Proof of appointment for work

[MYBO]

Hi, just wondering if anyone can help?? I’ve had a letter from a hospital asking me to attend an appointment. Work have asked to see the letter to prove I actually have an appointment (one colleague basically doesn’t believe me). I sent a photo of the top part of the letter showing the headed paper/date/time/my name and address etc but not showing the nature/reason for the appointment.

Colleague is demanding to see the original letter and refuses to help sort my cover (I’m trying to sort it myself but no luck so far) until I hand it over.

Im trying to find out if I’m allowed to black out the personal/medical parts of the letter. As far as I’m concerned my medical notes/correspondence is private though I don’t mind sharing the rest. I’ve phoned the legal helpline we have for work but it’ll be 24/48 hours before I hear back!

Hoping someone is able to help!

What is your manager doing about this? It should not be up to a colleague to accept or refuse your request and you shouldn't be having to sort your own cover.

Where's your manager in this? It has nothing to do with a colleague.

As a manager I'd be telling the colleague to pipe down. And yes, the letter head and date/time of appt would be sufficient.

Of course you don’t have to have to hand the whole thing over if it reveals personal medical information. Frankly as long as your line manager is aware of the situation don’t worry. If your colleague doesn’t arrange cover and things go tits up that’s on her.

Manager is on holiday so colleague is dealing with it. I’d given almost 3 weeks notice but unfortunately the rota for that week had gone up a day or 2 beforehand. It’s only now this colleague has offered to help, with the appointment in just a few days time.

I may have to cancel the appointment at this rate. I work in a shop and if I don’t go in the shop will have to shut.

Thank you for your help. Will black out the personal stuff and take it in.

I may even just cut the letter at the top!

Could you photocopy the letter and then show your colleague the copied letter with all the parts blacked out - eg department details etc - that you don't want them to see? leave the date and time etc for them to see.

Can you just say you will show your manager the letter on their return from leave? Or can you show it to your HR department instead? It sounds like your colleague is being nosey and the power of you reporting to them in your managers absence is getting to their head. I think making you show the letter to them as if you are lying is an absolute insult to be honest. It breaks the mutual trust between employee and employer and implies a lack of respect which needs to go both ways.

Forgot to ask - do you have a policy regarding leave for appointments? If yes then what does it say on there? If no mention of showing proof then I can’t see how they can expect you to.

so is colleague actually officially acting for the mabager or just being arsey?

If the shop shuts that won’t be your fault remember. It’ll be hers for not making any attempt to sort out cover despite having plenty of time to do so.

is the shop having to shut actually your problem?

I would be blacking it all out, advising it’s a personal medical matter and you will happily provide more info to your manager only

If you gave 3 weeks notice your manager should have sorted it - are they on holiday for more than 3 weeks? Will your manager be back before the appointment? Would not be sharing medical information with a “colleague” especially when they are already showing signs of unprofessionalism and poor people skills - I would not trust it to be kept confidential. If they have been left in charge then arranging cover is their responsibility or they should not have agreed to step up. As others have said, if it is their decision to shut the shop then that is on them!

Hope you’re in a union MYBO. Your colleague’s behaviour is absolutely unacceptable. I think you should contact HR if your company has an HR department.

So I cut the letter and took in the top showing my name, address and time/date of appointment, on headed paper. Talking to another colleague just now and it turns out she does in fact think my letter (of which I sent a photo) was fake! 😂 Manager is back tomorrow so I will be speaking to her.

I am in a union so will definitely get in touch with them if I need to. I did phone a confidential help line this morning that I got from the company intranet but they take 24/48 hours to get back to you. Hence posting here as I knew there would be people able to help. ☺️ I sort of already knew the answer but it helps to hear from other people that I was right!

Company handbook does say they can ask for an appointment card but nothing specific about redacting information from a letter that has a little more detail.

Colleague in question so the one who generally deals with the rotas hence her being the one dealing with my leave. But yeah it really should be my manager that sorts the cover. I’ve done what I can.

Thanks to everyone for your help! X