To think I will be dismissed for sickness record?

[nojob]

I started a new job last October with 3 month probation. I was told in January that my probation was to be extended for 2 months 'due to absence' as I'm not fully trained up yet and haven't been able to demonstrate I can meet the required standard. They said they are confident that I should meet the required standard by the end of February.

I have been off sick for 10 days in total (2 days in November, 2 days in December, 1 day in January all due to very bad periods and 5 days last week due to a heavy cold.). Can they decide not to pass my probation even if my performance is ok? They haven't said anything yet but I get the vibe that they are not very supportive of sickness. I missed some important training when I was off last week. Should I be worried?

We let someone go last year who phoned in sick on their 2nd week. It's a good indication of someone's work ethic.

I get that a lot of people do skive and not take their commitment to their job seriously - and a whole working week for a bad cold does seem very excessive - but I hate the underlying assumption that calling in sick usually equals lying, and that it should be an accrued benefit like annual leave.

If somebody is genuinely too ill to work, illness doesn't care whether you've been in your job for one week or 30 years. As for the Bradford scale, it seems to be designed to discriminate against people with disabilities or ongoing medical conditions. A healthy person breaks their leg in a cycling accident and has to be off work for one long-ish period: fine; a dedicated person who suffers from the effects of a long-term serious condition for a day or two every month or so: uncommitted liar who needs to be sacked.

I know that businesses need to be able to depend on their employees, but reading some of these comments i.e. 'you might not be well enough to do the job' leads me to think that those of us with ongoing conditions are to be treated as sub-par in the employment world: basically rejects who don't really deserve a job. Not all that different really from the mindset surrounding women of childbearing age not all that long ago - 'just not worth the risk'.

I know that many, many employees do poison the well by calling in sick when they fancy a day off or maybe aren't 100% but still able to muddle through at work; and I appreciate that businesses aren't charities - but if somebody isn't disabled enough to qualify for PIP (bearing in mind that a lot of people who are very disabled still get turned down for PIP on highly spurious grounds), but isn't fortunate enough to enjoy generally good everyday health, exactly how are they expected to earn a living?

FartyFenella if one if my senior managers were not extremely concerned that one of their new members of staff, didnt think 24 sick days a year was an issue....I would be concerned about their ability to be a senior manager.

Part of your job is thinking about the business.

Kinda getting the impression off op that she’s only interested in what the company will do about sacking her and what legalities there are etc rather than what she wants to do to keep her job.

My employer has generous sick pay and when I was on long term sick for mental health reasons they were extremely supportive. I say this to make the point that they are supportive and don’t just do the minimum legally enforced. They’ve also got rid of several new colleagues in the last year for excessive absences, generally when people have had lots of repeated short term self certified absences. And I fully support that. If people are taking the piss like that (like you are OP!) while on probation, when they should be trying to make a good impression, what the hell will they be like after probation?

OP you sound really young and really stupid to not have realised that your employer would have a problem with you taking 10% of the working days off sick every month. And really really stupid to take five whole days for a cold when you’d just had your probation extended due to absence.

Yes sometimes people just have a run of bad luck, I’ve been there. And if you’ve worked somewhere a long time and established you’re not a piss-taker then it’s reasonable to expect your employer to be supportive. When you’re on probation, you drag your butt to work unless you have d&v or are bedridden. You don’t take 10 days over 4 instances within four months, including five whole days for a cold!

YABVU to have had so much time off and YABVU to think your employer wouldn’t get rid of you for it

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll I agree with what your saying however we have someone in our team who is off once a month (at least!) without fail and it causes so much trouble for the rest of us.
Every time they are off it leaves us so short that we often don’t get lunch or a break. Workload means sometimes staff have to stay late or even work nights to cover her slack.
As a one off we pull together but when it’s every single month or often more frequently it does cause a lot of tension between the rest of the staff.
I’m not sure what the answer is, it’s crap for all involved but I can see why people are sacked for it.

Op

You are not going to be kept on and you have e no legal recourse as you are still within your probation period where they can let you go for any reason.
Honestly no job will accept this level of absenteeism, you need to sort your medical issues asap.

