NHS absence policy… fucked it

[Bloodyflu]

I’m a nurse working in the nhs. For years I’ve had a good attendance record. Then I had a baby, and as they started going to nursery last year I started getting infections left right and centre.

in the last year I’ve had:
2 bouts of pneumonia
tonsillitis (which turned into quinsy)

i worked through the tonsillitis until it turned to quinsy and I had to go to hospital (luckily during annual leave so not part of my absence record)

I’ve now been struck with this bloody flu that’s going around. I’m vomiting, not sleeping, unable to move, coughing up brown phlegm and haven’t eaten for 2 days. Temp at 39.2. Was seeing little lizards on the walls last night because of fever.

I’ll have to call in sick to work, which will put me on a stage 1 trigger for absence.

i find this really anxiety inducing. Of course I know it’s needed to maintain attendance at work, but with verifiable illness (and consultations with doctors) should we really be putting people on absence warnings? There’s not much I can do about having these illnesses, but now for the next year I’ll be on pins thinking I could lose my job if I’m unlucky enough to get ill again

All I can say is I'm so sorry

Can totally relate

Try not to stress about it
What can you do?

You can't help it

The system is FCKED

so they want you to come into work feeling horrendous and pass on your horrible bug to everyone you meet? That’s fucking ridiculous!

ive been told that I can use my annual leave to cover my absence, but with flu, it could be around a week? And we’re not allowed to take annual leave around Christmas anyway. I’m rota’d to work Xmas Eve and Boxing Day which we can’t take annual leave for. Just hope I’m okay by then

So you go in despite really not being fit to, and then bring down the entire trust, potentially. You have to laugh at how insane that is.

Did you catch it at work?

You shouldn’t be made to feel it’s a warning, it’s supposed to be a supportive process. As it stands these are bugs you can’t avoid so there’s not much you can do. The process is for people who can have adjustments made to keep them in work. If you feel it’s accusatory and making you feel like you’re under threat, as for HR support as your manager isn’t doing their job if you feel like that.

Likely yes. I’m an A&E nurse

And you should absolutely not be getting told to use annual leave for sickness!

Not only is AL not for that, it skews the analytics data

have you spoken with your union? Might be worth getting some preliminary support.

The NHS actually has very reasonabe absence management processes. If you have been in the NHS for a long time likely 6 months full and 6 months half pay. You have had a big Run of bad luck and that will be taken into account. At stage 1 is just a discussion with your manager. You have had illnesses which were certified (and likely makes you more likely to get flu) and so you and your manager will diiscuss that and any support you may need, like a referral to OH. If you continue to be I'll there will be a procedure in place but is a long one. It's right to follow the procedure as otherwise it would be unfair

I'm also NHS, in a slightly less stretched department

I don't think stage 1 is that big of a deal, is it? If you can explain why you've been off and you've been ill, what's the big whoop?

This!

and you can’t go into hospital sick and spread it - even if you could stand!

just go through the process

As the PP has said. It’s supposed to be a supportive process, not a punishment for being sick. You have had genuine illnesses which you absolutely could not work through.
Do not take your annual leave to cover it, who advised that?

Try not to stress about it. It’s just a process.

Speak to your union rep. A manager should know better than telling you to use holiday when you’re sick.

Nothing will happen. A manager will sit down with you, tell you how much absence you’ve had, asked what caused it, and that will be it. Unless there is a clear pattern of always being off on a Monday morning, or you’re having a day off here and there for a sniffle, it will be no more than a formality.

I’ve ‘triggered’ before. I had a toddler at nursery and asthma. I have a tendency to get chest infections on top of general viruses. It is what it is.

In fact I’ve had to go off with flu (and I had my bloody jab) this week. I did stress about it for a while because I’m sure it takes me over. However, what am I going to do? Go into work and give my colleagues and vulnerable patients flu for Christmas?

I had similar years ago and ended on the top stage (older policy), my union rep printed out my entire sickness record whilst in employment with the trust (5 years at this point with no sickness for 4 years then a bad year) and stuck the 5 A4 pages together into once long banner for added effect, she told the HR manager and my line manager in no uncertain that they would be laughed out of the tribunal court if they dismissed me based on my sickness record. That was the end of it.

You OP aren't even on level 1 yet. Join a union if you haven't already, and i hope you feel better soon.

You don't need to feel anxious about this - it's just procedure. And please don't use annual leave to cover illness! This is from the RCN website...

Stage 1 is just a discussion and a record of any support we may be able to offer. It’s noting more really and not to be feared

Nothing will happen. The NHS is very good, in general, with their sickness policies & sick pay.

Level 1 will be an informal chat.

On stage 1 nothing bad will happen at all. I have asthma and have been on it a couple of times over the years. It’s just a chat and a form is filled in.

Please, please do not get yourself worked up about this. It’ll be a sit down perfunctory meeting where they go “yup, pneumonia, quinsy, flu, totally reasonable, how are you feeling now, are you okay to come back, is there anything we can do to support you”
End of meeting.

it’s been introduced to pick up the people who have repeated short absences that often follow a pattern (eg the always sick on Monday or Friday only crowd) who DO take the absolute piss, and get on top of issues like that earlier, NOT to punish people who are actually sick.

And for the love of dog do NOT start using A/L for sickness. And give short shrift to anyone suggesting it.

(Also NHS, had 3 long term but genuine ill health absences so have had a few of these meetings over the years!)

Usually the reason for these meetings is so other people can’t complain they are being treated unfairly. When I was a manager there were certain people you knew were just chancers. (They are the ones who really needed checking up on!) But you also had to check on everyone the same (as per the policy) so you couldn’t be accused of “picking” on certain members of staff. The stage one for people with genuine issues were very much a formality, and also to see if there was anything that could actually be done to help in some circumstances. As long as your manager is okay, there shouldn’t be a problem. Might be worth brushing up on the absence policy before the meeting just so you know your facts.

You must take it as sick leave. In fact, when I tried to take a leave of absence as unpaid leave because my mother was sick and I needed to care for her, HR stepped in and told my manager that they must give me sick leave for it and that I wasn't to be allowed to take it as unpaid leave because it was what it was there for.

Stage 1 is a discussion with your manager. It’s at their discretion whether they issue an improvement notice. Even then it’s just another period of monitoring. I wouldn’t worry.