To report this to my manager?

[Thelordnelson]

Colleague had an incident and has been off work a long time as not able to drive due to injury. Our job involves some driving and not able to work from home.

Colleague lives quite some distance away and our manager is young and inexperienced and appears not to question anything colleague says, just keeps taking the sick papers that are on a monthly basis.

I was on a day out yesterday and saw colleague driving into a shopping centre car park. I stayed parked up and they went into the store and exited carrying heavy cans of paint and some lengths of timber. Seemed not to have any issue with walking, lifting or driving.

As it happens we don’t actually need colleague back as we’ve all absorbed their work easily. They were a difficult person anyway and none of us want them back.

Torn as to whether to mention I’ve seen them or not. I have no evidence so am thinking just stay quiet. I am so annoyed though, they’ve had nearly 3 months full pay on the sick since the beginning of the year.

I would. It’s up to them what they do with the information then isn’t it?

YANBU, if she can drive and carry heavy paint then it’s likely she can work.

Did you record her?

Bit of a goady first post OP 🤔

Definitely mention it!

Most likely a name change.

op, you've no idea of their health. Why do you think you know better than their doctor?

I would, though be prepared to not be believed if you didn’t collect any evidence of what they were doing.

What would be your motivation for telling your manager? What do you want to happen? Why is the manager's youth and inexperience relevant?

Colleague lives quite some distance away and our manager is young and inexperienced and appears not to question anything colleague says, just keeps taking the sick papers that are on a monthly basis

You want a manager to question a fit note provided by a doctor? Is your manager some type of medical professional that has access to your colleague's medical records?

In fact you should not be privy to your colleague's reasons for absence.

But if the reason they’re still off sick is because they can’t drive due to an injury and they’ve been seen driving, it makes a bit of a nonsense of the reason for not being able to work.

As ever, someone's sickness is none of your business. You have no idea on what basis they are still signed off sick unless you are their GP.

So they are able to pick up a paint pot or timber (from a trolley?) place it in the car and drive home.

Does that single exertion compare with a full day's work?

How do you know they are not off with their mental health as part of this? Perhaps the company want to have them assessed by an occupational health practitioner for their return to work? Perhaps they are coming back in on Tuesday.... But how would you know any of that?

I now know what we all suspected and that she’s swinging the lead.

Our manager is lovely but hasn’t a lot of experience in management and probably isn’t asking any questions - she’s clearly taking advantage of this.

Like I say I have no evidence so there’s no real point in saying anything. I’m just so bloody annoyed that she’s getting away with it. She was always complaining of her long commute so this no doubt will be dragged out for months. She’ll come back after a full 6 months of pay and be as much as a lazy pain in the backside as she was before. 😤

The OP shouldn't be aware of her colleague's reason for absence.

It’s not about questioning the fit note. The manager (clue is in the name) should be managing the absense. So discussions about the employee’s recovery and plans to return or not. Referral to occ health.

GPs only have a duty of care to their patients. I could get a fortnight’s fitnote for Stress without my GP even seeing me. It’s vital that the manager has all relevant information (ie occ health report) to decide next steps. If the employee is showing no signs of being able to return after 3 months they should be considering capability procedures.

(HR Director.)

Colleague may well have shared that.

Im quite a new manager and I'll be honest, I don't know what I could do with that information. If they're providing a sick note then that's the accurate info I have. I suppose I would then ask my HR manager.

I now know what we all suspected

Sounds like a horrible place to work.

Even if she did it might not be the full story.

It isn't the OP's business.

I don’t disagree.

But it doesn’t sound like the manager has a grip of this at all.

I would just stay out of it, you may not know the full facts just keep out and concentrate on your own business.

💯 agree it’s private and boss is unprofessional if they are the source

That's possible. As you rightly said earlier, it's for the manager /HR/OH to manage.

I would certainly hope that wouldn't involve tittle tattle from the likes of the OP.

Does your company offer anything additional to SSP?

Why do you know the reason your colleague is off sick?

If you dislike them so much surely the longer they are on sick leave the better?

YABU to assume the sickness is still related to the physical injury. The need for time off could be related to anxiety/stress/depression which is not uncommon for people who have suffered physical trauma in an accident.

Your manager should be conducting regular catch ups with them to check on their health and discuss any reasonable adjustments or refer to occupational health. None of this is your business.

Yes be mad about it but going to your manager because you saw them out shopping is petty and could cause you trouble.

Manager definitely does not have a grip of it. In fact the reasons for absence have come from her. As I say she’s very inexperienced.

As annoying as it is I’ll stay quiet. No good can come of it. Just hope she eventually gets her comeuppance.

This is the second time she’s had a significant absence and I’m hoping that in the next round of redundancy she’ll be gone. She really doesn’t deserve a job with us - not a team player in any way.