AIBU to go off sick over complaint about me at work

I understand this is a stressful time and process but won’t the investigation process get paused while you’re off sick or at the very least take longer as they won’t be able to interview you while you’re off sick? So it will be hanging over you for longer. It sounds like you’ve done nothing wrong and have email evidence to prove you were following advice from your manager so I’d want it over with as quickly as possible.

Don’t go off sick to prove a point, but if you’re struggling to concentrate and it’s affecting the rest of your life (sleeping, eating etc) then you should be thinking about it.

I stayed at work (with workload adjustments because of the stress) but would have gone off sick if I’d begun making mistakes because of inability to concentrate or lack of sleep.

If you do end up with a FIT note make sure the GP puts it down as work-related stress.

I’ve been in a similar situation. I didn’t go off sick although did need workload adjustments in order to be cope with the stress of the (very badly handled!) investigation. It is documented in my medical records as I saw the GP. Work out your timeline of events and keep all of your emails and any other evidence in a folder. I found it helpful to list them as part of the timeline.

Get advice from your union rep and don’t go to a meeting about this unless they are with you.

Make it clear to the organisation the effect this is having on you and state that you need support. They should be offering regular updates.

Get a GP appointment. They can advise you on whether what you’re experiencing means it would be a good idea to take some time off. At the very least, if you’re having to deal with extra meetings and paperwork for this, someone needs to look at your workload. My GP was very scathing about how my employer was behaving!

If it ends up going on for ages (mine did!). Keep an eye on the situation. Go back to the GP if necessary. Make sure your stress levels at work are documented in writing - they have a duty of care to you.

Good luck! It’s a horrible thing to go through. Mine ended up with an apology from HR to me and two policies were rewritten as a result.

So your employer is simply following the process, investigating a complaint by an interviewee. You know exactly what happened and have evidence that you did everything correctly at your end.

Why would you need to go off sick? It’s just a procedure being followed.

It should have been the post has been withdrawn you were a great candidate feedback etc will keep you in mind if anything comes up. That aside if you haven't got work to distract you it will be worse as have time to overthink etc. It's horrible I've been there. Felt sick everyday going into work whilst investigation took place. Thinking I could lose my job as was a possibility if the grievance was upheld. I doubted myself so much but I got through it and lived to tell the tale as such. Good luck

It should have been the post has been withdrawn you were a great candidate feedback etc will keep you in mind if anything comes up. That aside if you haven't got work to distract you it will be worse as have time to overthink etc. It's horrible I've been there. Felt sick everyday going into work whilst investigation took place. Thinking I could lose my job as was a possibility if the grievance was upheld. I doubted myself so much but I got through it and lived to tell the tale as such. Good luck

This is horrible advice if you want to remain employed there.

I can tell you that people who raised grievances against their managers - even those that are upheld - almost all leave the company in the next year. Rightly or wrongly, there’s no coming back from a formal grievance when you raise it upwards.

I work in a senior HR role. I’m unclear why you are ‘under investigation’. Someone has raised a complaint - which they are entitled to do - and this needs to be responded to but it is the complaint that is under investigation not you personally. If they are complaining about a lack of feedback then the complaint is about the process not you. Don't go off sick - you’ve done nothing wrong.

FYI, there is no legal entitlement to feedback. If they believe your decision was discriminatory they can raise a claim but it sounds as though no feedback is being provided.

This could, and should, be dealt with quickly by your senior managers with a formal response explaining that since the interview there has been a change in the company policy regarding interview feedback for all applicants - it certainly doesn’t need 4 weeks!

Is the folder of evidence physical or on your computer? I would say you need a hard copy just in case.

I would not go off sick now in your situation. I would follow the advice PP here have given you and make sure your union rep is fully briefed. Get together all the documents you need and email them to yourself. Any preparation you need to do for defending your case or meetings with your rep make sure they happen in work time, not in your own time.

When you have been completely cleared - as I am sure you will be - raise a grievance about the clumsy and distressing manner in which it was handled. If necessary cite the effect on your mental health. That will be the time to go off sick. Make those above you answerable for the distress they have caused you.

