Work issues while signed off

[MsMarvel]

Annoyed about this situation but not sure how common or acceptable it is

Dp is currently off work, and has been since the 3rd january, he is not very well at all. Absence is covered by doctors note which is being reviewed and renewed on a weekly basis.

I work for the same company as dp, and our work is based on a calendar schedule of client visits, as rota'd by our head office.

When he got the doctors note, i scannedd a copy to our office admin dep, as well as ccing in our line manager and our work planner so that everyone was up to date.

This doctors line covered until tuesday of this week (he has since got another one, and is actually back in hopsital now, got admitted late last night) when dp was contacted by a colleague telling him he was down to be working with her on monday.

When i tried to phone to sort it, the office were completely unhelpful, telling me it was nothing ti do with me, and that it was nothing to do with the work planner as they dont deal with the sick notes. Eventually got it sorted and it turns out it was the work planners mistake. Although she had seen the doctors line she didnt pay attention to the dates it covered.

Is this out of order for work? When i spoke to my line manager who i get on well with i told him that my dp should not be having this sort of stress while signed off from work, and that it was really obtuse of them to be so unhelpful while i was trying to sort it, seeing as i would have been well within my rights to not mention anything about it and let them wait till monday to realise what they had done, which would have then also significantly let down the client.

Are there any specific rules or policies for how a company should be while someone is signed off? Line management have been really good and supportive to both of us, its just the office staff that are making things difficult.

(Also not happy with the colleague who contacted him with this shit, given she knows hes signed off, and coyld have contacted me directly if she was concerned there was going to be issues...)

He needs to deal with his own sickness absence. Fair enough to drop off a note to save time/a stamp but the rest he needs to deal with.

But when someone is that sick they are in hospital Next of Kin is not being unreasonable to shelter them from this stress. The work are being unreasonable to not listen to you.

It's very common, and very unacceptable. I've been harassed to go back in a week after having my appendix out, while signed off for 6 weeks. The reason? "We can't afford your sick pay". My answer was they could afford a tribunal award even less.

It may be tricky for DH to deal with issues when he has been readmitted to hospital. He may and should not be picking up work emails or calls in his condition. In which case it seems to be perfectly sensible for the OP to be informing work. Check your absence policy for details on contact whilst off sick.

When you work with family or partners it gets a bit messy.

While I understand OP sorting it out, unless he absolutely can not speak to them, she should take a step back

Even as his next of kin, assuming she is, they will be careful about what they can and cant say. Especially if she is also an employee.

It was a mistake. One person made it. I am sure they have been made aware.

And tbh, I havent ever worked for a company that would contact a partner about returning to work. The only information we would take off you would be the initial call to say he wasnt coming in (but we would want to speak to him unless he is that ill he couldnt) and emailed sick notes. Again, if he is desperately ill and can not call into himself, probably accept updates from a partner.

I dont know any company that eoidl accept no contact from him unless he is very very sick.

It’s not at all U for the employer to maintain contact including to seek info about his possible return dates, but this should be handled by the line manager only, other colleagues shouldn’t be contacting the person off sick.

Why are you handling the comms with his work?

Not usually appropriate unless he is extremely unwell.

A spouse dealing with work obo of a sick husband would contact their line manager and leave it at that.

I appreciate it is a bit messier because you also work there but just stick to the process.

He has been in touch with line manager, who is also happy to receive updates from me. Its the office staff that are being awkward.

The issue that they were refusing to discuss with me wasnt connected to his retyrn to work, whenever that may be, or with his medical condition. I was trying to flag the fact that they had him rotad to work while off, covered by a doctors note. I was trying to help them out, by flagging it before it became a big issue (ie on monday, client would have prepared and been waiting for a site visit that was obviously not going to happen) this would have been a far bigger hassle for office staff than rearranging it when it was noticed.

So this wasnt to do with keeping them updated with absence which dp is.

Next time (and it probably will happen again...) Ill just leave it for then to sort out when its a far bigger mess, as thats what they seem to want.