Is this something you could get signed off sick for?

[SliverOfSiIver]

My DD has to attend court as a witness for the trial of a man who abused her (sexually and physically). The trial is taking place 150 miles from where she now lives and is scheduled to take 2 weeks during an extremely busy time of year at work, assuming it doesn't run over (which I suspect it might as there are multiple charges and victims). She works in hospitality so taking leave at that time of year is virtually impossible. Her work have said she can have the time off for the trial itself but they expect her back in as soon as it finishes which she is dreading - she wants to come home (to me) for a week to be looked after and recover and decompress before she goes back to her flat and work etc. Unfortunately this week is likely to fall over dates that are just not realistic to be allowed to take off in her line of work.

Can she ask her GP to sign her off sick with stress for 4 weeks, starting just before she travels to the location of the trial? DD seems to think not but I said I'd try and find out.

She really doesn't want to lose the job. She can't afford to lose it!

But I doubt very much she will be fit for work the day after the trial ends. It just seems inhumane to expect it of her. But that's hospitality jobs for you...

A single week is a self certificate so she could just do that

She thinks it may come to that. Very unfortunate. As soon as she found out the dates she started stressing about work, it was her first reaction 😭

If she's in hospitality, she could easily find another job, especially at that time of year. I wouldn't want to work for an employer who wouldn't be compassionate about something like this anyway!!!

Yes I would think so and she really should, it's going to be a very emotional time for her and rushing back to "normal life" afterwards doesn't sound like the best idea

I'm sure this isn't her priority, but may be worth considering. As a witness in a trial, she'd be entitled to payment for loss of earnings. If she is off sick from work, she won't be entitled to that as she'd be getting SSP (or occupational sick pay, but I'm guessing she doesn't get this).

I don't think she would find it difficult to get signed off sick from work with stress under these circumstances. Judging by the fact her employers are already being tricky about it, I wouldn't be surprised if she was disciplined for it, unfortunately.

I don't think she will be in a fit state to find another job either tbh, not immediately anyway, and by new year the demand for staff will have fallen away!

She's saving as much as she can just in case she does lose her job, and hopefully will have started getting some student finance by then too but that's a whole other mess that we are trying to untangle so we can't bank on that. I know she can claim some sort of allowance for the days she has to be in court but not sure how that works yet and it's not anything close to replacing lost earnings!

The job that’s already said she can’t have time off to recover after the trial would resent it.

I’m sorry your DD is going through this @SliverOfSiIver and I certainly hope the trial goes the way she wants ❤️

Out of interest - what is your DDs contract like at work? Is she contracted for set days/hours? Zero hour?

As others have pointed out - no employer that would refuse leave in those circumstances is worth working for 🙄 they’re absolutely ridiculous! But I understand that doesn’t help just now as your DD needs her job.
The fact that she’s been given trial dates and had all this brought back up for her and her first thought has been work and how it will impact them just shows what a considerate employee she is.

I wouldn't get signed off sick if I wasn’t. Found this online. In the UK, employers are usually required to give employees time off work to attend court as a victim or witness, as it's not the employee's choice to go. Employees can provide their employer with a letter from the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) or defense solicitor as proof that they need to attend court. If the employer is unwilling to give time off, the employee should let the PPS or defense know as soon as possible. As a last resort, the employee may receive a witness summons, which legally requires them to attend court.

I think it's fairly obvious that by the day before the trial, the duration of the trial, and in the immediate aftermath, her stress/distress levels will mean she is genuinely unfit for work. They've agreed she can have unpaid leave for the trial itself anyway, but I think it's a terrible idea for her to go straight back to work the day after it ends, in a fast paced environment dealing with entitled and drunk members of the public. She will definitely need time to recover, and it's really unfortunate that this time will fall over a very busy period at work because at any other time she thinks they'd just let her take 4 weeks off. If only the trial had been set for the following month, and then this wouldn't be a problem 😞

Th Op is talking about being off sick after the trial

@SliverOfSiIver has your daughter applied for Criminal Injuries Compensation? If not, she doesn’t have to wait for the trial, she can apply now. It would hopefully come through in time to tide her over if she does end up out of work. Alternatively, if she is signed off with stress, she might be able to claim some loss of earnings as well as the compensation for the assaults.

Apologies @SliverOfSiIver it looks like I have misread your post.

No she hasn't, we think she wouldn't qualify as hasn't seen a psychiatrist or got a PTSD diagnosis and apparently that is needed? Also we couldn't work out if she would be successful anyway when there hasn't been a proven criminal injury yet (ie because he hasn't been found guilty in court)?

Her health is more important than this job,especially as its not a career choice. She will be able to be signed off for this. I was signed off work sick for a different issue however never seen my GP just on the phone.

There will be other jobs too. I hope your daughter is ok

Firstly well done to your DD for being brave enough to see this through. It's extremely hard.

