To think work are taking the piss now

[DelphineCormier]

Posted another thread a few weeks ago and don't really want to go into all that again, but brief summary, my boss tried to cancel my booked holiday two days in advance because colleague 1 had been forced to take early maternity leave unexpectedly. Couldn't persuade anyone else to cover the shift so told me I would have to cancel my holiday booked for that day as my cover was needed to cover colleague 1. I had worked xmas day on the basis I would get this day off, eventual outcome was colleague 2 was persuaded to cover my shift. Maternity cover for colleague 1 eventually started a week later, boss had struggled finding cover.

Colleague 3 is also pregnant, and has just put in a request to start early maternity leave. Boss is freaking out slightly over this as colleague 3 had said she would start maternity leave much later iyswim, colleague 1 was early but not this early. Cover has been found, but will not do weekend shifts. I have been 'asked' if I will take on colleague 3's Sunday shift until an alternative solution is found. I am allowed to say no, although colleague 3 and other colleagues are putting a lot of pressure on me to do this.

I already work Saturday mornings and am a single parent. Not left with a lot of time when I would actually see my child if I were also working Sundays! I would get another half day off during the week but no guarantee what hours this will be. Childcare on Sundays would be an absolute nightmare. No one else works both days at the weekend, and lots don't work weekends at all. AIBU to tell them to ask pressurise someone else?

Crikey! Well, it looks like she will get her early leave - she will be leaving with a flea in her ear and all her belongings in a cardboard box!!

I am glad that HR are taking this all so seriously and hope it is sorted soon for you.

She is behaving very strangely altogether.

I hope you enjoy your impromptu day off - can't wait for the update on this from your other colleague. Hope it is all sorted soon.

Just RTFT, jeez colleague 3 needs to get a massive grip! she'll be lucky to have a job to take mat leave from at this rate!

Enjoy your day off OP, and stand firm, the place sounds like a shambles and you have been more than flexible enough!

OP, I'm really glad that HR have stepped on and are resolving this. I hope they also address your manager' weakness in allowing and enabling this to happen in the first place.

I hope (HR) also address your manager' weakness in allowing and enabling this to happen in the first place

Absolutely this ^^

I imagine that the doctor has probably told her that there's nothing wrong with her and she won't get a note because she's perfectly capable of working.

Can't imagine a 30 week pregnant woman in what sounds like a stressful job being refused a sicknote, if she tells the GP she feels too unwell to work and isn't being allowed to go on ML early. Realistically this is likely to be a viable option for OPs colleague. And also has the advantage of preserving the full ML entitlement, which to most people would be a positive- likely easier to get signed off at this point than it would be after return to work post baby. Which makes me think she has some reason for not doing it. Impact on maternity pay or whatever.

Looking forward to update OP!

I imagine that the doctor has probably told her that there's nothing wrong with her and she won't get a note because she's perfectly capable of working.
This ^^ Many GPs do actually assess people's health before just signing them off! I was so well when expecting DS1 despite a stressful job that there's no way I would have been signed off (and didn't want to be either). I was allowed to stop doing solo night shifts at 30 weeks though, but that was tiredness-related.

You think you wouldn't have been signed off if you'd gone to your GP and told them you felt physically and mentally unable to cope with continuing to work at that stage in pregnancy? I'm surprised.

Wow. Colleague seems to be a bit deranged. Handling it very poorly. Will she still have a job to come back to ...?

Eurus I think GPs won't give out a 'sick' note unless they feel it is justified. In my case it wouldn't have been. A healthy pregnancy is not an illness and it does no one any favours to suggest it is, least of all those for whom pregnancy causes real problems. If work had tried to make me continue working nights then yes I would probably have been appropriately signed off. But sensibly my workplace made reasonable adjustments so I could safely continue. If an employer is being unreasonable then that's another matter.

Well sure, I'm just wondering what you think your gp would do faced with a 30 week pregnant woman saying she doesn't feel fit to continue and her workplace won't let her go early. Which is somewhat true here, for all the colleague's poor behaviour. I cant imagine mine doing anything other than agree to provide a note. It's not really like other fit to work stuff is it? Highly subjective, guaranteed to prevent work at some point in the bear future, and with a sufficiently wide range of normal that some women couldn't possibly manage a job at 30 weeks and others are totally fine.

Hard to say without (a) being a GP and (b) having any knowledge of the patient!!
All I was trying to say was it's not quite as easy as 'go and get signed off with stress' which seems to be bandied about a lot. You do actually have to show some sign of needing it, and maybe this person doesn't. It's all speculation. But yes, if it's merited then I'm sure she could get signed off, I was just speculating on why she might not have done that as if needed it would seem the obvious route to getting management to step up rather than upsetting a colleague.

My thinking was that it might not be particularly difficult even if it isn't. So I was speculating too! Just thinking there might be another reason as I would genuinely be surprised to see a GP refuse a 30 week pregnant woman a sicknote.

The impression I got was that it was something of a rubber stamping exercise for a pregnant woman. I didn't need a sick note at 30 weeks in one of my pregnancies and in the other I had agreed to go off before then anyway, but when I needed one earlier I just asked and it was given. Didn't even need to go in. If anything they seemed to think it would be a bit of a waste of their time checking. Which I could understand. They'd be very reliant on self reporting anyway.

Not much to report really, except I've been told to take tomorrow off too as they're still dealing with it. Friend/colleague updating me says she's been with HR a lot of today, so clearly still trying to work out what action to take. Does anyone know what would happen if they dismiss her now in terms of maternity pay? I wonder if that could be a reason they're stalling, friend/colleague says they've all been given a talk in office about "workplace etiquette" emails, texts etc which is apparently being given to the whole building across the next week. i do wonder if they're giving me paid leave rather than suspending her while they deal with it because suspending her is exactly what she wants...

There are procedures they have to follow to fire someone legally, it would be difficult for them to just dismiss her unless her disciplinary record is bad and this is a last breach. Even then, since she's pregnant there would be lots of ways she could accuse them of bad faith, and even though untrue, that's still costly to defend. Plus, they would probably much rather have this resolved and have everything amicable and working well. Firing her would still leave them short for Sunday coverage wouldn't it?

I think if she is fired and her notice period is over before maternity leave starts she would not be entitled to maternity pay. But if her dismissal or her notice period overlaps with her maternity leave there may be an argument to get notice pay for the whole of her maternity leave (according to a pro-workers rights article I read a while ago). So they'd probably want to avoid that, or the possibility of having her try to claim that. But I am not a lawyer, so this is just stuff I've read on the Internet at one time or another!

Extra paid time off is nice, but make sure you aren't left having to pick up the pieces of your forced time off in your own time or suffer for it in some other way (e.g. at appraisal, losing a good project etc.).

I am

It's at times like these I think there is a god . Hopefully the irony of her behaviour resulting in you being told to take time off isn't lost on her

are you going into work today OP?

Have you been back at work yet OP? Hope things are a bit better for you now.

Any news OP? Are you back at work today?

Surely bullying (because that's what this is) could be grounds for instant dismissal Boom? Don't do HR so happy give corrected.

To be *

It would be a very brave employer that would dismiss a pregnant woman.

Well she has provided plenty of evidence if they do - she wouldn't win a tribunal in sure. And the moral of the story is if you are going to be a bully do not put it in writing.