I got a sick note to go on holiday

[Marleymerm]

Last month I worked at least 40hrs of overtime when my boss kept asking me to "stay late" or "just come in a few hours at the weekend" as we had a deadline approaching. I worked it and wrote it all in my time sheet, I work in an office so we don't have clock ins or anything.

Anyway, I got paid last week and got nothing for my OT, I asked my boss who said he only asked me to stay to help, he never actually agreed to pay me for it and he was asking me to "help the company" like we all should be doing.

I thought about fighting it but people in my office are petty and those above me would probably make things difficult for me. So instead I got a sick note from my doctor for 6 weeks for stress and booked a holiday. I've been honest with my work that I've booked the holiday and said it's to help with my stress, now my boss is saying this is clearly out of spite and he'll be giving me a written warning. However if he does that he'd have to formally admit to not paying me OT. I do feel nervous after realising I actually get full pay when I thought I'd only get SSP and now I'm worried my boss is going to take it further.

@Mumsy2022 So you would be happy to work for nothing? ! Why does OP look like a liar and deceitful? She worked, the company didn’t pay her ….. who’s deceitful, her employer conned her.

Ignore PPs. You have done nothing wrong OP your management's treatment of you and then withholding of wage has directly contributed to your stress. Your doctor has determined that you are sick and has signed you off for 6 weeks.

You have booked a holiday for therapeutic reasons.

Any retaliation or written warnings because you are off ill could be considered disability discrimination.

Hope you get well soon OP. Please do not allow his threats to add to your stress, if he continues to threaten I'm fairly sure that's getting into the realms of constructive dismissal. X

OP whatever the rights and wrongs of your situation I don’t think posting on mumsnet can be helping your stress levels. I’d get advice from Citizen’s Advice and then use your 6 weeks to try and de-stress and consider your options. I think your boss asking you to work overtime without making it clear it was unpaid is completely unacceptable. I also think 6 weeks stress leave is a lot and like PPs I wouldn’t have mentioned the holiday. Difficult to see how the situation is recoverable from here to be honest but do you really want to carry on working for a company which treats you this way?

Your boss/employer is treating you like shit. I’d be stressed out too working in this kind of environment.

Too many people willing to get treated like shit at work and being ill with burnout. Good on you for raising it with your GP. Who knows, even if they’d paid you the over time you may have needed time off for stress further down the line. Or maybe you wouldn’t. Maybe the lack of pay was the straw that broke the camel’s back? Who knows? 🤷‍♀️

Either way ‘good will’ can fuck off. We are all replaceable in our jobs. If you died today they’d have someone in your role tomorrow before you’d gone cold.

If you aren’t in a union then join one. Your boss is an arsehole! Make the most of your time off, you need it. And enjoy your holiday! But would advise against updating work on anything else unless you need to. If they start with ‘warnings’ or if they sack you then seek legal advice.

You can spot the shitty managers on this thread anyway 🙄

I would also write to your manager and copy in HR/payroll and cite ‘illegal deduction from wages’. You have 3 months from when you were meant to be paid for the work to do this. I would also contact ACAS for advice. In a country with unnecessary austerity measures for over 10 years and now a cost-of-living crisis to boot, I fail to see how any normal working person would not be stressed by losing out on the equivalent of a week’s pay!

You can be dismissed for going on holiday when you are signed off sick.

You didn't lose six weeks' pay (40 hours = one week) so you are being spiteful.

You can be dismissed for going on holiday when you are signed off sick.

You didn't lose six weeks' pay (40 hours = one week) so you are being spiteful.

Well done you!!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Hope you got all of your 4 months pay, went on a nice holiday and sent the fuckers a postcard!

Not necessarily- imagine doing all those extra hours thinking “I’m knackered/missing tea with the kids/missing chilling with dh, but it’ll be worth it cos I’ll have extra money to show for it and we can have a treat etc “ too then find out it’s for nothing (other than keeping company in profit!
Id be gutted and pretty stressed about it too! Especially when met with the attitude of the boss!

@Marleymerm If he gives you a written warning, he will surely have to admit he’s refusing to pay you overtime - And if he doesn’t you need to make sure you respond IN WRITING outlining exactly why you are suffering with your mental health because of the way you have been treated!
people on this thread need to realise it’s not just a couple of hours overtime - it’s 40hrs overtime - that’s a HUGE loss to you op and your boss is taking the absolute piss!

