Sickness from work

1 Sep 2011

I haven't been feeling too well of late and phoned into work this morning saying i wouldn't be in (have attended the drs n got medication for a kidney infection) it is my third time off in 12 months and i know its a "trigger" and I will get a meeting with my manager. It is crap I don't throw sickies as per say but know what's on the cards. How does your employer deal with things

1 Sep 2011

As a regular 'duvet day' user and puller of sickies .... you have my sympathy .... bloody employers fuck 'em

1 Sep 2011

OOOPs didn't answer the question .... As I'm not paid for being off sick ... I either lose the money or put the time down as holiday ... either way it's never been a problem, and if it was... see my above post

1 Sep 2011

We run a system called "Bradford Score", occasion x occasion x days off = your score, and 3 occasions or 125 points gets you a "counselling" session plus a level one on your record for 6 months, if you have time off in said 6 months you get a level 2 for 12 months, if you have time off in said 12 months you get a level 3, any more time off then its bye-bye you.
Harsh I know but the view is you have to tar everyone with the same brush, its stops most of the lead-swinging but also impacts people like yourself and me who don`t have time off unless its absolutely necessary.

1 Sep 2011

Quote by I_am_joy
I haven't been feeling too well of late and phoned into work this morning saying i wouldn't be in (have attended the drs n got medication for a kidney infection) it is my third time off in 12 months and i know its a "trigger" and I will get a meeting with my manager. It is crap I don't throw sickies as per say but know what's on the cards. How does your employer deal with things

I ask them how they are in a follow-up phone call, a visit to their house or hospital to check on their welfare - perhaps some flowers, grapes or equally predictable present, ensure that I have done as much as I could be expected to do, and ask them if there is anything that they would like me to do... and wish them a speedy recovery.
If they are genuinely ill - then support from work goes a long way.
Using such a strategy it is very easy to make a distinction between those that are ill and those that want you to believe they are ill.
I have only had one occassion where the person did not want me to call around (and that is absolutely fine - it is afterall their house and I have no rights over them when they are in it)... they were subsequently bullied by the other employees as the "ill" one always seemed to be ill enough for work, but not ill enough for shopping, golf, walking their dog or laying their patio.
The "bullying" wasn't brought to my attention until after the employee had left... naturally I was horrified.

1 Sep 2011

Sack the greedy money grabbing lead swinging bastards. :twisted:
They not only put on their work colleagues but cause untold extra work for employers who can ill afford the time and money spent on molly-codling shirkers.
There are plenty of unemployed people who are far more deserving of having work.

1 Sep 2011

Quote by GnV
Sack the greedy money grabbing lead swinging bastards. :twisted:
Money grabbing ?? that'll be the management types who get sick pay then, I suppose ... us poor shop floor workers don't get any of them perks.. see I've been trying to tell you about the evil middle classes but you just wont listen :twisted: :twisted:
They not only put on their work colleagues but cause untold extra work for employers who can ill afford the time and money spent on molly-codling shirkers.
Molly coddled ??? I wish ... no duck boards ,few guards ,little lifting equipment .... you want to try working in a small factory for a while G ,,,you don't know you're born mate
There are plenty of unemployed people who are far more deserving of having work.
But unfortunately due to the lack of training or lack of knowledge of how to do anything other than press a button on a c.n.c. few are able to do it :twisted:

1 Sep 2011

OOOO I love it when you get angry Stags and type in red...
So masculine :thrilled:

1 Sep 2011

Quote by GnV
OOOO I love it when you get angry Stags and type in red...
So masculine :thrilled:

G surely you realise I save the red for when I'm being Bolshy lol

1 Sep 2011

Quote by HimandHer
I ask them how they are in a follow-up phone call, a visit to their house or hospital to check on their welfare - perhaps some flowers, grapes or equally predictable present, ensure that I have done as much as I could be expected to do, and ask them if there is anything that they would like me to do... and wish them a speedy recovery.

I can see by your post you see this as being a concerned employer but be careful, it isn't actually allowed for you to contact an employee who is off sick. It can be classed as harassment.
*Her*

1 Sep 2011

Quote by couplefunuk

I ask them how they are in a follow-up phone call, a visit to their house or hospital to check on their welfare - perhaps some flowers, grapes or equally predictable present, ensure that I have done as much as I could be expected to do, and ask them if there is anything that they would like me to do... and wish them a speedy recovery.

I can see by your post you see this as being a concerned employer but be careful, it isn't actually allowed for you to contact an employee who is off sick. It can be classed as harassment.
*Her*
I beleive you are wrong there. I', sure it is perfectly acceptable and allowed to contact a sick person, and to visit them if they are agreeable to it. Our manager does it - particularly if the person is off long-term. Not to check up on lead-swingers as such, but mostly to ensure they have all the support they need such as counselling, have what they need from the company medical organisation, are happy with the sick-pay situation, arranging for part-time period or any different facilities they may need when they come back. And to show a friendly face too. These things are done far more effectively face to face than over the phone.
Of course harassing someone isn't allowed. But communicating with them about how they are and their plan/arrangements for returning to work cannot be described as harrassment.
The company I work for is large in the UK, global and VERY VERY careful about not getting themselves into trouble with the employment legislation. If you can lay your hands on any validated documentation that says managers are not allowed to visit sick staff at home I'd be very interested to see it.
That said - either way, I would rather my manager visited me, saw my inability to work and wrote their report than didn't visit and had to make a judgement on what I say over the phone and what my doctor scrawls on his report.

