To go to HR?

[Inasec24]

I was off work on Friday. DD had to be collected from school early on Thursday (by DH) due to being ill and we needed to keep her off. In addition, I have also been ill all week and felt rough on Friday, so it was part sick day part family leave.

It wasn't a pleasant day - we are in an area with a high number of Strep A cases and I was worried about DD, ill myself, and logged on to my work email because 1. If I don't work a bit then I would be swamped when I get back- my work doesn't get covered exactly, it just builds up and 2. There is a safeguarding element to my job so missing emails is too risky.

My colleague on my team emailed asking for a meeting with me and a few others. I replied yes, a meeting is a good idea - if you book it in Outlook then you can see all of our calendars.

My line manager then replied to me with everyone else still copied in saying "can you do this please, we are all quite busy here today".

Now I know that I was on my email but I felt asking me to do something for someone else when I am off sick/on family leave was out of order. I replied saying yes I would be happy to when I'm back in - to clarify I am off sick/on family leave today so just checking emails when I can. I feel like the email sounded resentful that I was off work. I am very rarely absent - the last time was summer.

Leave it or speak to HR?

But you quite clearly were not 100% off sick

YOU kiddies the water by logging on and engaging in work with colleagues. You

Yes, please report to HR and let’s see their response 😂

Just a wild punt here… you don’t like this manager?!

I said I can't come in today as my DD is off sick and I am also ill. Then I emailed my LM to say the same. I've been rough all week and various other members of the team have had it and been off with it too - bugs spread like wildfire in our place.

I like him personally, but he has done a couple of things recently that have annoyed me, yes.

Maybe your manager was trying to help you out by not putting it down as a sick day as you were doing some work??

But how has it been coded with hr? You're sick or parental leave?

I'm afraid you are blaming your boss for thinking you were WFH when actually you were WFH.
If you are unwell then don't log on.
You would look very silly for going to HR when you had in fact started to work.

What’s your absence record like? I recall your thread a couple of days ago about being constantly ill and having your fourth bug in short space of time and your children constantly ill

I think you dealt with it yourself. You reminded him that you were off sick and kept to what you were prepared to do.

Don’t reply when on leave or put a delayed delivery so you don’t forget to respond later. No that’s not something I’d go to HR about personally

You'd have been so much better saying that you were off ill, and on top of that you had a poorly DD to deal with. The way you phrased it makes it sounds like you were off with her but adding a bit of illness as an excuse for not doing anything.

If people are really busy then it's really annoying if they think you're at home with your feet up including when poorly children are sleeping. Im not saying that's right (I have very much been in the situation with poorly children and it's rubbish), but that's what some people will be thinking.

I said he 100% new why I was off, not I was 100% off sick.

It is very normal to reply to the odd email when someone is off, which is what I was doing.

However, I see I am over reacting and glad I posted as I can see I'm being too sensitive. I think I just needed that clarity.

No idea

I want you to report this to HR

just so you realise how daft you’re being

you are either 100% off sick or your not

by YOU choosing to work, YOU were not 100% off sick!!

Alright, calm down 😂
I was being too sensitive, I get it. Its fine - feel better already.

The OP was the one you instigated her working on the day by logging on and suggesting a meeting on a team email communication

I get the logging in to respond to urgent emails, but essentially echoing what another colleague has said and being slightly condescending about the diary checking feature on Outlook was not an urgent matter.

If I log in on my NWD or unwell, I'd only respond to the on fire stuff. If I read and responded to everything I am - effectively - working.

It speaks volumes about how you engage in the workplace that you would even think of wasting HR’s time and reporting your manager for this

Maybe your manager was slightly irked with someone off sick appearing to not actually be off sick and delegating work to colleagues.

The "new to people management" comment does make it sound like you don't rate this manager. You need to tread carefully as jumping to complaining to HR re something that really is a minor issue isn't the way to go about ironing out a work relationship. It more than likely would exacerbate the situation.

You were off sick, you responded to emails when really you shouldn't have and then got annoyed when a subsequent response was worded on an assumption you were working from home therefore probably had more time for admin that someone in the workplace that day.

Yes! That's what I felt he was thinking. And because that was so far from the truth, that's what pissed me off. Like he should know me better than that. But equally, I realise now it's a non event - onwards we go.

speak to management about policies about covering absence.
it cannot not be that a safeguarding issue cannot be followed up if a member of staff is incapacitated.

apart from that holiday or sick leave should mean that the staff member is not contacted. at. all. ever.

Honestly I can’t get to grips with why any one of the three of you (original emailer, you or manager) didn’t just send an invite rather than an email. It seems like it couldn’t have taken much longer. If this is how things are generally organised it must be unnecessarily adding to all your workloads. I’d maybe just suggest a quick reminder to the whole team that if you want a meeting send an invite for a timing people look free vs an email requesting a meeting. I wouldn’t complain to HR and I’d stop working when off sick

If you're too ill to work, then what are you doing logging on and sending emails? You're the one who has blurred the boundaries here.

I didn't request a meeting or delegate anything. I answered an email asking for a meeting and it seemed my colleague was waiting for everyone to get back to her with a time they could do - I just suggested she arrange it via Outlook as it is quicker that way.

You say this as if those two things are interchangeable, you don’t get to take a sick day for a child being ill, sick days are for you being ill and you should be crystal clear over which reason you are off for.

You indicate you were ill too but you were checking emails and organising meetings. It is no wonder that your manager was not clear if you were working or not. This is absolutely nothing to go to HR about here, it is very strange that you are considering it.