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Sick days at work

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Sprogladite

Sprogladite

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I found out on Friday last week that one of my colleagues has been monitoring my sick days. Normally not a problem, except I'm the only person being monitored! Not only this, but medical appointments (eg my last eye screening) are being put down as sick days, even on days where I've taken holiday to go to them! So they're going down as both a sick day and a holiday day!

Really feels like a targeted thing. Any advice?
 
It doesn’t matter about the monitoring if management have approved your absences as a consequence of your disability. In fact, you shouldn’t need to use holiday days to go to necessary appointments.

Most companies allow fag breaks, so if you add up the time people sneak off for a smoke, that is probably more time than you’ve been taking off.
 
Sprogladite said:
I found out on Friday last week that one of my colleagues has been monitoring my sick days. Normally not a problem, except I'm the only person being monitored! Not only this, but medical appointments (eg my last eye screening) are being put down as sick days, even on days where I've taken holiday to go to them! So they're going down as both a sick day and a holiday day!

Really feels like a targeted thing. Any advice?
Click to expand...
This smacks of discrimination to me :( I would call the DUK Helpline to see what they advise - it shouldn't be happening :( Even if you don't do anything, it's worth knowing where you stand 🙂
 
Speak to your manager about the monitoring and ask what the reason for monitoring is......it sounds like you are being 100% transparent about when you go for these appointments...

You shouldn't need to take a holiday for medical appointments, but of course, every employer is different......

sick days being monitored doesn't sound out of place but isn't right its just you.......but I would expect any employees sickness absence would be noted down on their record...
 
Sprogladite said:
I found out on Friday last week that one of my colleagues has been monitoring my sick days. Normally not a problem, except I'm the only person being monitored! Not only this, but medical appointments (eg my last eye screening) are being put down as sick days, even on days where I've taken holiday to go to them! So they're going down as both a sick day and a holiday day!

Really feels like a targeted thing. Any advice?
Click to expand...
Sounds to me as discrimination nothing less.
What is more disturbing you are beiing monitored by one of your colleaques.
Is this colleaque doing this at the behest of the HR or of their own volition?
Have you spoken to your HR?
Have thay spoken to you?
Have you had any formal warning or complaints about your time off?
Have they a set of formal procedures in their handbook?
Companies can make you take holidays off for hospital, dental appointments etc. but that has to be in their company policy and handbook.
Very few companies actually would do that.
I assume you have permission to take this time off.
Simply they cannot do this without your pre-knowledge.
They would get kicked out of court at an industrial tribunal.
1st Talk to the DUK Helpline as Northerner has suggested.
If still unhappy then I would suggest
2nd Call an industiral lawyer and advise him/her of what is happening.
Do this anyway for your own record.
3rd Record in writing, make a note-time-dates-who-what, and keep.
Let us know how you get on.
 
Vince_UK said:
Sounds to me as discrimination nothing less.
What is more disturbing you are beiing monitored by one of your colleaques.
Is this colleaque doing this at the behest of the HR or of their own volition?
Have you spoken to your HR?
Have thay spoken to you?
Have you had any formal warning or complaints about your time off?
Have they a set of formal procedures in their handbook?
Companies can make you take holidays off for hospital, dental appointments etc. but that has to be in their company policy and handbook.
Very few companies actually would do that.
I assume you have permission to take this time off.
Simply they cannot do this without your pre-knowledge.
They would get kicked out of court at an industrial tribunal.
1st Talk to the DUK Helpline as Northerner has suggested.
If still unhappy then I would suggest
2nd Call an industiral lawyer and advise him/her of what is happening.
Do this anyway for your own record.
3rd Record in writing, make a note-time-dates-who-what, and keep.
Let us know how you get on.
Click to expand...

This isn’t being done at the request of hr or the senior managers. I work directly for the managing director and finance director and they have both assured me this is not something they’ve asked her to do. Nobody has spoken to me about me taking time off, nor have there been warnings or complaints. There is no formal policy in place for taking time for medical appointments, but I know that nobody else in the company uses holiday for their medical appointments eg dentist. I have only been asked to use holiday once, when it was an extended thing (DAFNE course) and I was fine with that. All other holiday use has been voluntary as I didn’t want to put undue pressure on the team by being off too much!
I have always had permission from my bosses to have the time off for the appointments.
Just makes me so angry, I warned the finance director yesterday that I was extremely unhappy about this and that I felt targeted for having a disability and he has said he’s going to make enquiries about why my colleague is doing this. I am 100% supported by my bosses which is great, but at the same time this absolutely is not on and I’m not going to have this going on behind my back. If they were worried about my time off I would have been 100% happy to track sickness for both myself and other people (which I’m in a better position to do anyway - as I have a legal background and work closely with hr!!)
I have warned them that if they continue this I won’t have any problems with using the disability discrimination act to get this addressed.
 