1 Sep 2011

The Bradford scale-y thingimibob is fairly standard, certainly in a lot of public sector places... from memory.
Been a long while since I've done the whole absence management stuff though.

1 Sep 2011

If you need a "system" for absence management then frankly your managers aint worth their salt.
What you get depends on yer employer but frankly if they dont treat you with the respect you deserve I would suggest you take this as a heads up and find a better employer. Good luck with it all and I hope it turns out to your advantage.

1 Sep 2011

My company wouldn't contact you that day if you have phoned in sick. even if they needed some files big time. as it is apart of our "handbooks rules".
But you must call up in the first hour of opening hours each day.
If you was off work for stress from work and they came to your house. they would be rather stupid. as then you would have a case for harassment.
The ones who are sick all the time. they have to see the Gp the company has on their books.
and fill out all these forms. and if to much then they lose their bonuses..

2 Sep 2011

I work for a very small company with around 6 and a half staff and we don't have anything like Bradford Scales, or counselling. What we do have is enormous pressure from the M.D. to go in when sick, because we don't have enough staff to cover absence ((( Or so the claim goes, though oddly we always have enough staff to cover the M.D.s can't be arsed days and staff holidays, even when holidays clash and we have a couple of people off at the same time? ))) particularly for me because my role is technical, and frankly noone else in the company can do my job. So, I'll get phone calls asking 'how do you do this' and 'I can't find that' and 'can you not just come in for an afternoon / work from home'. No, I'm sick . . . if I was well enough to come in for an afternoon, I wouldn't have rung in sick in the first place.
Pay wise we do get paid full pay for absence, so long as it's not more than a few days or so, so long as we have a sick note ((( even when one isn't strictly required during the period that should ordinarily be self-cert. ))) and so long as we don't have more than one sick period every three months. That's negated though by the loss of performance related pay amounting to £1250 per quarter which is immediately lost the minute I ring in sick. Very expensive having a dose of flu, so it is.
N x x x ;)

2 Sep 2011

I teach adults at work. Being trapped in a room with rubbish aircon and a bloke hacking his lungs up every five minutes is not only deeply unpleasant, but can pretty well guarantee I am ill with the same thing in a few days.
In schools if you puke you have to stay off (I think) 48 hours after the last puke. That helps to prevent the spread of Winter Vomitting Virus - I wish there was something simliar for 'graveyard cough'. I really don't need their illness, especially as the 'few days' generally takes it into my precious weekend.
If I have a cold I go in, if I am coughing my guts up or a total snot-monster I stay off - not because I necessarilly feel worse, but to avoid infecting my colleagues, and possibly 8 other departments in one virus-loaded cough.

2 Sep 2011

In schools if you puke you have to stay off (I think) 48 hours after the last puke. That helps to prevent the spread of Winter Vomitting Virus - I wish there was something simliar for 'graveyard cough'. I really don't need their illness, especially as the 'few days' generally takes it into my precious weekend.
If I have a cold I go in, if I am coughing my guts up or a total snot-monster I stay off - not because I necessarilly feel worse, but to avoid infecting my colleagues, and possibly 8 other departments in one virus-loaded cough.

^This^. There's always one person though who'll insist on playing the bloody martyr isn't there, who'll drag themselves in no matter what, and then pointedly cough and splutter every few minutes all bloody day. There's one in our place who's not yet managed to work out that while we could cover for one person no problem, and noone would think any the less of them, if they manage to infect two people who are subsequently genuinely sick, it really does leave everyone else knee deep in the proverbial trying to cover, at which point their name is mud. It's a simple equation really, and speaks volumes about their insecure need for recognition from the boss.
N x x x ;)

2 Sep 2011

Quote by neilinleeds
In schools if you puke you have to stay off (I think) 48 hours after the last puke. That helps to prevent the spread of Winter Vomitting Virus - I wish there was something simliar for 'graveyard cough'. I really don't need their illness, especially as the 'few days' generally takes it into my precious weekend.
If I have a cold I go in, if I am coughing my guts up or a total snot-monster I stay off - not because I necessarilly feel worse, but to avoid infecting my colleagues, and possibly 8 other departments in one virus-loaded cough.