But of course she can get signed off. She needs to be off for as long as she needs. She's already lived through major trauma and now has to live through it again verbally in front of strangers whilst someone cross examines her.

No one would blame her for needing 3-4 weeks post trial or longer or be home and looked after.

Of her employers can't see this then they are arseholes

I don't think you can be signed off sick fir a trial but special leave might work better

If it is going to trial, the police and prosecutors will have documented what the sexual assaults were, and any physical injuries. There is compensation available for both of these. Psychological injuries are separate, so if she hasn’t seen a doctor about those she wouldn’t get additional compensation.

She doesn’t need a guilty verdict. The police believing her and referring it on for the courts is all the evidence required that it happened.

It is easy to apply online, but she can also get help with the application from Victim Support or Citizen’s Advice. Don’t go to a lawyer, they will do no work and take a lot of her compensation.

Get her to apply asap.

I can’t imagine that being signed off sick for this would be an issue. GPs can’t issue a sick note until the day it’s needed to start from, but they can backdate them.
If your DD is comfortable speaking to a sensitive member of the admin staff and requesting one, many practices have a template that can be completed. They will ask for the date you wish it to start from, duration needed and a reason for the request (that would be written on the sick note) and any supplementary information. It can always be extended if necessary.
The GP may then ask for an appointment to discuss but there's no reason why this can’t be done by telephone. I’m fairly sure that most of the GPs where I work would just go ahead and issue it, but I appreciate they all operate differently.
All the best to your DD and I sincerely hope that justice is done.

She’s going to start getting stressed in the build up to the trial.

Personally if I were her I’d go to the GP and get signed off the week before the trial starts with a sick note covering the duration of the trial and at least a week after, and then any extensions after that can be done over the phone. I’d be astonished if her GP refused to do this under these circumstances.

Shes only 21 and hospitality jobs are ten a penny. If her employers sack her over this they’re arseholes. There’ll be other jobs.

I work in a similar field to this- it is absolutely something your daughter should be getting signed off sick for.

to be honest, I would encourage her to be very proactive with this and maybe do it for the 2 weeks before the trial,2 weeks of the trial and 2 weeks after- as a minimum. She can do this over the phone if she would prefer. I say this because (I think) might be wrong now, that this is generally done initially in 2- week blocks. If she could speak with her GP about it I think they would be very reassuring and explain how important it is going to be for her wellbeing.

It’s really not ok that in the face of doing this trial she is having to worry about saving to potentially cover herself and costs if she is let go. It is frankly ridiculous. That is the last thing she needs to be worrying about. If she was signed off there would be legal stipulations in place that would protect her and her role in her job. I also can’t remember how SSP works but she may also be eligible for some pay by doing it this way.

I work in mental health and I was also signed off for 6-8 weeks in 2021 after having a traumatic miscarriage. Before that I’d never been in any situation like that and being signed off would’ve scared me. It was so essential for my MH and the GP was so reassuring about how it was so important to ensure I was taking time to look after myself. I felt so held and protected by them. Work were not allowed to say anything to me, I was under direction of a medical professional and that was that, no negotiation or further questions needed.

OP, I've name changed for this as unfortunately I've been through a trial under very similar circumstances to your DD and it was horrific. I can't sugar coat it. There is no way I would have been in a fit state to work afterwards so I think you may need to prepare her for the prospect she ends up being signed off work for a while (any GP will do this given what she's going to have gone through) and possibly loses her job as a consequence. It really is a gruelling process and the cross examination is brutal. Is you DD receiving professional support? Thankfully my perpetrator's trial ended in a guilty verdict (bastard got 10 years), but I was still in a mess afterwards. God knows how I would've coped if the worst had have happened, and I hope and pray your DD also gets justice.

As a PP mentioned, your DD will qualify for criminal compensation so absolutely apply for it, but it is a very long process, and you can't count on receiving money quickly so it won't help in the short term. You can get money for the physical injuries to her body from the abuse, and those should be set out in the CPS charges, so will be easy to prove, but they will be small amounts. The larger sums for these types of crimes are paid for the mental injuries they cause. You don't need to have a diagnosed mental condition, you just need to demonstrate a significant and permanent impact on her mental health, which if she has been abused, she will undeniably have. I had a mental health assessment via an online therapy company, and used a letter from that to help support my claim. It took over 2 years though and I had to reject their first (incredibly insulting) offer and appeal. They basically try and fob you off and keep you waiting so you're desperate enough to accept the first offer. It's an outrageous process, but your DD deserves that money so it is worth fighting for. I ended up with over £20k and whilst it didn't make up in any way for what I went through, it was an important validation of the harm caused to me.

I really hope your DD gets through the trial process and gets justice. She's clearly incredibly strong to have got this far!