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?

That’s right

curlsnotfrizz - oh do kindly fuck off!

Back to the thread. The people saying that nobody employs women of childbearing age. Employment is the highest it’s ever been. And women have every right to go off on maternity leave.

Every given right and to penalise them for wanting to have a family means.... I suppose they think an ageing population will pay for public services...? No disrespect to the elderly because I think they’ve earned their retirement!

It’s also discriminatory not to give a woman a job on the basis you think she may get pregnant. I’m just making a general comment.

And can the country really afford to pay for women to not work at all and give them disability allowance because they have a few days out of 28 days when they can’t work? I don’t think so

Considering it’s a tiny minority of women severely affected by this, yes.

But honestly, shift work/part-time/work from home options are long-term the best. Your health problems should not the employer’s problem, you have to sort it out the best way you can.

Yes shift it to the tax payer

Nobody hires women of childbearing age? So no woman from 18-50 (approx) gets hired? Who decides what is childbearing age ffs.

Even with disability most employers wouldn't tolerate two days off sick every month, particularly for a new employee.

What happens when a disabled person is told by ESA or whatever that they are not sick enough for support and need to get a job (happens all the time), but they need the time off due to the disability (which they still have, cheers DWP), and their employer fires them for it? According to DWP they aren't disabled enough, but according to their employer they are too disabled.

Apparently women do!

Damned if you do damned if you don’t

Discrimination that’s what it is!

We can’t legislate for 10%

Why not? We legislate for various types of minorities to give them protections under the law. Some countries have been looking at giving women the right to take period days. If you know it's going to happen pretty regularly every month, that's easier to manage than people who pick up every bug going and are off a lot because of that. Plus the TUC and other organisations are beginning to look at menopause policies, too.

I don't know what the answer is, because I can see how it would probably also lead to further discrimination, but I think probably having policies about how best to manage women with temporary problems, be it dysmenorrhoea or menopause, is sensible - because it is better to support people who are good workers most of the month. Neither periods nor peri-menopause lasts forever (it just feels like it sometimes...)

Some jobs have the scope for much more flexibility than others. Teaching, nursing, hospitality, retail - you usually have to be physically thete. I'm in IT support, and I can work from home, do different hours if needed, and there are other jobs which can work like that. It's impossible in some roles, but not all.

None of that actually helps the OP, though.

Some countries have been looking at giving women the right to take period days

Some of those countries that have it or have legislation for it like Japan and China are quite sexist and have backwards ideas about women’s abilities and I fear this kind of thing contributes to it

i haven't had 10 days off sick in the 15 years i have been working. That is insane and if i were the boss i would be looking to let you go ASAP. Not sounding harsh but they cant rely on you to turn up for work so regardless of how good the work you do is it doesn't matter if you are not at your desk.

It demeans those of us (90%, by my reckoning) that just get on with our jobs and manage our pesky reproductive organs without causing massive disruption to our employer.

The lack of empathy here is appalling, And I speak as someone who doesn’t have period issues. If I were to say to someone with chronic arthritis which meant they struggled with typing... “I manage to get on with my life without letting my pesky hands stop me from doing my work. I get some hand cramps when typing from time to time and just take a couple of paracetamol. I believe you’re just whinging if you’re saying you suffer more than i do, so stop moaning and get on with it”, I’d be rightly pilloried for my crass and cruel insensitivity.

I manage a team of 20, and I would look to work with an otherwise good employee who had to take a couple of days each month when they struggled to work with period pain, and get them to do more hours on days they were in... 8 hours instead of 7.5 hours for instance. I appreciate this is possible in my line of work as I manage a finance and insurance team, so easier to manage than say, retail or hospitality where I can see it would be problematic.

Live to work or work to live?

Which one are you?

If I were to say to someone with chronic arthritis which meant they struggled with typing

You might appreciate that someone with chronic arthritis might not be a good fit for a typing job anymore. It is worth repeating that no one is owed a job and employers have to hire the best available person for the job, not retain people out of a misguided sense of compassion (that job should go to someone else who can do it better).

You might also appreciate that someone who thinks nothing of taking a couple days off a month is likely not an otherwise good employee.

They’d be a fool to keep her on, as they can expect loads of days taken off when she has various pregnancy-related ailments and then goes on mat leave.

How would you sympathisers feel if your doctors appointments were regularly cancelled due to period days taken by the 10% of female doctors who could take them? Or if your surgery was cancelled, court cases, dentist appointments, therapy sessions, etc etc?

We haven’t fought tooth and nail to get women as far as we have in equality, so that we can be shoved right back to the dark ages with period days!

I’m not doubting that some may have to take days. But it’s their responsibility to find a job that can accommodate. I’m going to say what other pp’s have already said, nice and loud for those at the back... no one owes anyone a job!

If business can accommodate, that’s great. Many businesses offer flexi time and WFH. But to legislate it would be a complete mistake, and would allow piss takers, like the OP to flaunt the law and take an extra 5 weeks off per year without recourse. She’s a piss taker, because she didn’t inform her employer that she would have to take this time, despite her knowing her condition. In her own words, she didn’t think a couple of days a month would be a problem. I mean seriously?!

We would also have to legislate all sorts of other ‘disabilities’ into work. Why should women be treated differently?

Legislate period time, and watch the level of women employed fall. Not in professional jobs, because quite frankly you won’t catch a solicitor, or a doctor or a psychologist cancelling two days a month for a period.

Yes, willow, you are right. But the OP expects to be paid sick pay, she didn't think 2 days off a month would be a problem. The OP might possibly be able to make up her hours or work from home. But she didn't tell her employer she needed this. She just went off sick.

Arthritis is a disability. Legally, reasonable adjustments would be made. But even then, after the reasonable adjustments were made, 2 days off sick a month would trigger a disciplinary process in .any organisations.

I’m with willow. If I believed the employee and she had a good reason and had communicated with me in advance I would if it was possible for the company to work with her and get her to make up the time rather than being totally inflexible when I could have explored other avenues.
People are not things you can dispose of just because they can’t fit into a work frame from time to time, a good manager would look for solutions that wouldn’t impact severely on the company or employees morale because yes companies also need to survive and thrive. It’s about balance if you can. Again if you can not won’t.

She didn't communicate it in advance though! That is what people are saying. Many employers will work with people to make up the time etc. But the OP just went off sick thinking 2 days a month didn't matter.

It can't work in every job though. Airline pilot for example. Barrister. Surgeon.

I don't think the outcome would be any better if she had communicated in advance. They probably wouldn't have employed her in the first place. It's very difficult to start a new job if you have any kind of medical condition. I think the only solution really would be for OP to struggle in so they could see how ill she was or if the periods are regular to book annual leave for those days or to get better treatment even if it means holding off trying to conceive.

I wouldnt not employ ot let her go because of her period.

Her attitude is what put me off. Her shock and surprise at 2 days off a month (at minimum) will have been obvious. Also her attitude of trying to get out of it, rather than address the problem head on. Would put me off.

Had op had said that she knows it's bad and wanted to work with them, it would be an entirely different story. I have managed people for 20 years and come across people like OP on occasion. They take up a disproportionate amount of time, effort and resources but dont actually want to do anything themseleves to make it better. Just look for loophole.

Her attitude, which will have been picked up on by any manager who is half decent, is the problem. Not her health.

Always ask your manager if they want you to come in with a head cold or not then at least it's not your decision.