I got fired today!!

Presumably when op phoned in sick she explained “My child is too ill for school today, I’ll have to stay home” and “I’ve got a vomiting bug”, etc.?
You can’t seriously be suggesting employers are obligated to investigate possible disability on the part of their employees without any indication whatsoever that this may be the case?
What “intervention” would have been appropriate in the above circumstances?
Some people really do believe in the nanny state 🙄

That’s not what she was asking though.

💯
This is how many, probably most, employers calculate sickness absence.

If your first day sick is Friday and you return the following Wednesday, that's counted as 5 days, not 3. Unless you were better on Sat/Sun then sick again on Mon/Tue it's classed as one continuous absence. If you said you were better over the weekend but ill again on Monday, it would then be classed as 3 days but 2 separate absences (and 3 separate absences in a rolling 12 months generally triggers further action such as an OT referral).

It sounds as though this is what has happened, you've either had e.g. one absence Fri-Tues (5 days) and another of e.g. Thu-Tues (6 days). Or worse, 2 absences Fri-Mon and another Friday sick but put your FFW date as Monday morning so counted as 3 days*.

Either way, that many days in less than 3 months is pretty poor. Was your employer aware of your disability?? If not, I doubt you have any grounds for appeal but IANAL.

*This is why, if you are sick on a Friday (regardless of when the absence started), but return to work on the following Monday, even if you were sick as a dog till Sunday evening, ALWAYS put your Fit for Work date as Saturday morning so that the weekend is not counted as sick.

Edited to clarify the thread had moved on a bit in the time it took to write this post.

Yes it is where the employee has a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010. Has been the case since - well, 2010 !!

This. The more enlightened employers discount any sickness absences linked to the direct effects of disability, and they are not counted towards disciplinary action. It’s not a matter of law at the moment, but it’s encouraged as part of reasonable adjustment. There is absolutely nothing stopping an employer from letting a disabled employee go providing that they can demonstrate that if the disability itself is affecting their performance, all attempts at reasonable adjustment have been attempted before dismissal. The key word here is ‘reasonable’.

I didn’t say it in relation to OP’s situation, but in response to your idea that people can take multiple periods of absence with no redress.

Nope, not law yet

Does someone starting a new job really need to be intervened to say hey you been off 11 days in 2.5 months that's not OK? Surely we have not come to this point in society where people are this dumb?

It's getting worse by the day with the handholding people are expecting.

111 call handler and any call handler type jobs. Data entry jobs.

there’s some working from home jobs right now.

Theres nothing to ascertain.
Call 1. Ive a migraine cos of the lights, I wont be in.
Call 2. My son is sick i wont be in.
Call 3. Im sick with a bug i wont be in.

There is nothing to ascertain. Its v clear it has nothing to do with any disability.
You can try push the narrative that the employer didnt give a shit, but you are wrong. The employer looked at the facts and acted on that. End of.

They dont have to though

its shit. But they’ve done everything they needed too

Most office jobs do have probation periods, and that is 3 separate sickness incidents and one special leave to care for your child.

Your sickness period in days may also count weekends i.e. Friday and Monday, is 4 days of sickness not 2.

Youre clearly capable of securing a job, so next time I would disclose your disability. You may have recieved more leniency if they knew about a protected condition

It’s not a thinggggg it means nothinggggg

Did you get paid full while off ?

I don't know of any jobs that dont have a probation period. Do you?

Well if unlimited sickness absence isn't a reasonable adjustment then OP being disabled is nothing to do with anything then is it?

Put in a claim for universal credit now.

I agree, but what matters here is that the employer hasn’t bothered to ascertain any of that and has not intervened despite there being a probation period, to which sickness absence is linked. They have simply waited until the OP has crossed the line at which she can be dismissed. At the very least there should have been intervention, at which point OP could have declared her disability, and then it could have been determined whether or not the absences were due to that disability. If not, then there is likely no case to answer and any application to the tribunal service would be dismissed on those grounds.

Ah, that's a bit shit @Amiunemployable I am sorry to hear that. Did they know when you started that you have certain issues/conditions? If so, they should have been much more tolerant with you with the time off you have had. I hope you find something else soon, and you are NOT unemployable. However, as many posters have said, I don't think you have a leg to stand on here (sorry...)

Maybe best to wait til after Christmas now, and apply for something else, and be very upfront about your health issues.

All the best. Life sounds a bit shite for you just now. I wish you well. And yes, do apply for universal credit tomorrow!

.

You can still dismiss someone if they are disabled, you just can’t dismiss them because of their disability, and you must make reasonable adjustments.

That doesn’t mean someone can just take endless sick leave, although a reasonable adjustment may be to allow them more absence if related to their disability before moving to formal capability. But no one would try to claim unlimited sickness absence is a reasonable adjustment.

That’s discrimination it’s not unfair dismissal. It’s legally not the same thing.

If you haven't declared your disability you can't sue them for discriminating against a protected characteristic.
You could have also requested or highlighted that you hadn't received a contract after starting with them (personally I would never start a job without a contract, that is a huge red flag). I don't think you've got much to stand on really. Without a contract and no declaration of any disability it's your word against theirs. 6 days or 11 days is neither here nor there in this case.

If this is a first job for you (which the impression of the post leads me to assume that it is?) take this as a big learning curve. Dust yourself off and get another job.

No

thwy can fire you for any reason that isn’t protected before 2 years.

6 days is a extremely high amount. I started a job and have a disability and haven’t had a day off in any of the time. It’s been over 6 months now

there isn’t much you can do. I do have a disability but I’m lucky because I explained about mine which is stupidly rare. But it’s well managed. I get migraines with aura but I just push through.

it’s rubbish. I’m sorry. But sadly you’ve got no leg to stand on.

I genuinely am not trying to be disablist.

But are you saying disable people should be unfirable from day 1 of any job regardless of what their disability is (my mild asthma counts as a disability for example) while people who don't consider themselves disabled should be held ti a much higher standard? How is this fair at all? If this would the case I would do everything I could not to hire a disabled person as an employer as you are then stuck paying for their multiple episodes of time off with no redress

It’s a fair observation is it not?

My managers have always expected childcare responsibilities to be split and will always ask if the dad( and it’s always the dad) is doing his bit if the mum is starting to miss a disproportionate amount of work due to childcare issues. I’m a manager now and I’d do the same if it came up.