It sounds like your colleague may be grinding a few axes. In which case, management need to stamp on it.
 
You sound like you have it WELL in hand! - but keep a note of who said what to whom and when where what time they said it and any witnesses. I am assuming here that you told the FD in his capacity as YOUR manager? If not, YOUR manager is the person to complain to, to start the ball rolling 'properly'. I wholeheartedly agree - with my old Staff Association hat on LOL - this needs to be more formal than 'a word in someone's ear'.

It not only needs to be nipped in the bud - which hopefully your 'informal' complaint will do - but the Company's formal position on the subject of discrimination needs to be re-iterated by management as a whole, across the board to ALL employees, including the consequence of anyone found breaking the rule - ie disciplinary action against them.
 
@Sprogladite
You have done exactly the correct thing. Ths colleaques needs putting back in their box quickly and firmly.
I would suggest that any complaints you have made to Senior Management confirm it by email then the paper trail is in place.
Some people can be small minded and petty beyond belief but this needs nipping in the bud immediately.
 
Sprogladite said:
I found out on Friday last week that one of my colleagues has been monitoring my sick days. Normally not a problem, except I'm the only person being monitored! Not only this, but medical appointments (eg my last eye screening) are being put down as sick days, even on days where I've taken holiday to go to them! So they're going down as both a sick day and a holiday day!

Really feels like a targeted thing. Any advice?
Click to expand...

It is a targeted thing. Advise the offending colleague that you will make a harrasssment claim against them if they don’t mind their own business!
 
trophywench said:
@Sprogladite - it's been nearly a week - had any feedback yet?
Click to expand...

Yes, literally about 10 minutes ago lol.
My finance director has told me they are going to be bringing in a more formal sickness tracking system which everyone in the company is going to have to comply with. It will likely be down to me to make sure people are self certifying (as other colleague has already shown she’s incapable of doing it accurately). I was told that my honesty in terms of what my appointments are for is appreciated and that the company has absolutely no issues with the days I take. The offending colleague is also going to be spoken to by the ceo (her boss) during her annual review (our reviews are on the 11th). She’s going to be basically told she can’t take it upon herself to do things like this and educated about the disability discrimination act. So all in all I think I’m happy with that. I am interested to see how she is going to react when the task of sickness tracking is taken off her as I do wonder if she feels threatened (we do similar jobs) and this is a result of that. We shall see!
 
Sprogladite said:
Yes, literally about 10 minutes ago lol.
My finance director has told me they are going to be bringing in a more formal sickness tracking system which everyone in the company is going to have to comply with. It will likely be down to me to make sure people are self certifying (as other colleague has already shown she’s incapable of doing it accurately). I was told that my honesty in terms of what my appointments are for is appreciated and that the company has absolutely no issues with the days I take. The offending colleague is also going to be spoken to by the ceo (her boss) during her annual review (our reviews are on the 11th). She’s going to be basically told she can’t take it upon herself to do things like this and educated about the disability discrimination act. So all in all I think I’m happy with that. I am interested to see how she is going to react when the task of sickness tracking is taken off her as I do wonder if she feels threatened (we do similar jobs) and this is a result of that. We shall see!
Click to expand...

Good result Sprogladite! 🙂
 
Good!

Well - if she hasn't got to wherever she's got to by KNOWing before she started that wasn't going to be acceptable/tolerated - anywhere! - she must be thicker than concrete. Begs the Q what the hell else doesn't she do right?

LOL
 
Sprogladite said:
Yes, literally about 10 minutes ago lol.
My finance director has told me they are going to be bringing in a more formal sickness tracking system which everyone in the company is going to have to comply with. It will likely be down to me to make sure people are self certifying (as other colleague has already shown she’s incapable of doing it accurately). I was told that my honesty in terms of what my appointments are for is appreciated and that the company has absolutely no issues with the days I take. The offending colleague is also going to be spoken to by the ceo (her boss) during her annual review (our reviews are on the 11th). She’s going to be basically told she can’t take it upon herself to do things like this and educated about the disability discrimination act. So all in all I think I’m happy with that. I am interested to see how she is going to react when the task of sickness tracking is taken off her as I do wonder if she feels threatened (we do similar jobs) and this is a result of that. We shall see!
Click to expand...
@Sprogladite
Good result
Don't worry to much about her reaction, she basically brought this upon herself.
 
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