^This^. There's always one person though who'll insist on playing the bloody martyr isn't there, who'll drag themselves in no matter what, and then pointedly cough and splutter every few minutes all bloody day. There's one in our place who's not yet managed to work out that while we could cover for one person no problem, and noone would think any the less of them, if they manage to infect two people who are subsequently genuinely sick, it really does leave everyone else knee deep in the proverbial trying to cover, at which point their name is mud. It's a simple equation really, and speaks volumes about their insecure need for recognition from the boss.
N x x x ;)
What about those who are self-employed and work outside in all weathers?

2 Sep 2011

Ah, well . . . they're probably knee deep in the proverbial as a matter of course, regardless of their colleagues infectiousness, ain't they? That's why they wear rigger boots and Dickies with hundreds of pockets and sewn-in knee pads and other sundry items of protective clothing? People often think it's the outdoor life what toughens up the immune system, but really it's mostly down to the hazard wear. ;)
N x x x ;)

2 Sep 2011

Quote by essex34m
In schools if you puke you have to stay off (I think) 48 hours after the last puke. That helps to prevent the spread of Winter Vomitting Virus - I wish there was something simliar for 'graveyard cough'. I really don't need their illness, especially as the 'few days' generally takes it into my precious weekend.
If I have a cold I go in, if I am coughing my guts up or a total snot-monster I stay off - not because I necessarilly feel worse, but to avoid infecting my colleagues, and possibly 8 other departments in one virus-loaded cough.

^This^. There's always one person though who'll insist on playing the bloody martyr isn't there, who'll drag themselves in no matter what, and then pointedly cough and splutter every few minutes all bloody day. There's one in our place who's not yet managed to work out that while we could cover for one person no problem, and noone would think any the less of them, if they manage to infect two people who are subsequently genuinely sick, it really does leave everyone else knee deep in the proverbial trying to cover, at which point their name is mud. It's a simple equation really, and speaks volumes about their insecure need for recognition from the boss.
N x x x ;)
What about those who are self-employed and work outside in all weathers?
What about them?
People who work outside are less likely to pass on or catch much as they are in the fresh air. Being out in 'weather' doesn't make you ill if you have warm clothes and food - they worked that out about a hundred years ago. Warm clothing and waterproofs prevent getting too cold/wet (not that either of them will ever give you a cold but they are unpleasant and theoretically could lead to hyperthermia) and otherwise being outside is much much healthier than being inside.
The self-employed are in a different situation - no sick pay. But that is exactly the same whether they work indoors or outside.
dunno

2 Sep 2011

Quote by foxylady2209
What about them?
People who work outside are less likely to pass on or catch much as they are in the fresh air. Being out in 'weather' doesn't make you ill if you have warm clothes and food - they worked that out about a hundred years ago. Warm clothing and waterproofs prevent getting too cold/wet (not that either of them will ever give you a cold but they are unpleasant and theoretically could lead to hyperthermia) and otherwise being outside is much much healthier than being inside.
The self-employed are in a different situation - no sick pay. But that is exactly the same whether they work indoors or outside.

My question was more in response to:

Quote by neilinleeds
There's always one person though who'll insist on playing the bloody martyr isn't there, who'll drag themselves in no matter what, and then pointedly cough and splutter every few minutes all bloody day.

Sometimes being a 'bloody martyr' is not about getting brownie points from the boss, but it is a necessity.

2 Sep 2011

My question was more in response to:
There's always one person though who'll insist on playing the bloody martyr isn't there, who'll drag themselves in no matter what, and then pointedly cough and splutter every few minutes all bloody day.

Sometimes being a 'bloody martyr' is not about getting brownie points from the boss, but it is a necessity.
Course it is Essex. In some places of work a colleague throwing a sicky could be proper life or death, I know. In some places of work you couldn't afford to take a day off cos there's any number of equally well qualified people queueing up for the job. In some places of work yer cards marked before you even clock it in cos of yer contractual obligations.
I wasn't in any way being disparaging, and I wasn't in any way suggesting that *everyone* who insists on turning in has a sad and needy martyr-like ulterior motive. I was simply saying that in my place of work we have to deal with the consequences occasionally of the sad and needy martyrs ((( Martyr actually, more precisely. ))) who think the world will stop turning if they don't get out of bed because they're somehow indispensable? If they were that bloody necessary to the world economy they wouldn't be working for us for a start, but truth of the matter is they're a lot more dispensable than the other staff they quite often take down with their illness who do the proper donkey work, including those who can cover their so-called, self-declared 'managerial' role, and still do their own chuffin' job along side. rolleyes

N x x x ;)

2 Sep 2011

Quote by mrs-bmw
We run a system called "Bradford Score", occasion x occasion x days off = your score, and 3 occasions or 125 points gets you a "counselling" session plus a level one on your record for 6 months, if you have time off in said 6 months you get a level 2 for 12 months, if you have time off in said 12 months you get a level 3, any more time off then its bye-bye you.
Harsh I know but the view is you have to tar everyone with the same brush, its stops most of the lead-swinging but also impacts people like yourself and me who don`t have time off unless its absolutely necessary.

This, where I work, although I haven't heard it called "Bradford score".