Think I am going to be sacked...

[wanttokickoffbutcant]

I have been put on leave for a couple of weeks - not had a great year as ended up in off for about six weeks with a medical issue. I am ill again. Now this has happened and just wondering what likely outcome will be.

Sorry to hear this op

Is there something that makes you think your manager isn't happy or would try to get rid of you?

Being ill shouldn't be a reason on its own to fire anyone, so if 8 weeks of absence is the only thing I don't see why they would fire you.

Have you been there more than two years? I think that makes a difference.

I have been there a long time and they have employed two new people for my "team" when I have been a team of one for many years. All the time I requested help I didn't get it - Covid, Brexit, I was working 18 hours a day with no help.

What did they say when they put you on leave? Does you work place have an absence policy?

Im so sorry OP, it must be very worrying for you. Are you in a Union?

What type of leave have you been put on?

I think you need to get some advice really, either from a union or you could call ACAS.

You seem to be saying your employer has put you on leave. Surely they told you why and what process, if any, you are being put through.

Ok but that's good isn't it. You were massively overworked and now there's more people.

You can't be "sacked" for being ill but you can be "managed out" if your health capacity isn't compatible with employment - in which case you need to stick with the formal process in order to have evidence for any future disability claim. They would have an obligation to make any reasonable adjustments to make the job possible for you. Is your health actually (in the long term, disregarding the current episode of illness) compatible with achieving the objectives of your job? If your illness is a long-term situation likely to reoccur, how many episodes of illness per year of what duration seems to be reasonable to expect and would it be possible to manage your condition with a flexible part-time contract that allowed you to work when you ae well enough and recover your health during the rest of the time? Is anything about your conditions at work exacerbating your health conditions?

Enployers are not obliged to keep employing someone who cannot do the job at all. The typical example is of a bus driver who is struck blind - in that case they are obliged to try to find suitable work that he can reasonably do, but if there is no business requirement for any such work then it's not unreasonable to terminate his employment.

Applying this to your situation would require more detail but eg if you have a longterm health situation that means you tend to only be well ebough to work for an average of 10-15 days per month then it would be reasonable for thsm to consider putting you on a part time contract rather than having you as full time on the payroll with regular sick leave. If the job can't be adequately performed with such an arrangement then it's reasonable to terminate the employment but you need to make sure the process formally states that this is because of your health capacity rather than poor performance.