Off sick and manager wants to have a catchup?

[Applerumbles]

I’ve been off sick from work with MH issues for well over a year.
My line manager has just emailed to ask tor a catchup call to see how I am and what they can do to support me.
I can’t face talking to him (or anyone really) so would it be ok to say that I’m not well enough for a call and that I am still getting medical treatment for my illness?
Im not sure he should be contacting me if I am off sick and providing fitnotes?

How close to state retirement age are you? That seems incredible that you would be able to continue just being paid and not have to work up till then unless you are close. If you do have that policy and it will pay out until retirement and you are confident they will happily pay the premiums until then then why not I suppose? But i dont think its uneasonable to have to send a monthly email to say I'm still sick. You could even automate it!

Personally I'd never assume I could get paid for more than 6month off sick (with anything). Im assuming this income protection insurance is a public sector organisation or large corporate - but what if a new broom comes in and gets rid of the policy? It's extraordinarily generous so I can't imagine it will last forever.

How is it indecent to use an insurance policy that the company offers as part of its reward package when the insured event occurs??

Agreed, but it is possible and the OP needs to know where she stands on this. The union may be able to help her with this.

Exactly, I don’t know if the mean comments are from people who are envious of others with good employment benefits?

The lack of understanding and knowledge of income protection insurance in the UK continually astounds me. I hope everyone on this thread has a lightbulb moment and realises that almost everyone should get this if there employer doesn’t provide it

A relative (local government and some years ago) had a similar experience. Her manager was not allowed to call her. It had to be a member of the HR team. She was seen regularly by a medical health professional from occupational health. She was also expected to "mitigate" her circumstances by engaing with the process. There was no internet back then so it was telephone calls and home visits. Eventually she was retired on health grounds but had to go through 6 months full and 6 months hald pay before they could formally terminate her employment. She then went on to a medical retirement pension until she finally hit state pension age.

I am shocked at some of the vitriol on this thread. Especially the comment about "shit or get off the pot". What a disgusting lower class expression!

However the posters who make the point that the patient is required to engage with the process are correct.

Ignore the people who don't understand the point of income protection insurance, OP, but do ensure that you check what your contract says about this - best not to make assumptions about your entitlements which may later turn out to be incorrect.

Would it be morally wrong to use house insurance if your house burnt down?

We’re not being unkind. We’re asking why you don’t want to engage with your employer if your illness renders you incapable of doing your job for over a year

Thank you. I will try to look at my contract or contact the union but it is actually very difficult for me to focus on anything at the moment. I know I need to do something though

Is that like having your cake and eating it 😬

Definitely engage with your union, OP. This is exactly what you pay your subs for.

At my work we have very generous sick pay, and an offsite OH department who would be deployed after a certain amount of time off sick to offer support. We have links to counselling services, addiction support and so on that a person could be referred to. There would eventually be discussions on “reasonable adjustments” to get the person back to work, which might even be a new role (eg a person who was a door to door salesperson but had a leg amputated could move to a field sales role - extreme and totally unrelated example) or things like a phased return. Ultimately they would “manage out” a person who wasn’t ever going to be fit to return to work through the competency policy though. Interestingly it all seems to reset if the sick person is back for even a short time - they would then be entitled to full sick pay again.

I’m finding it difficult to focus or communicate at all so engaging with my manager will be very hard. You are fortunate if you can’t understand that.

Are you serious?

If you can't contact your trade union, ask a family member or trusted friend to do this for you. Your TU rep can then contact/liaise with your manager.

Unions are there to deal with matters just like this. That's why we pay the subscription. Don't approach an independent law firm as suggested earlier in the thread, use your union.

Because that is how mental illness can impact some people. It’s like asking why someone with a broken leg can’t walk.

why would a union be better than a specialist law firm who works in this area?

Actually @Friendlygingercat (I have one of those!) is correct about comms coming from HR and not individual managers. At my place your manager is not permitted to make contact with a sick person. I was off a few weeks back for four days with a rotten cold and my manager messaged me on WA to say he wasn’t ignoring me (after a couple of days I was well enough to do bits from home so was replying to emails etc) but he wasn’t allowed to reply to my messages while I was on sick leave. I think it’s in case the sick person feels harassed?

Unions have specialist lawyers. If it is deemed the OP has a legal case, the union will refer her and this will not incur additional cost. As a TU member, she is already paying trade union subscriptions, so why pay for a law firm when she can get legal advice and/or representation via the union?

Don't be absurd.

My employer offers long term income protection. If I get a long term illness or disability that renders me unable to work again, my Company will pay me 75% of my salary until retirement. So for decades, potentially.

Morally right my arse.

Just like i'm happy to accept free health insurance, excellent pension contributions and other things - the benefits my employer offers to attract employees - I would absolutely accept and use this benefit if I qualified.

Op would be a fool to throw hundreds or thousands of pounds down the drain each month by resigning. No one with half an ounce of sense would! It's an excellent benefit to have.

Some of the attitudes on this thread are appalling.

The union should be able to help with this, and it might be easier to get them to look into this for you than trying to do it yourself.

I'm really sorry you're getting such terrible responses on this thread @Applerumbles

I hope that one day, your health will start to improve.

A great many people don't understand or have any sympathy with poor mental health. That's their fault, not yours.

Thanks. I’m not sure what the point of having income protection insurance until state retirement age if the company can sack me for being ill too long.

I think that’s a bit of a stretch. It’s more likely that when people are off sick, long term, there is always a requirement to be in some form of contact with the employer and it isn’t just a case of submitting fit notes. This can’t just be ignored because the illness is MH.

You asked if your employer can contact you, and the answer is yes they can.