Occupational health sending report to my manager that contains really personal things - AIBU

[thfgre45tyhgfd]

I've been off work due to poor mental health, and as part of my return to work I have had a meeting with occupational health. It was a long meeting that was really personal and they have written up a report to send to my manager and HR. I asked to see the report before it gets sent, and it's really upset me to be honest. It's so personal and talks about things I wouldn't even tell my closest friends. AIBU to want to edit it to remove a lot of the details? For example, it mentions things about me struggling to get out of bed, isolating myself from my friends and things I've worried about.

It's made the return to work process even more stressful as I categorically do not want my line manager to know all of this about me.

Does anyone have any experience in this to know if I'm being unreasonable? The report also includes a back to work plan with actionable steps and targets - surely that's the important part rather than hearing all about my personal struggles?

Another HR person here. I didn't realise we were the most hated profession on Mumsnet. Second HR bashing thread I've seen this week.

You absolutely have the right to remove any information you don't feel comfortable sharing. In my organisation employees have 14 days to review the report and request changes before it's sent.

I would agree though that they do need some level of detail to be able to give proper recommendations and for management to understand the extent of your illness.

I've seen some reports that are so vague it makes it sound like the employee is just a bit sad sometimes when actually they're very unwell.

It's hard for HR to advise and support if we don't know the full picture.

First HR are part of the management team, I don’t know why people think they should act like a union shop steward.

but HR must operate within the law. Private medical information is not allowed to be shared without express permission.
Of course the OP can insist that the report sent to HR and in particular her manager is amended. Occ health wrote an account of what was di#cussed but that doesn’t mean the OP has Given her permission for it to be sent out in an unedited form

Op, act fast. Call occ health asap and say they are NOT to send it out in its current format and that it must be edited first with your review and approval. Send an email too today so you have documented evidence you’ve said it’s not ok.

And with best will in the world, do remember in future that occ health are paid for by company and will want to report back on what you’ve discussed. You can be open and forthright about what’s happening, what you’re struggling with but be judicious about what you say bearing in mind HR would normally want to see the notes. Focus on what you need form company and be honest about what you are doing to help yourself recover and take any advice given seriously.

You’re not by people who actually understand what your job is 🤣🤷🏼‍♀️There are just a lot of people who think you should act like a union rep 🤦‍♀️

It’s entirely up to you the information shared with your manager. You have the final say.

edits I want to make are basically removing most of the report and just leaving the actionable steps and maybe some of the more work-related things. I'm not sure if I can do that though,

Yes you absolutely can. I've seen many reports like this. They are paying an occupational health provider for their professional opinion.

So the report can say
" I have assessed thfgre45tyhgfd today and, due to mental health difficulties, she remains unfit for work at present. She continues to receive treatment from her GP and CPN and she will remain unfit for work for a further 2 months"
OR "thfgre45tyhgfd should be able to return to work in X weeks and I would recommend Y adjustments are made to her role during a 4 week phased return"

That's actually all the info HR and your manager need

You did not have to consent to them receiving your medical records. I never have.

Edit the document and delete everything you don't want shared. Even if it's a pdf you should be able to open it in word.

Another HR person here. I didn't realise we were the most hated profession on Mumsnet

Second only to teachers @CleanQueen123 judging by threads this week

Not sure how people think you can't be sacked for being off for five weeks. Not everyone is on the public sector etc.

Occupational health are independent medical professionals they are absolutely not there on behalf of the company. They have professional codes of ethics and standards to uphold.

Apologies then

Was the person preparing the report quite junior, OP? It's just I can imagine many decent managers really not wanting to know that level of detail either, it puts them in a bit of an awkward position. My line managers would just want to have a broad idea of what was wrong but mainly need to know what the recommendations were for moving forward.

Think about it - if someone broke a leg, the manager doesn't want.a picture of the bones sticking out or details of the infection you got during traction! Just details about how to deal with the return to work safely.

It does sound quite intrusive OP.
I’ve been off twice with during my 30 year career depression/anxiety/stress. And for a couple f other reasons that occ health needed to review. In all cases occ health asked questions in a very open style. The focus was on what had triggered/ caused it (they want to know if it is work related or a personal issue such as bereavement, divorce etc so thy can assess what they need/ can do to eliminate triggers). Then they wanted to know what support and treatment I was having..stuff like how often I was seeing Gp, was I lined up to see a therapist, was I being prescribed meds etc. They would be trying to assess how long I was likely to Be off for but even then they need to be careful not to put pressure on sick person . They would offer advise and reinforce what GP would say like ensuring I got out for a walk everyday, asking if I had people to support me, but just standard stuff that is part of treatment plan for any mental health condition.
Never once was I asked to describe my symptoms- that sounds like they were trying to diagnose you. If you have a sick note form GP that states the nature of your illness they really shouldn’t be doing that- it is massively overstepping and is coming from a position of not trusting your GP to have diagnosed you properly.
was the person a qualified doctor- if so yep, definitely over reaching but probably no harm done based on you being able to editing report that goes out to company . If it was not a qualified doctor you need to desk to HR. Tell them or perhaps better write it n an email, that you are really distressed by the intrusiveness of that interview, that it is now causing you more stress and distress becuase of the report documenting some really personal stuff that you felt you were obliged to disclose despite your discomfort, and that they need to feed that back to whoever provided the occ health specialist. Say you do not want to speak to that person agian but will speak to someone else.

