Defamation in work reference or not?

[feileacan]

Is it defamatory to say in a work reference"her attendance was not satisfactory as she took too much sick leave" if all that sick leave is currently the subject of legal proceedings (personal injury caused by work ) ?

They cannot word it in that way. Additionally you cannot take too much sick leave - sick leave, particularly accompanied by a doctor's note, is an authorised absence. It may prove problematic for the company to deal with the absence and they will undoubtedly see it as inconveniwnt, but you cannot be seen to be penalised for being ill.

I thought you were meant to word absence record as either sickness or accident/injury.
Wording absence reason "work stress" is a medical record when that was referenced in the medical cert.

Of course you can take "too much sick leave" - people are legally dismissed or sanctioned for doing exactly that. You can be sacked for being ill, even with a disability, so unless the meaning of "penalised" has changed recently, your advice is incorrect.

@feileacan@Neriah is quite right when she says:

@WigsNGowns I think that you may not have noticed, but the OP's "potential employer" is the same employer that currently employs them / the same employer against who they are taking action for injury. It is not as clear cut as having sent information to a different body - the employer is the same entity in all cases and already has all the information on record. I do think the employing department is being vindictive (that is something different), but in effect all they have done is highlighted information that the employer already had but perhaps had not noticed / paid attention to

If that's correct, I hadn't noticed it sorry - I just read the opening post and your later one to me which shows the uselessness of listening to strangers on the internet! What I said was assuming it was a publication by employer A (curent employer) to employer B (totally legally separate personality) so just ignore what I said.

This is a genuine question - I think you know where I stand... where the hell are you getting your "thinking" from? I'm guessing your absence records operate similar to ours - a system common in the public sector. The first set of information contains the dates, followed by the number of sick days. Then there is a drop down list of (a remarkably stupid long list) of conditions (that scrolling through makes you lose the still to live). There is no "sickness" / "accident/injury" distinction, and there's definitely no "it's our fault, don't say anything" category.

And being brutal, "work (related) stress" may be a real thing, but no doctor is capable of diagnosing it. The doctor has your word for what is happening at work, and has accepted work is the problem. They have no proof of that. They have proof of the symptoms (perhaps) but not the cause.

I'm going to give you an example. It's the truth. It's my truth. Three years ago I got a new manager. Long story short, she wanted me gone, and I knew that would happen from day one - there was "history". She spent 9 months trying to force me out - I am tougher than that. With nasty disabilist bullying. When she couldn't she tried to make me redundant even though I wasn't. I contracted immediate work related stress. My GP signed me off for four months whilst my union obliterated management. I was lying. I was fine. Faking the symptoms is easy. I miraculously recovered when management surrendered and I was moved to another manager...

A year ago, one of my staff contracted work related stress due to the fact that I was bullying her. Her doctor said that. Unfortunately both I, and IT, had proof of the gross misconduct.

I'm not for one minute saying that you faked anything. And actually what was done to me might have pushed me over the edge - it's not a "tougher than" competition . I'm simply illustrating that truth depends on perspective. Your GP only has your word, as did mine...

I really want you to be able to move forward here. Sometimes "forward" isn't what you think. Your employer is making clear what their version of "forward" is. You will hopefully beat them on the claim. But there no version of forward that includes your continued employment here. I wish there was because I can see how important it is to you. But it isn't going to happen.

Work related stress is a perfectly valid sick absence reason.

All the employer has done is provide factual information as part of a reference.

Yes, the op is in dispute with their employer as to whether or not it was an accident at work. However, until that is resolved the reference is factually accurate.