Back to work interview after sickness?

[Bigredtaxi]

I’ve been off for a week.

Does anyone know what it will entail? I’m a bit anxious.

For us, in the public sector, it’s to check you’re well enough to be back, and make sure we have any adjustments in place to help you, e.g. a phased return if needed. If you’ve had several similar periods of sickness recently it might also be to be sure that the organisation isn’t causing you to be ill. If you have an ongoing condition it’s good to know how you’re managing it and how we can help you to do that.

It's normally to ask whether you feel fit to come back to work, whether your illness/problem is ongoing or will recur, whether it was a communicable disease or accident at work, and whether you need further support/OHS involvement/reasonable adjustments. It's possible that there could be sanctions depending on your company's policy, but that will vary depending on the organisation.

I’m in the public sector (school) and I have a doctors note.

I’m in my probation period, but I’ve had three episodes of sickness since I started just over a month ago.
Me and my son had a sickness bug, then I had to get a PCR test because I developed a cough and I had to self isolate. Now I’ve got a chest infection and have been prescribed antibiotics negative PCR…

To check that you a fit to go back to work.

Ah. Being sick that often and for so long in a single month in something they are going to want to talk about with you. It’s really unfortunate for you that all these things have come at once. How much time have you actually worked in that month? I think it’s likely that they will want to refer you to Occ Health for advice. Certain numbers of illnesses or lengths of absence trigger an automatic referral where I work.

They are super normal. They will clarify why you were off, ask if you are definitely fit to be back and ask if there are any adjustments they can morale to help you with your return.

We do them after every sickness at work so if you haven’t had one yet and only are now then it may be to discuss the number of occasions. There isn’t really a lot to say considering your reasons but they will be looking to ensure there isn’t anything else going on

Where I work that would trigger a process about sickness leave reduction. They claim it’s not disciplinary but it is.
How much time have you worked? Could you have WFH while isolating?
I’d go in with the full expectation of getting a bollocking under the guise of “help us help you”

I would think that sickness absences and expectations around it would be detailed in the terms of your probationary period contract.

I'm public sector and I conduct return to work interviews for every direct report after a period of sickness, as per policy. If someone has been off sick 3 times in one year, it triggers a different tone to the conversation. 3 times in one month would be something I'd need to understand more about, again according to policy.

Up till very recently, covid absences were not counted as part of normal sickness absence so perhaps you have only officially had 2 instances of sickness absence. It depends on your organisational policy.

Return to work is to check you’re well enough to be back and whether there’s any ongoing issues. Tbh after that amount of sickness I would expect some kind of target to be set to reduce it, possibly disciplinary action depending on company policy, especially as you’re in probation. But things like this happen all the time, they’re just following procedure, it’s not a judgement on you as a person.

I’m getting worried now.
How can I be disciplined for being ill? I don’t understand.
I couldn’t go in with vomiting and diarrhoea. I couldn’t go in while self isolating waiting for a PCR test and now I’ve got a secondary chest infection that has come from a very nasty cold virus.

None of the above I could have controlled.

I have only worked for about 2 full weeks out of that month, but none of it was my fault.
With sickness bugs you’re not allowed to go in until 48 hours after last episode of sickness.
The covid thing obviously I was self isolating.
I guess I could drag myself in with a chest Infection…but I don’t think it’s a good idea I’m worried about losing my job, I’m gutted. I’ve just ordered myself some strong multivitamins.

Where I used to work it was a lecture about being off sick, the impact on the business and a stern warning that if it happened again within the next 6 months it was a disciplinary matter. There was never any regard given to drs notes. Apparently HR in a factory that makes handbags had better medical knowledge than hospital consultants and GPs.

I work in a school if that’s any help

It’s not so much that it’s being disciplined but in a probationary period if I was your employer I’d start to worry that at the slightest sign of a sniffle you were getting yourself signed off (not saying that’s what you’ve done but the timing of this is very unfortunate).
In these cases it’s less about you and more about the wider team. People who are off a lot breed resentment and create extra work for a team. And if I had concerns about that in the long term it would have to be addressed.

Maybe it’s better if I just hand my notice in I feel like I’ve started on a bad foot

In the public sector it's generally pretty hard to do much about poor attendance when it's actually questionable so I wouldn't worry so much OP as I would if you were in the private sector.

It's totally normal to pick up lots of bugs when you start school and it's also totally normal to have a back to work that's a chat and a form to fill in. If your attendance settles down as you work there longer then it will just be a piece of paper sat in your file. If it doesn't then they will have the first step in a sickness management programme in place which they have to do do. Either way they are just doing the standard thing they have to do by policy at this point, don't worry about it. Unless the person doing it is a complete Muppet they'll know the D&V and covid procedures mean there's only really the chest infection absence to discuss and keep an eye on.

Don’t hand in your notice but go in with a decent plan of how you plan to tackle the meeting and others may not agree but anything non contagious I’d be dragging myself in to the end of the probationary period.

@Bigredtaxi

Maybe it’s better if I just hand my notice in I feel like I’ve started on a bad foot

Definitely don’t do that! It’s a huge overreaction. This is an automatic process. All your absences are justified. Just go and talk to them.

Most work places have a low tolerance for sickness in the probationary period op

I know this probably doesn’t help, but I believe that if you’re double vaccinated, you no longer need to self isolate. Prepared to be told I’m wrong though, as it’s so hard to keep up!

My workplace aren't including Covid in any sickness-related disciplinaries but 2 instances would be enough for them to let you go if they thought you were taking the mick.

Generally a return to work interview is just to make sure you're well enough to be back, if you need any alterations etc.

It'll go on your record but not an issue unless you continue to be off regularly.

What does your absence policy state in relation to absence triggers? And what does your probationary policy say about absence during probation?

At the moment - you cannot count Covid related self isolation in triggers. So you have two instances of XX amount of days.

I wouldn’t hand your notice in- I’d go to the return to work. If you have hit a trigger, they will tell you then if you are progressing to a disciplinary hearing or not and you’ll get a separate invite stating the date / time / location and your ability to bring a colleague or trade union rep and the potential outcomes.

Even going to a disciplinary hearing doesn’t mean automatic dismissal. You could just get a warning.

@Lysianthus

I know this probably doesn’t help, but I believe that if you’re double vaccinated, you no longer need to self isolate. Prepared to be told I’m wrong though, as it’s so hard to keep up!

I think if you have symptoms you still have to self isolate till you have your test result. This absence won’t count against the OP, as it’s co I’d related.

It’s unfortunate. Just be factual and aware of their policies and your dates. Take a note to remind you.
Period 1 was due to your d & v sickness x-y date and you retuned on z date as per 48 hour policy (don’t muddy water with suggesting you were off only because child ill)
Period 2 was cough and unable to work pending negative pcr test as per policy.
Period 3 chest infection seen gp on x date got antibiotics.
The only thing I’d say is can you suss culture of place. They may have policies but everyone turns a blind eye eg no one isolates 48 hours. Also are you with children or in office. Again depending on culture you may be expected to work if you are in office (I’ve worked in an office where puking in bins, running to loo with d & v was norm/acceptable but we had no sick pay)

@Bigredtaxi

Maybe it’s better if I just hand my notice in I feel like I’ve started on a bad foot

Don't give up!

Apologise for the inconvenience and assure them that it is very unlike you to get sick and thank goodness all this COVID stuff will be over soon.