To think she’s faking?

[Appleofmypie]

One of my team at work is 14 weeks pregnant. She’s been off sick for 5 weeks with severe hyperemesis and still has a week left on her sick note (she’s being signed off for 2 weeks at a time)

By complete coincidence she is Facebook friends with a friend of mine.

My friend has put some pictures on Facebook this morning of her Greek holiday she’s still on, and my work colleague is in most of them - sunbathing, eating, swimming in the sea, playing volleyball. She has obviously blocked me as she is tagged in the pictures but her name is unclickable.

I’m gonna sound like a complete cow but I think she’s faking her sickness.
She’s on full pay from work and we’re having to pay an agency temp to cover her work too. It’s a small company that is struggling and I doubt we’re going to make any profit this month due to this.

My questions are:

Should I tell/show our boss?
What evidence of hyperemesis does a GP need to see to sign you off or Could it just be on her say so?
Is she actually doing anything illegal?
I know that pregnancy sickness is covered separately to normal in terms of disciplinary but if it’s proven she’s faking could it still be gross misconduct?

Thanks

i had hyperemis, I struggled getting off the sofa, if I saw an advert for food on tv I'd throw up, if someone mentioned the word meat is throw up.
I wasn't signed off work and struggled through my days but I wish I had been.

Make sure you didn't see it in Facebook memories.

I would definitely show your boss, no question whatsoever. How convenient that her sickness subsided just as her friends were going away. She must have got an amazing last minute deal and how great to have managed to be staying in the same place etc

Depends on how much of a PITA this work colleague might be for their employer. Might be worth your boss OP just having an hour’s worth of advice from an employment solicitor. This is very complicated. You can dismiss someone who is pregnant BUT you must follow process and be very sure of the ‘why’ they are being dismissed.

My questions would include:

• what was employee signed off for - severe morning sickness or HG? There must be a medical difference to differentiate the two.
• depending on previous Q, would the doctor sign employee as ‘fit to travel’?
• did employee tell the travel insurance company?

How do you know what’s on her sick note?

It doesn't matter what's on the sick note. The reason is immaterial.
She submitted a sick note to say she wasn't fit for work, and went on holiday abroad.

It's the manager's job to decide what to do about it.

You did the right thing. You have sent them to your boss, who can now do any investigation needed. Most employers are very very careful about disciplinary action against pregnant women so it probably won’t come to anything.

Even if she has/had HG, she should have used holiday pay to go to Greece, not sick pay. I think the employer will have a case against her for that alone.

I’ve had hyperemesis. She is a CF.

onestepsideways - if that was the case then she should have booked her time off as ‘holiday’. That’s taking the p* and unfair to her workplace which as we’ve heard is a small business and already struggling.

I couldn't leave the house with HG

I really hate it when people take the piss when pregnant.
I understand some people do get really unwell
But the ones who don't who pretend they do just to have extra time off really do make everyone doubt genuine pregnancy related illness.

I guess it comes down to how likely is a coincidence when someone is horrendously unwell, then their health turns around and happens to find a last minute deal and their friends also all happen to have the same week booked off so they could enjoy a lucky break in the sun.

It could happen, but it's bloody unlikely so it's more likely she's booked a holiday but also wants to save her annual leave so is being a CF

HG is really awful, I luckily never suffered but I have worked on a ward with women who had it, they literally could not move, brush their teeth, eat or drink it was so debilitating, they were obviously the worst affected but even milder cases are characterised by severe nausea, vomiting, weight loss and electrolyte imbalance.

If you are being generous you could say that maybe the employee has morning sickness, and is better in the afternoon, but that is not HG

I hope your employer gets advice from acas or something before acting on the information you have given her.

“@greyponcho - they’re pedestrianising the high street, it’s been going on since February a bit at a time so the road has been blocked off. I’m not sure if boss can claim for loss of earnings but I will mention it to her. ”

Off topic but definitely get advice re this. Where i live the council had to compensate businesses for disruption caused by the building of the tramlines. I worked in the council’s legal dept for a while years after the actual work was completed, and many cases were still ongoing.

Imagine if it was a memory

@SickOfPeterRabbit it's not as simple as you seem to think. The colleague can be ill and in Greece. They don't automatically contradict each other. The OP doesn't know enough detail about the sick line or her colleague's medical history.

Hyperemesis is pretty straightforward love! Trust me. Hyperemesis is diagnosed when you cannot consume even water... You are told not to travel. The baby is already at risk through having HG. That’s like saying well you don’t know, he may well have tap danced with two broken knee caps, and a snapped spine! You don’t know his medical history blah blah but fact is it’s clearly bullshit! She would have to have some brazen brass neck to take it down the legal route!!!!

Also, the DWP successfully prosecute fraudulent disabled claimants who have been photographed running/playing golf etc. You could be a twat and make out it’s possible whilst paraplegic/arthritic etc but the judge used common sense and justice usually prevailed. Thankfully!

The colleague can be ill and in Greece. They don't automatically contradict each other.
If you are so unwell with HG (which already puts baby's abd mother's health at risk) that you cannot work, you are not well enough to attend a holiday abroad with friends doing all sorts of activities.

HG and a long weekend in a holiday cottage in the UK where you're with family and can reasonably be chilling abd feeling unwell, yes.
A holiday abroad with a group of girlfriends when everyone was conveniently off at the same time whilst colleague has openly said she's saving her annual leave to extend maternity leave? Piss taker.

It takes our friendship group 6 months to find a weekend we are all free to catch up. A week away abroad is something preplanned.

It is not just a case of the vomiting settling.If she has been sevely ill for 6+ weeks she will be very weak and depleted.She will need to regain her strength.I would imagine being relaxing in a hotel having all her food prepared for her would be a good idea

What are you hoping to gain from this? To have her fired while she's pregnant? That's life-changingly, devastatingly harsh. It's a pity if she's skiving a bit while she's pregnant, but that's about it.

I wouldn’t get involved.

I think you've done the right thing reporting.

If she's well enough to go on holiday she must be well enough to come into work. Either you're off sick, or you're on holiday. If you get signed off sick and suddenly feel better, you come back into work!