To think im justified sick days for this

[tallulahturtle]

I work in a physical job, lots of repetitive lifting of fairly weighty things (14-20kgs), also do a bit of admin type work for maybe an hour in a typical day but generally its just lifting and moving about stock.

I was moving one of our outdoor signs on Monday evening and it has dodgy wheels and it lurched to the side while i was pulling it and my wrist got the brunt of it. Wrist hurt immediately but I didn't think anything of it. It was throbbing on the drive home, got home went to bed and the next morning it was very painful, couldn't really do anything hand related without the wrist kicking off.
So i phoned in sick, all seemed find until i checked in with my manager last night and he said that he was going to tell people that i had a stomach bug and i was to do the same as he didnt think a sprained wrist would cut it with the regional manager and HR as a valid reason for not coming in.

Ive told him that I want him to tell the truth and I will take any of the fallout he is envisiging as I feel that if I cannot drive or even hold a pen let alone lift, then I cannot work.

Opinions please.

IS he just trying to get out of possible future action by you if your injury turns out to be more serious? Happened during working hours, using faulty company equipment..... Tell the truth.

The incident was logged in the accident book ?

Would it be possible that the job you are describing is against safety guidelines hence he doesn't want HR to know about it?

If possible, have your wrist examined by a doctor.

I think the reason your Manager wants you to lie is because if you were hurt at work, due to their negligence (ie the sign having dodgy wheels ) means that your Manager will have to complete lots and lots of paperwork, and are leaving themselves open to a claim from you.

If it was me, I would stick to my guns and tell the truth about why you were injured, and make sure that your Company's procedure for industrial accidents is followed to the letter

Tell the truth.

Also the accident should be logged in an accident book and everywhere I have worked also has a question on the sickness self cert form to ask if the absence was caused by an accident at work.

I wouldn't lie about it as you will be the one who looks bad if it comes out you lied about the reason and leaves you open to accusations of pulling a fast one.

I don't think its him worrying about health and safety implications. Just think he thinks there has to be a broken bone or d+v for it to be seen as a valid excuse. My main issue is that now i feel guilty for being off, I hate letting my team down :(.

Either way, make sure the accident is logged.

Yup will get it logged and will stick to my guns. I always think lying ties you up in knots so is a silly idea.

There should be an accident at work process, and you/they should follow it.

They should at least try to find you alternative non-manual/using hands work, assuming you can make it to the office.

But you being injured due to damaged equipment in the course of doing your job is at least partly their responsibility. Had the damaged equipment been reported? Did you know it was damaged before you moved it?

I think his "wouldn't cut it with HR and regional manager" is code for "shit, she's going to claim an industrial injury and I'm going to have to get involved".

If your company is big enough to have a regional manager and a separate HR department, then you can guarantee they'll have had people off sick with much more minor ailments than a bad sprain. Don't fall for his bullshit, OP.

Take the time off you need, get an X-Ray to be on the safe side, RICE your wrist and make sure the accident book is filled in on your return.

Thanks everyone :)

If you are off work for more than 7 days following a work-related accident, the event is reportable to HSE under RIDDOR. D&V isn't. All sounds a bit dodgy to me.

Surely if you can't even lift a pen then you've got no chance of doing a job that is predominantly lifting, so your manager is talking rubbish. I also think that there's an element of him not wanting your workplace to be logged as the scene of your accident. Stick to your guns and tell the truth. Also go to a minor injury unit and get your wrist checked out - it may have a fracture or torn ligament or something. Definitely make sure you fill in the accident book at work when you go back if you didn't do so on the day.

You need to go and get your wrist checked out, maybe see your gp today who can refer you to the hospital for xrays etc if needed or maybe a walk in clinic or something?

Your boss sounds like he is trying to cover up what happened to you. Make sure it is in the accident book if not already.

Sounds like he's trying to cover their backs to me. Make sure the accident is properly logged at work and get yourself checked out with GP or a walk in centre / minor injuries unit etc. They can give you a note to show you've attended and why do you have something for HR. Your boss shouldn't be encouraging you to lie about the reason for absence. Definitely get checked out in case you've broken something or need treatment.

Presumably your managers job doesn't involve lots of manual work? So yes, a sprained wrist wouldn't cut it for him as a reason not to come in.

I'd be expected at work with a broken/sprained wrist once it had been treated even if all I did all day was tap on a keyboard with one finger and answer occasional calls. I've seen people struggling on and off public transport in full leg casts on crutches to get to work once they've been treated and signed off to use crutches presumably so not being able to drive is not usually considered an excuse.

Sorry but I'm going to be the voice of dissent here and say that you should be seeing a doctor / making an effort to go in. At a minimum I would be calling my HR team to get explicit confirmation that it is a valid reason to be at home.

TreadSoftly, you're assuming that a) there's alternative work that the OP can do when she's clearly explained that all bar about an hour of her job involves manual lifting and b) that there is a public transport service she can use for work.

Unless her HR team are medically trained, they're no more qualified than any of us or the OP herself to judge whether she should be at work or not. HR's job is to ensure company policies comply with employment law and support managers to apply those policies consistently and fairly. It's not to judge whether someone is genuinely ill or injured nor to maintain a sliding scale of "worthy" ailments and illnesses.

Not necessarily. Over the years I've witnessed IT professionals with broken arms literally sit at their desks and do nothing, or attempt to operate a computer with their left hand. I've been there myself with tendonitis. As far as our employer is concerned provided that actually being present in the office does not constitute a risk to either of us, we're expected to be there. Plus you are effectively using up your sickness allowance if you will get X days on full pay per annum before moving to statutory.

My point is that if the OP's role in the organisation is relatively unusual, his/her manager may be taking a pragmatic view as to whether or not HR would qualify it as sick leave. Some organisations leave it to a manager's discretion but most do not. Given that the OP wants it above board and the risk that his/her line manager wants to hide an incident, I would simply check in with them.

What I don't know is what sort of rule would be applied if a nurse sprained their wrist for example and had an arm in a sling? Would hospital policy typically send them home?