Attendance warning for operation

[swanseasophie]

DH started a new job in June and has recently had 2 related episodes of sickness off work, totalling 17 work days missed in total. The first he was admitted to hospital after being sent to A&E by his GP and was kept there for 12 days. He needed his gallbladder removed but wasn't well enough to have it done during that hospital stay, so he was sent home with medicine to take instead. He returned to work 2 days later. He was then given a date for the surgery about a month later, had the operation and had a week off work to recover. He is never normally ill so this has been bad luck on his part.

He is back at work now but has been told by his manager that his probation will be extended and that he will get a written warning for exceeding his sickness trigger points during probation. This seems unfair given the circumstances. AIBU?

It’s standard procedure (for box-tickers). I wouldn’t worry too much, he’s only had his probation period extended so that the correct boxes can be ticked! He’ll be fine as long as he doesn’t get sick again.
good luck to your son OP

It's standard for probation to be extended like this, it's not punishment for being off sick. It's just so he has a full chance to show his employer he's good for the job and that he's satisfied he's happy in the role.

The written warning is automatic too. It wouldn't matter if he'd never had a single sick day previously and there's no doubt he was seriously ill and couldn't possibly be at work - they document it regardless of the wider circumstances.

That's nearly 1/3 of his working days off, off course it will trigger the system

It's Box ticking. You would think the people with the power would have an ounce of common sense that really something like that can't be helped.

17 days over three months is a lot regardless of cause. Surrey he can just explain and hopefully not repeat it.

A written warning for an actual illness requiring surgery seems harsh.

Can't believe people accept that as normal.

Anyone of us can have an illness beyond a standard cold at any time or break a limb.

They're a business and he has taken a HUGE amount of time off so yes totally fair and normal.

It's unfortunate but at the moment he is looking like a flakey employer and needs to prove himself to be more reliable.

Of course they need to extend his probation

@TwinklyAmberOrca

yrah, you're right. Having your gall bladder remove is,like, Soooo flakey

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

They can’t judge his performance when he isn’t there so extending probation seems sensible. They don’t know he isn’t normally ill.

the extended probation is very normal in these circumstances, obviously he couldn’t prevent his illness but a workplace will want to observe reliable attendance before making someone permanent.

the warning might just be standard policy.

It will be company policy. Its just bad luck it fell so soon after him starting.

I know of 2 people in the NHS who have triggered for formal sickness warnings. One who was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and the other who needed some abdominal surgery. They cancelled her surgery twice. It was the same NHS Trust she worked for who were penalising her for their failure to give her the treatment that would resolve her sickness.

The extended probation is fine

the sickness warning is bloody ridiculous

They can't be subjective about the sickness, it's their policy. Who would have to decide if Dave's gallbladder problems could be overlooked but Mike's stress couldn't? It's one rule for all or it would be very unfair and land them in all sorts of trouble.

This. You can't pass a probation period if you've been off for more than 3 weeks, that just makes your probation period 3 weeks shorter than other people's. All sounds very standard.

The probation extension is standard - it's to ensure he actually has enough time on probation for them to judge his suitability for the role.

The warning is actually pretty mean, and policies should have inbuilt flexibility. He's obviously not taking the piss.

Shows what kind of shit company he is working for. I would be looking for a new job.

Unfortunately that’s standard procedure when on probation, hopefully he won’t need to be off again during the extended probation

Looking like a flakey employ ! to what a computer or a idiot that can't tell the difference between a hangover and having a gall bladder removed ?

I understand the extension to probation. He's missed a good part of it so agree it needs to be extended.

I'm talking about the warning really - surely that's unfair? The policy says the manager has discretion not to issue a warning if they feel it's not appropriate in a given circumstance.

Having worker in many jobs then unfortunately there really are jobsworth people like this that can't see the bigger picture.

Just like there are still companies that think that only those with degrees can do certain jobs.

@swanseasophie blimey, if discretion is in the policy they are being super crap giving a warning. I hope he feels 100% asap.

If he wasn't in work for a third of the time he was on probation its hard for them to assess him & vice versa so its not unusual to extend the probation to give more time.