HELP In A&e and worried about job

[Silvercoconut]

Can anyone help with some strategies?
I'd like to be able to advise my daughter who is currently in A&e since nine o'clock this evening with terrible cellulitis in her hand and arm caused by a bug bite. She went to the out of hours doctor service because she's very swollen red and hot.

She's supposed to be in work at 11 a.m..
Just last week she had a disciplinary because over the past nine months she has had three sick days. Once was flu, once she was also unable to work due to trigeminal neuralgia for which she had a doctors certificate. And 3 weeks ago she had switched some medications, the dose was increased and she was suffering terrible nausea and vomiting.
She threw up whilst at work and was told to go home.

She's now sitting in the hospital having terrible anxiety about work, that she will lose her job I'm not sure they can do that but I don't know what to suggest to her.
I don't think she should make her way home she's in terrible pain also, she really does need IV antibiotics.

It shouldn't as they are related absences so should only count as one. Make it clear at the return to work.

Are you a member of USDAW ? Do you have an usdaw rep in your shop? If not definitely join & find out who your local area reps are.

@Silvercoconut I fully get it. I was in a&e only a matter of weeks ago where I was told I may need IV antibiotics. Luckily only oral antibiotics were required! The next day a hefty day in work and 72 hours where I worked 40+ hours with high stress and very little rest! I had no choice and felt very ill! Would be mean of their employer to sack for this, especially if your daughter has evidence.

I hope your daughter is feeling better @Silvercoconut.

As most have already said, it’s a process and triggers will be hit, so the “system” starts the process. It’s unfortunate and feels unfair but it is what it is at this stage.

If I was your daughter I would get advice from ACAS now on how to manage the next stage, so she can be prepared. If she’s is called to another, or a follow up disciplinary meeting she is allowed to be accompanied by a union rep or someone else.

I hope she is able to find another job asap, but that she is treated with empathy until then.

Thanks all!!

if you have cancer the rules are not going to be the same as if you have the flu for 2 weeks. This is because if you become ill with cancer you imediately become protected by other laws and your employer should make adjustments for you. The sickness policy in some instances will have to be implemented differently. If this cellulitis is a one of case then it could be a straight fosickness policy case, if though it was a reoccurring cellulitis then it may have to by law be treated differently and have to be treated differently under the company sickness policy to fall in line with uk laws

There's nothing she can do about the days so far. Cellulitis can be serious and may need IV antibiotics. Or maybe oral is okay - do take some probiotics too.

In regards to the other illnesses, is the trigeminal neuralgia recurring? Can she see a neurology clinic if so. Or are there fast acting meds like for migraine ? In regards to flu it was a pretty bad winter for flu, but things like extra anti bac and consider the flu jab next year. In regards to meds changes, best to do them with a bit of a gap before work e.g. After last shift or start of a weekend etc.

I have multiple conditions and unfortunately you have to be fecking proactive as employers are bastards for disliking illnesses even if related to existing conditions.

Show that you learned something for next time to try and avoid it again etc.
Ensure they are informed on time, updated etc.

Why won’t you answer how long she’s been in her job?

Sorry? That must be way up thread, no reason I just missed the question!
She has been working there for 18 months.

That makes a difference. I hope she gets well soon.

What, after a couple of days off work?? Madness, and a complete waste of time. If I have a couple of days off work I don't require a meeting to check I am okay, I'm an adult for goodness sake. A boss would normally ask how a person is, that's all that is required. How can workplaces be productive with all this nonsense?

You're clearly not understanding what I told you about an employer's duty of care.

I have just read through the minutes my daughter sent me, and it was an investigatory meeting,
Bloody long winded though. They are considering, and have been for the last 10 days 😄 nothing swift about that really.
Anyway the antibiotics and the steroids are working a treat and she's feeling much better thank god.
Thank you for all your comments it's been a very interesting read!

It’s recommended best practice by ACAS https://www.acas.org.uk/returning-to-work-after-absence

And you are clearly not understanding that if an employee has something minor, like a cold, or something which has been assessed and treated by a medical professional, it really doesn't require all this rubbish about "duty of care". Are adults in the UK not able to deal with illness like normal people? No wonder so many are on welfare if they are all this fragile.

There are a lot of people on this thread telling OP ways that get daughter can prove her illness. It really isn't about proof. Sickness procedures aren't about thinking the person is lying. They are about a company not being able to sustain someone who isn't reliable and who costs the company money to get them covered at short notice. This is especially relevant if someone gets paid sick pay by the company they work for because essentially they are being paid for work they aren't doing and that simply isn't sustainable long term because the company/organisation have to pay twice to cover the same shift.

I know this doesn't apply to your daughter but this gets even more important when it is someone working in the public sector because tax payer's money is being used to cover people who are regularly ill.

It is really unfortunate for your daughter that all her illnesses seem to fall on her working days when she only works part time. My daughter works part time while at uni and they have a good WhatsApp group where they will all communicate and cover each others shifts if someone needs to be off for any reason so they aren't off sick as such because they pick up the shift later in the week.

Yes, or even after a day off work. Any period of illness requires a return to work meeting, whether it’s a day, a week or a month.

That doesn’t mean a formal meeting with notes that takes an hour, but it means that everyone who is off sick gets a chat with their manager before returning to their duties - it only takes a few minutes and is the recommended thing to do.

Ask for a sick note from a doctor on discharge

The hard fact is that when an employee is off unexpectedly for whatever reason - someone else has to cover for them. When those absences become frequent then the employer has to think about the whole team too. It’s a hard fact of Life. They’re not questioning the validity of the absence but responding to the frequency.

I had no idea you can be punished for being provably unwell, that's awful

Do these places sack you if you get cancer?

Nobody is punishing anyone. But workplaces exist to make a profit and if someone is regularly off sick then it’s perfectly okay to assess whether they can still do the job they were hired to do.

Cancer is different as it falls under the disability act and you receive automatic protection.

Bullshit, workplaces owe a duty of care to their employees. Don't like it, don't have employees.

And cancer isn't automatically a disability.

It is according to the Equality Act 2010

A duty of care isn’t the same as having to keep someone employed regardless of how much time off they have.

Yes, it is under the disability act - precisely so that this doesn’t happen to people who are diagnosed.