Why would you go off sick? You've done as you were told and have the paper trail to prove it. Surely this is just a box ticking exercise by your employer, and a PITA for you?

I wonder if they’re quietly compiling evidence against the person who told you not to give feedback. Perhaps there's a pattern of slipshod decisions and behaviours.

Either way, you’ve done nothing wrong and you have the receipts to prove it. Even if you did (which you didn’t), you’d get nothing more than a tap on the wrists. All you were doing was following written instructions. Don’t go off sick, because this isn’t going to go away. Talk to your union and get support from them.

This isn’t just a public sector thing though. Private sector organisations do this all the time - and they’re often a bit more brutal about it.

You've done nothing wrong, you tried to explain that you were unable to give more information.

The candidate is disappointed and looking for someone to blame, unfortunately you are the scapegoat but it really isn't your fault.

If the situation is making you feel unwell, by all means go off sick but only for a couple of days. This is going to blow over, it really is. x

really stupid that you cannot be transparent with candidates. There’s zero logical reason why you can’t give them individually feedback on their performance at interviews whatsoever… this would have zero meaning on whatever else is going on in your workplace. Maybe the person has applied to hundreds of roles and is frustrated; especially if they were promised feedback.

Teacher?

Sure, but I really do hope you’d also take a dim view of public funds being wasted investigating a staff member for doing what they’d been told.

Yes, a complaint has been made, but it shouldn’t take any time at all to ascertain the staff member did what they’d been asked, and close the compliant with no action taken.

Wasting organisational time and public funds AND putting a staff member under unnecessary pressure that will affect their wellbeing by dragging this out is the height of bad management.

I say that as a former senior manager in the public sector - while I do understand there will undoubtedly be baroque procedures to go through, somebody with some common sense needs to step in here, and stop the madness.

So you did what you were told to do, and as a result they’re investigating you?!

Totally bonkers. Your organisation must be over-staffed, and completely on top of everything they need to do, if they have time and resources to spunk on this.

Time to raise a grievance yourself, and explain to your GP how it is affecting your health. Get it on record.

This happens a lot within the NHS too

I’ve had to interview people then want to appoint and all of a sudden there is no money in the budget - this has happened twice to me In 3 years of managing a team in the nhs

Its awful but thankfully we can be honest and say it’s down to budgets

I wouldn’t worry it doesn’t sound like you have done anything wrong

don’t go off sick
hold your own
and ask IT to block the candidates email address (this can be done!)
they have to investigate as they are answerable however the chances are that this is just a formality because the candidate has complained

Print off ALL the emails from your management and to/from the candidate and save them to a USB stick. You could write a written statement and attach these as appendices to the investigating officer and say that the wait for this is making you anxious, so you’ve been proactive and written a statement and supplied all the evidence in the hope this can expedite the hearing. I’m sure it will be fine but I appreciate it’s very worrying x

Going off sick does not make you look like you have something to hide it makes it look like a very stressful situation has had a profound impact on an employee. Procedurally there’s no benefit to toughing it out. Interviews can be pushed back and means there will be extra time to prepare

If anxiety is affecting you so that you are constantly worried, not sleeping properly and it has affected your appetite, or any or all of the above, you are in fact sick and should take sick leave. You should see your GP in any event so that the impact is documented in your medical record. The processes you have described were almost certain to have the outcome you are experiencing and before you go off sick you should begin a grievance procedure with the support of your union rep. Good luck!

The OP is not in the Civil Service.

4 weeks off sick (full pay of course) because someone complained about you? Civil service is great 😃.

Please dont go off sick, difficult as it is, try and take one day at a time and see the process through. That said, I am livid for you. I can understand why you feel you are being made a scapegoat. Some Fucker further up the line has thrown you under the bus. If I were you I would be checking the Bullying and Harrassment policy word for word and making strong noises about feeling scapegoated and vulnerable .....
Be strong and look after yourself.

It sounds procedural.

Where I work every complaint has to be recorded and investigated.

It's not personal.

Going off sick looks like you have something to hit and are stressed for a reason.

Take confidence in the fact you have down nothing wrong. Ride it out. It will be over soon.

No, you shouldn't go off sick over something like this 🙄

And you really shouldn't need anyone to tell you that