Your be out the door where I work. You are already at a Bradford factor of 160 in 4 months. If we multiply by 3 and say you have 12 absences totaling 30 days on a 12-month period you’d be at 4320. 900 is where most companies consider dismissal.

Have you always had such problems with periods? You can get prescription-strength pain relief if the pain is that bad. I’ve not missed a day from work in well over a year and since I started this job 4.5 years ago I’ve only missed 2 days because of my epilepsy. A cold? That doesn’t stop me working.

I didn't say I was off sick. I said I didn't go into the office. I worked at home. And no, thankfully we don't work in such an unpleasant environment where people who are off sick for a week with a contagious illness, where they might infect other colleagues, are subject to performance management. If you think that is a good thing then I think you need to review how the organisation you work for treats people.

And yes, as a senior manager I would be asking you to explain why you have made people who are clearly unwell come into work to infect other colleagues and perhaps service users. For what benefit? I don't give a shit what you and your senior managers would do - you don't work for me, you own the risks and they are your responsibility. Just be aware that this might bite you on the bum.

find it pretty fucking miraculous that all of you commenting have never been laid low with some horrible lurgy for a week or more

What BS. I have had flu and been off work, but my work were supportive because I wasn’t taking time off EVERY SINGLE MONTH in addition to that.

@JosefKeller if I'm off sick I can claim my annual leave entitlement back. I personally wouldn't. But plenty at my place of work do. And we get a full pay for 12 months sick.

Someone at my work has sickness levels similar to yours - she has MS. She also has 20+ years with the company, so they are very supportive. For periods and a cold, in probation, you’d probably be gone, sorry.

That is a huge amount of sickness, in a lot of companies 3 periods of absence in 12 months would trigger capability procedures.

I'm sorry but unless there was an underlying disability (in which case we'd obviously make reasonable adjustments) I'd probably be ending the employment on the basis that you are regularly sick and we couldn't rely on you to attend work. You have been sick every month

Wow 10 days!
I haven't had that in 22 years working
Current job 1 day off (twisted back) been there 7yrs
previously self employed for 7 years had 3 days off (flu)
previous to that 8yrs took 1 day off which I asked to be deducted from my holidays.

Work colleague is always knocking... has actually had 6 weeks off in total in the space of 1 year....sends me daft.

And sorry it wouldn't be out of the blue - your probationary period was extended by 2 months, that tells you that they are not entirely happy with something!!

I’m very much of the “if you’re ill, you’re ill” school of thought and can’t bear martyrs, but 4 instances in 4 months is a ridiculous amount

Exactly the same thoughts. I also cant be doing with martyrs who come into work and spread their germs to everyone else, especially when they could do their job from home, but 4 times since october is taking the piss, especially on probation.

At a previous job I got a sickness bug in my probation period and was off for 2 days. I had terrible anxiety about being off, but maybe that says more about the awful culture of that particular workplace.

@FartyFenella did you read the OP? It's not one week off with a sodding cold, it's four separate instances of which one was a cold.

Never ever have I known someone to take a week off with a common cold.

I said I didn't go into the office. I worked at home.

That simply isn’t an option in many jobs

I’m surprised a ‘senior manager’ hasn’t work that out

nd no, thankfully we don't work in such an unpleasant environment where people who are off sick for a week with a contagious illness, where they might infect other colleagues, are subject to performance management

FartyFenella, you can't seriously believe that a cold is contagious for over a week.

Oh, come on! I ready these threads and then OP says something so ridiculous that I begin to feel they are just posting to wind us all up! Your mother is very helpful during your PERIODS? What exactly does she do? That can't really be a thing, right? I must have missed the part where OP told us she was 13.

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

I know your post regarding PIP wasn’t aimed at me but in answer to your question, I guess for me personally I can only say that I have a conscience.

I chose to compensate & make up the time lost even though for every breath of air I breathe in it physically hurts (ribs fusing together, lungs not being able to inhale and at some point I won’t be able to breathe independently)

We’re employed to do a job. I want my independence and I will not be beaten before my time.

Probation period is usually like the honeymoon period of a relationship where you show yourself in the best light. I’m afraid the amount of sickness days doesn’t shed a great light on you.

Try and get this in hand, see your doctor about the periods and try not to have any more sick days.

I'd sack you.

Nothing personal.