HR have a duty of care. If the occ health interview has made you more anxious or stressed they need to know and they will want to cover themselves to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

To be honest I’d send an email anyway to Hr to tell them how distressing you found the whole thing and how you are stressing about it. No one should feel like that.

Really surprised they asked to access your medical records. Can you ask to retract your permission? Presuming you’re not in a job where physical health/fitness has to be assessed like the army etc?

Thank you all, I've been given the weekend to make any edits to it so I'll do that and get it sent by Sunday night. I didn't feel like I could make any drastic changes but you've all given me the confidence to be more assertive about what information I do not want shared, so thank you.

Like I've mentioned, I'm a very private person so on the call I was really conscious of what I was saying and trying to be as evasive as possible, but it was the way the questions were asked. There were lots of yes or no follow-up questions

Another HR person here and I agree with previous posters that you CAN edit the report but also that vague, waffly OH reports don't help anyone. There has to be some detail in it to be of use.

Think about it from the perspective of what HR/line manager need to know in order to help you in the workplace. Then take out or rewrite the really personal bits that you don't feel comfortable with.

For example, it's helpful if I know someone has a diagnosis of bipolar or severe clinical depression or cancer or whatever, but if it's not in the report then I can still assist so long as there is a good desciption of the issues. A diagnosis doesn't tell me how it is affecting that individual so it's important the symptoms and treatments and ideas for reasonable adjustments are in the report.

I wouldn't see it as you not co-operating if you edit the report or ask for changes to be made, so long as there is enough left in it to give a clear picture of the problems you are facing and the help you need to return to work and maintain that over time. If you take so much out you make it really bland that won't help you at all. I know having personal stuff in an OH report can feel very vulnerable and scary but you do have to let some of that fear (and possibly embarrassment) go.

Oh and not all HR people - or line managers - are arseholes, incompetent or out to get staff, such as some posters seem to think. But we also aren't the trade union rep and nor are we counsellors, that's unrealistic. You should however expect a professional approach that follows your organisational policies whilst treating you respectfully.

They weren't a medical professional, maybe occupational health was the wrong term but they are within that kind of field.

I think I spend half my life explaining that to people. I don't think we can win. We're either fluffy bunny and don't bring any value or people think we're uncaring monsters looking to sack people at the earliest opportunity 🙄

They were probably a qualified occupational health nurse

Exactly.

I'm a manager (in Ireland so maybe it's different) but this is what I'm used to.

I receive advice re the individual's fitness to work, and reasonable adjustments needed. That's it.

I don't know any details regarding their medical condition unless it's pertinent to helping them eg I was made aware that a particular accommodation was needed for a team member because of their hearing loss.

I think you absolutely can make sure that your personal medical information is protected.

Like most things in life having a bad experience with a few people in a role tends to put people off for life.

And if the gutless wit in my previous company happens to be on here, I hope you've learned from being a sheep and your new linked in profile has really amused me.

They are ultimately there on behalf of your company. You obviously chose to tell them a lot of personal stuff which was obviously not ideal. I do feel for you. I'm just wondering why you told them

That's absolutely not how our OH works.

They are as much there for the employee, if not more.

The review is carried out by an experienced doctor and all the usual rules of patient confidentiality apply.

OP has done nothing wrong or inadvisable here

Good for you op. Stand your ground. You can't take back something once it's out there. I'm sorry you are in such a vulnerable position. Good luck

I’ve never worked for a company where HR actually gives a fuck about the employees.

😂Quite.
I remember the days when it was called Personnel and their job was to help the staff. Then one day it all became Human Resources and their job was to screw the staff.

Another HR here, loved and hated in equal measure. Our job is to advise management how to operate within employment law, we are not all arseholes and I've successfully supported colleagues back into work with OH guidance more times than I've ever used an OH report as a tool to terminate (although in certain cases where OH cannot see a return in the foreseeable future that may eventually be an outcome).

I assume you spoke to a clinician given the timeframes. Your consent form should have given you the choice to review the report or send it to your employer simultaneously. Also whether you give consent for OH to obtain reports from your GP.

Your employers side of the referral will have asked the Clinician to ask for information such as the nature of your absence, a foreseeable return to work date and salient information that would enable HR and your manager to support you eg with reasonable adjustments, phased return etc.

My guidance would be to seriously consider, embarrassment to one side, whether the information you've given enables that. Could be that your withdrawal is actually relevant as it may point to heightened levels of anxiety which would support a phased return. No point coming back full time and having to go sick again because you're not ready.

Ask for reasonable edits, but try and leave in information that actually helps your Employer to help you.

Can I hijack this thread and ask someone with knowledge if you have a OH report does it go into your employment file for future managers to look at or is it just relevant to the manager at the time of the illness?