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?

@surfer the difference is you would use annual leave for a GP appointment ( assuming you can't get an evening one) and it is pre booked and cleared with your employer before you off...

@myself2020 absolutely but I'm sorry to say the OP sounds like a malingerer.

How many excuses is she going to make?

Before anyone says anything I've had severe anaemia before (not caused by heavy periods) it is due to something else.

If the OP is that badly anaemic that she is collapsing everywhere she would have been taken in for a transfusion or an iv iron infusion.

She only feels the symptoms when she has a period?! Either you're anaemic or you're not. It doesn't drop massively during a period and then recover

The OP just thinks it is normal to take this amount if sick leave so I don't agree the GP is appropriate.

Just get the hell on with it and go to work with your period and your cold.

She might be surprised what she can cope with

@missfliss annual leave or not it is still absence when she has been told she isn't cutting it

5 days for a heavy cold, really?

Are you taking the iron tablets properly?

If your iron is so low you are fainting you should be getting transfusions.

Have you had a referral to investigate for endometriosis? That's what I'd be asking for with periods as you describe. You may need to be assertive with your GP. You should look into this ASAP, especially if TTC is on your agenda in the near future, as endo can make this more difficult.

Your employers might be more sympathetic if you can point to a diagnosed condition.

You are still on probation and they have been very accommodating so far but that doesn’t mean they will continue to be. Surviving the probation period doesn’t mean you’re safe, they can let you go with minimal notice up to two years.

I have asthma and cold really affect my chest but I wouldn't take 5 days off for a cold. I was in work last week with a cold - it's just what you have to do

I have every sympathy with period problems: my hormones are completely out of whack from PCOS and were made worse by fertility treatment in my 30s. I had horrendous periods for about five years where I was having to change super plus tampons plus a massive pad every hour for the first two or three days. My iron levels were only about 10% of what they should be. I also have a problem with my stomach and couldn’t tolerate iron tablets so I moved to Ferroglobin. In the end, because I didn’t want to pursue pregnancy any more, I had an endometrial ablation which has changed my life.

But during those five years I just had to get on with it. During the months I was waiting for my procedure there were a several occasions where I literally couldn’t leave the house - but work were fine with this because I had 15 years’ service with them where I’d proved my worth and my dedication, so they wanted to help me. (This was also true if I needed time off for any other illness, even alongside my period issues). Importantly, I had a solution identified and was on a waiting list, so I wasn’t just looking ahead to menopause for things to change.

If you’re early in a role or career, you’ve got no track record, and they have no idea if you’re dedicated and serious about the job or not. You need to take responsibility for finding solutions to your period problems - like all of us you need to be able to work, so keep pushing at the medical people to help identify ways to allow your periods to have less impact on your working life.

I’m a bit suspicious about your faintness during your periods due to low iron: no individual period depletes you to that degree over a few days. If your iron is low it’s low all the time. My ablation was over two years ago and my iron levels are even now only back up to half what they should be.

Wow, your employer should definitely ditch you now. Not only are you taking the piss with absences now, but all those absences you’ll likely take just to deal with pregnancy stuff. We haven’t even got to the mat leave yet 🤣

what will be will be op.
eat well, live healthily, try and get proper sleep, look after yourself and hope you pass your probation.

How old are you OP?

it's clearly shining through that the OPs work ethic is the issue.

low iron doesn't become suddenly an issue when you have a period. If it is dangerously low, you would be on hospital, getting a transfusion. Iron just doesn't drip suddenly when AF visits and then goes up.

OP is workshy, that is the problem. If she falls pregnant, she surely will milk it too and will be at work even less.

Average days sick taken in the UK per year is four OP.
So one day off every 3 months is average. Two days every month is 6 times higher than the usual sickness rate so I'm not surprised it's an issue for your employer.

@Surfer25 i completely agree. and ttc. if you are anemic enough to pass out? the mind boggles

I didn't realise a couple of days each month was too bad.

I really wouldn’t blame them if they dismissed you during your probation period. It sounds like you can’t adult. And I also have anaemia, current blood level is 9! Number of days I’ve taken off sick in past year: 0. (I know it’s not presenteeism top trumps but 2 days per month is ridiculous when you don’t have something like endometriosis).

Maybe you should move to Japan.

10 sick days in 4 months? If that trend continues you will have 30 sick days in the year.

Have you taken any annual leave in that time? Do you want to work? You sound quite like my niece who just didn't want to work. Moved jobs regularly. When she got pregnant she gave up work immediately because she was "so sick". (it didn't stop her going out at weekends and getting drunk though ).

You get periods every month. Are you going to miss 2 days every month for them. You will get coughs and colds. Will you take days off with them?

You need to realise that life and work continues on when you're slightly under the weather. I think this job will let you go. Although you seem to be coming at this from the angle of "can they.." Maybe hoping they can't, but will, and then maybe you'll be able to sue for unfair dismissal or something.

Pull your socks up. Your management and colleagues are looking at you thinking you are taking the piss. You are on thin ice at the moment. You need to pull out all the stops to prove yourself now. The cold could possibly be written off as a one off sickness. Periods are going to be a monthly thing though.

4 seperate absences in such a short time in any employment would probably trigger a disciplinary or warning

I wouldn’t want you working for me.

You are potentially putting a burden on your colleagues to pick up the slack.

You need to speak to a doctor about your periods and you need to get a grip in relation to a cold. A whole week?! 🥴

I didn't realise a couple of days each month was too bad.

That's 24 days a year - nearly five weeks of sick leave! Of course you're taking the piss.

I'm self-employed now but where I used to work, you'd have been gone before the end of your probation. There's no way you'd get an extension of probation - and if you'd then gone off sick for a week you'd have been told not to bother coming back!

Op could you offer to take this latest sickness as part of your annual leave to reduce the numbers? It at least shows willing.

Maybe look at dietary changes and ways to better manage your periods going forward so you aren’t taking time off. You might need to see a doctor again.

I'm in the public sector and our sickness policy states that three separate sickness incidences or a single one lasting ten working days or more in a calendar year, automatically triggers a procedure. It doesn't automatically lead to warnings, but you have to attend a series of interviews I closing possible OH involvement , well being interviews etc. If the result is that you've had a genuine run of bad luck, or something like an accident or major illness, you'll probably be monitored and support will be offered. If, on the other hand, it appears that you are going to be off as regularly as you for the same thing, they would be seriously looking at letting you go and if you and your fi e days for a cold to it, you would definitely be on the way out by now.
Not all jobs can allow you to work from home and, in any case, if you are working from home whilst as unwell as you claim to be, I'd wonder just how much work you'd be doing.
I'd also suggest, very strongly, that you get this sorted out before ttc. Pregnancy is tiring enough if you are fully fit and iron levels often drop during pregnancy. If you are at bad as you claim, I'm surprised you are not having transfusions and I'd seriously wonder whether severe anaemia would even prevent you becoming pregnant in the first place.

Are you genuinely sick two days every month or do you feel you are entitled to sick leave so take it?

4 working weeks a month is 20 days, so you're effectively taking 10% off each month. You are completely taking the piss.

I didn't realise a couple of days each month was too bad.

In the sector I work in we can have 7 uncertified sick days over 2 years. We can have 3 months certified sick over 3 years. Anything after that becomes unpaid.

You'd very quickly find yourself unpaid for your absences.

And those average sick days in the U.K. of 4 per year as quoted will cover those who have had a lot off, for whatever reason- broken leg, cancer, etc - so that affects the statistics. Most everyday-illness people will have much less than the 4 days off.