work, sickness, awkward bosses, what next?!

[shazzles]

Hi all. I need lots of support here. DUring my duration at work i have had masses of time off due to genuine illness with one thing and another. Most of the time off sick has been supported with doctors notes. I am now going into my 4th week off work with sciatica, the pain is cronic and i find it hard to walk around. I have had the last 3 weeks off work with doctors notes and today, as advised from my doctor if i still had problems i am to go back to her and she will sign me off for the rest of this week too. I am awaiting pysiotherapy from the hospital which i am going to try and tell the doctors to hurry things along a bit today.
I called my work to let the boss know that i would not be back as yet because of pain etc and that i am going back to doctors and he said this " well i have been in touch with head office and when you do finally come back we need to have a good sit down and discuss where we go from here.."
What does he mean by this?!??! I have all my absence supported from the doctor!! I am now in panic mood in case i lose my job. Can anybody advise me on this and what the best route to take is if i am going to lose my job and what to do for money as i would probably get preety lousy refs from my work that i am at now... PLEASE HELP! [:(]

[emma_t]

Oh shazzles you poor thing

Some people are just really un sympathetic, if you are really worried call in to the person you directly report to at work or the HR department and speak with them about it, otherwise you will be worried all week.
I know someone who gets sciatica and it sounds so painful and they cannot move when they have it either, would a bit of physio help?

Love and best wishes to you and big hugs[:)]
Emma xx

[worryhead]

Hi Shazzles, this is awful and i totally understand where you are coming from, i too had a lot of time off work due to serious illness and took 3 months off, i returned to work but then started to feel ill again and was off for 4 months with depression and stress and did not even get out of bed most days. All this was covered by sick notes. When i spoke to my boss on the phone to give her an update they said the same to me, they also made me sign a form so they could write to my doctor to see if i was fit enough to carry on with my job, luckily the doctor said that i am fine to stay in my job so they have kept me on. but in some companies they can say you are not fit to be in your post on a regular basis and they can legally dismiss you if they have no alternative employment you can do
I think this is awful they way we can be treat for genuine illnesess that are beyond our control, i am now monitored like a hawk. Fingers crossed this wil be the same for you and they will just give you the warnings of continued absences. They can not dismiss you without consulting your doctor and getting the facts or offering you alternative employment, please dont worry too much as this is just what happened to me and not all companies are the same, but they can not dismiss you without consulting everyone first...hope this helps a little

[lily]

Cant really add to what the others have said except that I found myself off sick with worry and stress as soon as my debt problems started. I was referred to HR and they were brilliant. My illness was diagnosed as stress until they did a blood test and found it to be quite serious. I am off work now as I am not fit to be in my job. I didnt cope well at first but at the end of the day you have to think of your own health, it must come first.

I just hope you will feel better soon, I also know as I worked closely with the physios at work that they are snowed under and its just a matter of waiting.

[Moneystinks]

Hi Shazzles

At my company if we are off for more than 28 days we get referred to ocupational health and we also have an 'attendence support meeting'. For this we receive a very badly worded letter stating that we are welcome to have a member of the union, a friend, somebody from equal ops or somebody that is not a direct line manager accompany us in the meeting - sounds like discipline to me but hey. Then in the meeting one of the last points they raise states they are obliged to tell us that if we have further time of in the next 6 months then they would look at capability. I know all this as I have had one such meeting. I told them I couldn't say whether I would be off or not in the next 6 mths as I cannot predict when I am going to be ill! Not a nice situation.
The point to the long post is Iknow how you feel. I agree with everyone else ring your boss or go over their head and explain that you are worried and it making you more ill.
There is somebody that posts on here who works in HR and is really good I think it is SMR.
I hope everything works out for you. Big hugs coming your way and try to remember that your health is more important and you can do no more until you are better. xx

[shazzles]

I want to say thankyou so much for all your kind words. An update, doctor has signed me off for this week and on the sick note he wrote should only do light duties when returning to work for a few weeks. Phsiotherapy should come through in acouple of weeks according to doctor. Mum took my sick note into work for me and was horrified at the reaction she got from my manager, mum said that when boss read the comment about light duties he said "well what does that mean exactly, even other duties will require her to lift..." and when mum said to him that i will be back on mondya he said "how can she when she is in pain..." Overall mum was not too impressed by his "work oriented replys and with no sympathy of any description...
He then said that he will be completing a risk assesment as required by HO.

In answer to some of your replies i have already had bupa approach my doctors as required by my work for a so called doctors report, contents of which im not sure what she wrote..

I can ony hope that i get a disiplinary (shouldnt get one really anyhow) and hope that i dont lose my job over this.. I would leave work if only i could work out a way round the cash flow situ, and then just be at home with my 2 year old till later on then get another job...sorry to babel on..[:(]

[Viki.W]

Hey Shazzles, how rude! to speak to your Mum like that. I can't help with your problem but just wanted to say I'm thinking of you and keep us all informed. Hope you start to mend soon! This must be horrible for you, hang in there. Viki X

[Moneystinks]

I'm sure he shouldn't have assed any comment to anyone not even your mum. I hope he gets a huge boil on his nose - Sorry admin for being mean but sounds like he deserves it!

[lily]

[:D][:D][:D] Money stinks!!!!!

They have no right to discuss your case with anyone except you. If any doctor writes anything about you, you have a right to a copy.

I hope youre feeling better soon.

[MelanieGiles]

Make sure that you keep all of these comments documented - you may need to rely upon them at some stage (but I hope not!)

[facingittogether]

shazzles - i think you are being treated terribly, like melanie says keep it all documented in case you need to use it later!

you really dont need this, i hope you are feeling better soon, thinking of you

barb x

[Skippy]

Sorry to hear that you're having such a bad time Shazzles. I'm lucky that I work for a sympathetic company, but I haven't in the past and I can understand what you are going through.

I hope you're feeling better soon x

[fedup and broke]

Hi Shazzles, I have only just read this. I cannot believe you are being treated this way. Please take this advise and use it, you should contct HR and request what the written procedure is on how management should treat people who are off on long term sick. At not point are "management" allowed to harrass you or cause you any further distress. HR procedures "should" be that they keep in constant contact with you but no hassle you. Management are meant to be supportive and work with you to return to work. You can be invited in for a meeting during sickness but this should be just to discuss you getting back to work. What normal happens with the "bupa" referals, are you are sent to a Bupa doctor and they assess you on whether you should be off sick or not. Most of the time bupa will advise the company that the sickness is justified and they then get off your case. They also advise them when you can return to work etc. This is used to "scare" repeat offenders of people who pull sickness regular who are not actual sick. In your case the sicknes is completely justified. Also when your boss "bullies" you next time on the phone request that they put it in writing to you also. This normal shuts them up! You should put in writing to HR a complaint about how your boss is treating you whilst of sick. Play their game, explain that you are trying your best to return to work and understand company procedures blah blah blah, however you feel that your boss is harrassing you to return to work early and also discussing your absence with other people, which you believe is surely against company policy. Sorry to go on, I was a Manager for a large company and can see this from both sides. Companies have to follow procedure blah but at no time should an employee be made to feel they way you do when you are off sick. You need to stand your ground and be firm, with any luck your boss with get their butts kicked and will leave you alone xxx