In a senior, well paid role 40 hours overtime in a month would be normal for some, or temporary due to certain factors that month.

For someone on minimum wage, who is paid hourly, 40 hours overtime in a month is unacceptable. Not least because it brings OP below legal minimum wage.

Let them give you a formal warning. Use your time off to relax and look for other employment.
Don’t do another single free minute of ‘help’ for the company.

this ☝️

I can’t get over the 6 week “sick note”. 1-2 weeks ok. But 6 weeks out of spite - think of the stress it will put your colleagues under. I would start looking for a new job - you’re lucky to just get a warning. (I say this as someone who has worked over my 40 hrs contracted hours for years and never had TOIL or overtime)

You have no idea of the history. People have months off work with stress.

I am sorry your boss is so awful @Marleymerm . As PP said get some legal advice or citizens advice. Keep notes of conversations. If previous volunteering at your office has been paid and this was not then useless your boss was explicit about the no-pay then you should be paid. I'd be pursuing that as well as taking the holiday with a clear conscience. Good luck OP and I hope you can get the stress under control.

Wow. So you’ve taken six weeks stress and are off on holiday because you worked 2 hours a day on average more and didn’t get paid and would have not taken the sick leave if you’d been paid?

that will teach them.

@Travis1 Can’t you just! They all except OP to work for nothing! One post even tells her to write a grovelling apology to her boss ! Haha 😂 😂 What the actual! 😂😂

Enjoy your holiday op!

If you're regularly having to be signed off work sick, then something is not working for you. That's not normal.

There are some mental attitudes to work on this thread.

40 hours isn’t much anyway
You got a 6 week sick note?!
Bragging about how much overtime you do for free

No one should be expecting anyone to work for free. Why should anyone be expected to work more than their contact pays them for? If you do it’s no longer work it’s volunteering.

I was off work for four months last year which started as stress and ended with me being diagnosed with a serious life long mental health issue. The last thing my GP recommend was sitting at home.

OP most sick leave absence policies have a section saying what’s acceptable when you are on sick leave even in terms of working second jobs. Eg you can’t physically go to a job because you broke your leg, that doesn’t necessarily stop you working a second job which may be remote etc…

A written warning for what? Being stressed? You've got a doctors note so there is nothing he can do. He might suspect you are doing this reactively, but your doctor's note is valid.
If you have to have a meeting with about it, treat it as two separate things - sickness ( stress) and unpaid overtime. But in your shoes I would say the absolute minimum - stick to "here is my valid sick note, I have nothing further to add."
Not sure what a written warning could say really, "we warn you not to get stressed again" ?
In future, you'll know not to do any overtime at all without prior agreement that you will be paid.
Meanwhile, if the custom and practice to date has been that you do get paid for overtime without the manager specifically agreeing it every time, you've got a good argument for being paid it this time. Can you re-submit the form, maybe to HR/payroll over his head?

This is very unfair.

Of course she was happy to work the overtime for more money. I don’t know anyone who chooses to work for free. And I think it’s extremely stressful and anxiety inducing to find that your employer doesn’t value the extra effort you put in and is happy to take advantage of you.

I work lots of overtime for no extra pay but I have a good salary and a good deal of flexibility so I’m more than happy to go the extra mile. I would never expect junior colleagues on less money to work the equivalent of an extra week over a month without either giving the time back in lieu or paying overtime. It’s unfair and downright exploitative. The gp no doubt saw this situation for what it was and understood the stress that something like this has caused.

what work do you do and what does your contract says? Many office employees do not get paid overtime; but if it is excessive you could agree before hand time off instead.

You did wrong by getting 6 weeks off sick; unless you are truly sick in which case you wouldn’t go on holiday.

you seem inexperience

Being under stress, related to work, isn't the same as being annoyed by being treated a particular way. Being signed off isn't a perk, but a necessity.

For that reason, you're unreasonable. You weren't suffering with stress in the true sense. If you were finding it all too difficult and were burnt out, you wouldn't have been able to agree to put in an extra week's work to help out (even for pay).

It's a conversation. You don't have to take part.