!

(((hugs)))

Just keep your arm in a sling - so you aren't tempted to use it - and use your other arm - dead slowly !!!

let me at em you know what a pain I can be they'll soon want to keep you off.

Have you tried the benfts people is there anyway they can help you.?

d xx

Hello all

sorry been gone a couple of hours, had an appt.

Thanks for your comments ............ Yes it is my scaphoid and i know what probs can occur if it IS fractured and i don't take care :O(

And it's no to compensation - it was a freak accident whereby my trouser leg tripped me up lol

Also they are not forcing me to go back, but if i don't i will be losing money, i can barely manage on a full wage, so going onto SSP is not an option, therefore I have to go back to work.

They will argue that my financial situation is not their concern, so i am in a Catch22 situation ..............

Don't think Anita would get compensation Julie Ann, it was not the fault of anyone, nothing dangerous to fall over as I remember.

however, not sure where they stand if damage is done by forcing her back to work before time.

Ann
glos

are you going for compensation if you did it in work

Thinking of you McAnne, my son had an accident at work, he was desperate to get back , and the work said if he cot a docs cert saying he could do light duties he could go back,so he got one and went back, then his work mate went off and he had to do heavy lifting which the work was willing to let him do,2 days later he had to go home as his injury was very painful,went back to doc who signed him off.they put him on ssp right away,he is fuming sent email after email and now he has a meeting tomorrow , fingers crossed he gets it sorted out . like everyone eles he has bills to pay and has started to fall behind.I think he should have put in a claim but he wont,......., think he might if things dont go well tomorrow.

Sally Sunshine

sorry i have no words of advice but just wanted to say what a big pile of sh*t he is,

Karen x

McAnne sorry I don't know your history but I just wanted to let you know a problem my sister had.

Is it your Scaphoid that the docs are querying the fracture?

If so you need to be very carefull. My sister fractured her Scaphoid 6 or 7 years ago now. She had problems with it healing. In the end it didn't heal properly & her ligaments were damaged.

She has now had two surgeries. She has a scar running the length of her forearm. She has had bone removed from her fore arm & a metal plate fusing her wrist.

If I were you I would be speaking to the doctor about being forced back to work & also to ACAS.