Work now tells everyone why you’re off? AIBU to think it’s a bit naff?

[ContactTraced]

At work we’ve recently appointed a new senior manager. They’ve brought with them a new sickness policy…

First; no more emailing in; you have to call his mobile directly and explain why you are going to be off.

Second; and this is the bit I think is a bit crap… and email comes out everyday with a list of who is not in the building and why, it doesn’t go into masses of detail but does say if someone is “WFH” “Meeting” or “Sick” for example.

This is supposedly so we can “support” in places where they might have a lot of people off, but AIBU to think this is a little crap; and is actually meant to encourage presenteeism… which is a bit irresponsible considering the pandemic isn’t over yet!

Phoning in when sick is pretty standard, everywhere Ive ever worked has had this.

Sending out an email with everyones location is fair enough but i would suggest to your manager restricting to - office, WFH, planned leave or unplanned leave.

We have to phone in no issues there. I can see where it would be useful to know who is contact able or who isn't- would be quite a time saver. Those listed as wfh great I know I can still get in touch with them. Those in a meeting great I know when they'll be free. Those with covid great I know they're not contactable for 10 days. Those sick 🤕 I know not to contact them. Makes for a.much easier life.

@drpet49

Ringing in sick is completely standard and normal.

Where I used to work they insisted you phone in yourself and not have someone else phone in for you.

I get terrible migraines where I can't even move let alone get out of bed or make a phone call. I can't speak because of the pain and the fact that I will literally throw up if I try.

I had massive arguments about it as my DH used to phone

My old place used to do this. In fact my old boss used to ask you about your medical appointments in the morning meeting.

I deal with some long term health conditions that I don't want to talk about. In the end I just invented an endless dental treatment and 'went to the dentist' instead.

@MrsSchadenfreude

We have to call in, on the grounds that anyone could send an email or text, and they need to make sure it is you.

Where I work we can email or text. Funnily enough there's never been a problem with people masquerading as somebody else to falsely claim they were sick.

Calling in and directly talking to manager/senior is the norm. You need to indicate
why you’re off
When will you return
What needs cancelled or rescheduled from your appointments. Who to inform you’re off eg other colleagues if you were working jointly
In some jobs you need to call in so alternative cover can be arranged too

The email list,in itself it doesn’t breach GDPR as it doesn’t give a specific reason. People do need to know if it’s covid, to plan their response and manage your absence etc.

As a minimum you do need to talk to your work, that’s not unreasonable

I don’t see why it needs to be sent to everyone, it just sounds annoying to be sent daily emails if I don’t need one.
But it is relevant if someone is off sick vs annual leave, because it means it’s not planned, and therefore there may be work that needs covering.

I would check but I am not sure that it doesn't breach GDPR. It is not personal data in terms of it tells you exactly why. However, there may be some people who don't want anyone to know they have a medical appointment for example.

I would check with the ICO.

Agree you can ask them to not say Covid if it bothers you, but the way your op read it seemed they were writing stuff like “Brenda is off with her piles again”. Covid can be acceptable if it’s a self isolating thing.

Generally what’s been distributed is stuff most people will know anyway.

On the other hand, nobody told me the associate in my office was off sick last week. I had been emailing him, chasing for some stuff he said he’d do.p and felt awful for it.

If he had been noted as WFH or out to a meeting I’d have been fine to email him.

I've always had to phone in if sick, I can't see a problem with people knowing if you are sick, I think the medical might be a bit too much but maybe it is to indicate this is just for a day? The covid bit could be useful to let anyone who has been in contact with that person know, I'd want to know if I'd been sitting next to someone with covid and it might not just be who you normally sit near as it could be meetings/lunch etc.

I really don't see the problem. It's not like they're broadcasting what's wrong with you

I would check but I am not sure that it doesn't breach GDPR.

Sigh. Why do people (even the ones who say they don’t know) spout GDPR for everything. Telling an office who is in or out doesn’t breech GDPR.

@ContactTraced

Sorry I wasn’t clear.

If someone is off with covid or has to isolate it says “Covid”
If someone has a medical appointment it says “Medical”
If someone has just called in sick with anything but covid it says “Sick”

That's outrageous. I'm not sure it's lawful either. I'd look into that.

my old boss used to ask you about your medical appointments in the morning meeting.
I deal with some long term health conditions that I don't want to talk about. In the end I just invented an endless dental treatment and 'went to the dentist' instead.
Why? Why not just say 'That's personal.'?

There's no reason not to tell others if you are sick, it helps them know how certain your planned date back is, ringing in sick is also standard policy for most places.

Sigh. Why do people (even the ones who say they don’t know) spout GDPR for everything. Telling an office who is in or out doesn’t breech GDPR

The only grounds for processing sensitive personal information is consent, sickness is sensitive personal information, therefore consent is required.

The ICO won't give a shit, because they never give a shit about the law, it came from the EU.

Calling a manager to let them know you are sick is standard practice and normal in most work places. The email chain however is too far. Just a general unavailable is all that is needed.

[quote ContactTraced]@Aprilx I don’t see how I’ve changed my story![/quote]
Are you serious? Well in the first post you said the email specified whether it was sick, working from home or meeting. When people replied this all seemed normal you said it explained the nature of the illness. Two quite different scenarios. 🙄

I can't see anything wrong in being told people are off sick - it is put down on our rota. As long as no confidential details of why you are off sick/ illness etc are leaked what is the problem?

In teaching you have to phone in sick . You also have to set work for your classes and email that in. No matter how ill you are you have to set this work. This is not easy to do from home as it involves emailing in any worksheets etc that will be needed. It is bloody horrible trying to get your head round planning for this when you are feeling ill.

You have to do this every single morning, unless you are signed off by a dr, in which case you inform work when the note runs out and do not need to set work for your classes, but you do need to provide medium planning ie what topics they need to cover.

An absence list is emailed to all staff every morning so everyone knows who is away. We (unbelievably) went through an extremely short lived phase where the actual reason for sickness was included next to the names. This was soon stopped, but on one occasion afterwards the person completing the form made a mistake and the reasons were emailed out. This was followed by an apologetic email telling us to ignore the previous email - like that helps.

I don’t see the issue as long as they’re it giving the reason why you’re off sick, although the information should be given on a need to know basis (so only team members, not the whole company). I need to know who is off in order to ensure there’s cover I place. Being off sick is different from a scheduled day off as it has the potential to be longer than just that one day.

I think it's awful. First of all, why does it need to be circulated to the entire company? That's ridiculous. It should be on a need to know basis, surely? Secondly sickness absence and medical appointments are potentially sensitive information, even if you don't add detail. Obviously if you're working closely with someone or if you need cover then those individuals would need to be aware, but otherwise I think it's totally unacceptable to broadcast it far and wide.

Calling in is normal for every place I worked and disciplinary is given if you dont, or send a text.

We can all see everyone's rota too, so can see when a person is off sick etc.

I don't see the issue, so long as its not telling people why you are sick.

@ContactTraced

Sorry I wasn’t clear.

If someone is off with covid or has to isolate it says “Covid”
If someone has a medical appointment it says “Medical”
If someone has just called in sick with anything but covid it says “Sick”

That's a complete breach of your privacy and actually illegal. You should complain.

@Rainbowshine

Your manager needs to think about whether this is compliant with GDPR as medical information is classified as sensitive, that could include indicating that you’re off for sickness reasons even without the cause of sickness. Worth mentioning if you have a work Dignity and Respect policy or similar to him.

This was my first thought.