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?

CatkinToadflax: my son is 4 years old and gets very sick from similar symptoms. He was in and out of hospital since he was 9 months old and he’ll probably have this for the rest of his life.
You shouldn't feel guilty about your condition and not able to go to work.. so long as you are being straight with your boss about it and you can come to an accord it is what it is.
I’ve been off work looking after my son for 8 days, I give work regular updates and work from home when he’s asleep so I still get a lot of work done.
I don’t feel one bit guilty about it because this was part of my work arrangement.

john You must realise that the circumstances you are describing are not normal for most workplaces, even the most accommodating.

I don’t work in prisons.

@CatkinToadflax

You shouldn’t feel guilty. I’m so pleased your employer is able to be supportive. HR isn’t about hating everyone who is off sick, it’s about supporting those you feel are worth supporting, and aren’t taking the piss. On the flip side, a good HR manager works within the law to effectively extract the employees who do take the piss, and therefore the MD, or whoever is at the top of the tree, wants out.

We have employees with health problems, and I’d like to think we support them well. We’ve had employees who are perfectly healthy, but awful employees, who we’ve weedled out. It’s all about the hours you work, but also about the work you do in those hours.

I hope you get over this bad episode soon, and start to feel better.

@johnmartinday are you a lawyer?

You seem to think that people with genuine illnesses and disabilities are immune from being legally and morally dismissed. I have had extensive and repeated periods of sick leave. I am protected by the law but equally, if it gets to the point I am not capable of attending work, they are not obliged to continue my employment.

You seem very anxious about your son. I am on drugs to suppress my immune system, have a lung disease and had 3 intense care admissions last year and even I don’t expect the world to spin around me when people have colds. It’s part and parcel of life. I’d have more sympathy if you were the one with a suppressed immune system - unclear if your son actually has a immune deficiency or is vulnerable when he does get an infection. I’m not so entitled that I expect people with colds to stay at home purely because of my health.

Thewarrenerswife thank you for being so kind 😊

I love how in the return to work chat they ask “how can you stop this happening again?” It’s a tick box on the form.

A colleague of mine had that one on returning to work after recovering from injuries sustained when he was knocked over by a car that mounted the pavement. The only answer he could think of was "Never leave my house again" but somehow he didn't think that was what they were looking for.

Chuyler: my son spent the latter part of his first year, most of his second and third year going into hospital every month for all kind of respiratory, pneumonia and lung problems stemming from colds. Last time he got sick he couldn’t breathe and his lips went purple and had steroids to open his windpipe and oxygen. He’s now on inhailer.
Anxious is understatement but I try to keep my nerves around him so he’s not affected by my mood.
I didn’t say people covered by the equality act 2010 were immune from the sack. But there are policy and procedures to follow. I know people on long absences due to ill health problems can get dismissed on capability grounds but not before a fitness to work assessment and a meeting prior to that.
I am upfront, the first thing I tell my employer is about my son and how that could impact my attendance at work and what I’m prepared to do to make it up to them and I’m often the first one in and the last one out and I meet all my deadlines and their expectations. You can’t just take take and take without giving too.

Judycoolibar:
Lol!

Good grief, I've worked for 44 years (yep I'm a waspi so still working) and think the longest I had off, in one go was 5 days with flu and the first 3 days I had no idea where I was. I had regular monthly hormone induced migraines and took very strong drugs to keep me vertical and still worked between bouts of vomiting. As an employer I would not keep you on sorry, the rest of my team would have to cover your sick days and there would sokn be resentment if it continued.

Wow 17 pages on from when I last looked and still OP you don’t have a single thing to say about how you’re going to deal with this moving forward, just about their company policy.

Five days for a cold? I would say 0-2 would be normal depending on severity.

If period pain is that bad you may need stronger painkillers?

Crikey! I’m with @user1473878824
What do you plan to do OP?

@1Morewineplease I think the plan is to minimise taking the piss until she’s through probation, then take the piss again until she gets maternity pay. And then get her mum round.

You can't take 2 days a month off for period pain. I used to faint from the pain too, but I got strong prescription medication. You need to try that.

Some women don’t have a choice but to take time off.
I’ve tried everything my GP has offered, been to numerous NHS and private gynaecologists and I’ve never been given anything which has helped my period pain enough for me to work when the pain is really bad. I’ve tried lots of over the counter and prescription meds.

I feel very lucky reading this thread that I can work at home and have a great understanding manager.
It’s very sad to read so many women having a total lack of understanding about painful and heavy periods.

They toughened up to the point of being women of steel to the point they don’t even believe in maternity leave.

Who doesn’t believe in maternity leave? I’ve not read that on this thread.

That is a lot of sickness since October.
I wouldn't pass your probation and let you go.

Any update OP?

I don’t think anyone said they don’t believe in maternity leave. I actually agree with @user1473878824 and had thought exactly the same myself.

It’s not about being ‘so tough’ we don’t believe or sympathise. Just because we’re women we don’t have to back each other on everything. Having a fanny doesn’t give you instant high fives from every other woman on the planet no matter what you do.

I’ve been the work colleague of many shirkers, and I now run my own business. The idea that OP is not even out of probation and is already talking about getting pregnant is awful for the ‘small business’ who are clearly giving her a second chance. It will cost the dearly.

OP is part of the problem of why employers often think twice about taking on women of child bearing age. If this company get burned, I know they’ll think twice next time.

Op we have someone like you where I work. She regularly has time off sick when someone else on the team is on holiday (when she’s meant to be covering for her). Or when her clients are busy.

It’s infuriating because we have to pick up the slack.

I’ve just gone back from maternity leave no 2. Baby got sent home from nursery with suspected tummy bug last week. didn’t have it was fine etc. But she took time off citing my kid having a bug and passing it to her. So we had to pick up the slack.

Why they haven’t managed her out by now I’ll never k ow.

Chicklit, read what I wrote. I do have an understanding. I was not commenting on you, I was commenting on the OP who has not said she shares your specific medical issues! Jesus.

As I said, sadly if you can't do a job you can't do it. So I stand by the point that she cannot just take 2 days a month off. She needs to find a solution, either medical or flexible working like you have.

I used to have very heavy and painful periods. One time after a PE lesson I was doubled up in the corridor and my male colleague said I should be at home - I explained that I couldn’t take two days off every month and just had to get on with it. I eventually found a contraceptive pill that stopped them altogether.

I do have an understanding. I was not commenting on you, I was commenting on the OP who has not said she shares your specific medical issues! Jesus.

Clearly not as you said, ‘you can’t take 2 days off a month with period pain.’ As I said, some women have to. I know a couple of women who have to take time off every month due to pain and heaviness. Their type of work doesn’t allow them to work at home so they have no choice but to be off. To tell these women ‘they can’t’ is bullshit. They can, they have to and they do. If OP needs the time off, she needs the time off. 🤷🏻‍♀️