what is going to happen?

[panicnow]

I am off sick from work and 23 weeks pregnant. I Have been called into work for a formal attendance review and the letter states I could be dismissed for ill health. My sick notes have not specified that my illness is pregnancy related although the doctor has said to me he thinks it is. I Phoned to confirm that I will be attending the meeting & when I asked the manager if it mattered that the sickness was pregnancy related she said no they do not differenciate. When I enquired about starting my mat leave & annual leave to minimise the sick leave she said she did not have time to discuss it with me and will not have time at this meeting either. She then went on to say that HR were looking into my last years annual leave as they believe I had taken too much. The other manager calculated this for me and I was told to take it before April, as it is all done in hours I have no idea what I was exactly entitled to. Does anyone know how I will have to repay any excess leave? Any advise appreciated.

make sure you bring someone into the meeting with you, do not go in alone even if it is just a work colleage so that they can take notes. Do you have someone you can ask and if so let HR know by email that this person will be attending the meeting with you. You are allowed this by law if they refuse tell them you wish to postpone the meeting and contact legal advice.
They cannot touch you when you are pregnant so please do not be intimidated by them. They cannot sack you for pregnancy related illness. I have had over 30 days off this year for pregnancy related issues and there is nothing that they can do nor can they sack you a year after you have had the baby as this also looks like discrimination. If anything appears untoward make sure you contact an Employement Lawyer or the Citizen Advice Bureau. Good luck, go in their fighting with notes prepared on your sick days they will try to intimidate you but if you have a friend with you it will help and if you feel you are getting upset ask for a moment and step outside the room, don't give them the satifaction of seeing you upset !!!

Thank You so much for replying, I have left a message on the unions answer phone but have not heard back yet. I`ve never had any dealings with them until now although I have been a member for 12 years. Do you have any idea how far back they can go regarding sickness absence?

www.thompsons.law.co.uk/ltext/l0240002.htm

Also look at this leaflet www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@employ/documents/digitalasset/dg_0 78787.pdf

I hope these help

Thank You, really just feel like resigning I dont think im up to arguing at the moment. I`m even worried about vomiting during the meeting and there being no toilets nearby lol. Do you think I should ask my G P to write a letter about the reason for my absence? Thanks again

I have been off for about 5 month due to fluctuating b.p making me feel dizzy. My company are very strict on absences, and I was asked to go to a disciplinary hearing, where normally, I would have been given a disciplinary. Work asked me first, to go to an occ. health meeting with a private Dr. who confirmed it was a pregnancy related illness.

In my hearing, HR said, as it was pregnancy related, they basically couldn't do anything. I however had, pregnancy related dizziness/low b.p on my sicknotes.

When at your meeting, make sure you have a union rep. with you, as they are there to protect you. Tell them that it is pregnancy related, and that you can get a note from the G.Ps stating so. Good luck. Hope everything works out.

Just seen this post and am unable to offer much advice myself but just wanted to suggest you try asking on the employment issues thread.

I had a work/pregnancy question once and they were great help

Hope it works out ok

Thanks guys, youre all great for taking the time to advise me. Hopefully itll all be ok. I just keep crying at the moment as were so skint I cant afford to lose my job and if I could be at work I would.

panicnow - i have had about 4 months of in total through pregnancy - now 35 weeks and there is nothing that your employer can do. trust me - mine would have tried if they could. keep on at the union - they can send a representitive and if possible get the doc to put together a note saying that all absences were pregnancy related.

as for the comment that they dont make exceptions to preg related illness - thats utter rubbish as it can be seen as sexual discrimination.

basically any illness that is only appropriate to one sex cannot count towards sick records. men cant get pregnant - therefore its one sex related

please do not let this worry you - you need all your strength to look after the baby.

you can probably tell i have had lots of advice in regards to this - all from the wonderful people at mumsnet!

take care xx

In my last pregnancy I was off with chronic fatigue for 5 months and this time I have been off with hyperemesis from 12 weeks (now 28 weeks) the key is to get your absence pregnancy related and then noone can touch you, whatever you do don't resign and don't let them intimidate you. You could always phone one of the many law firms that give you half an hr consultation for free to get professional advice

I am really grateful to you all for the support. Im probably being dramatic but feel like im on death row until I know what they will say at this meeting. I keep thinking they will try to find some other reason to get rid of me. Will let you all know what happens x

This is terrible. They cant sack you for being sick while pregnant. make sure you have something from the doc saying this is pregnancy related. Im sure they will give you something if you explain. Then get the union, or a collegue to come to the meeting with you. And dont agree to anything. remember you are in the right here. Keep mentioning discrimination and unfair dismissal. As for your leave - if your manager calculated it its her fault. you may have to pay it back - but remember you accrue annual leave while on maternity (so use that).

Anyway even if it wasnt pregnancy related, if you have a sick note from the doctors i fail to see how they can sack you. tell them to back off or you'll be off with stress. Do not resign - you'll loose so much maternity pay.

Your union should be able to help but in the meantime try calling the ACAS helpline on 08457 47 47 47 (Monday to Friday, 08:00-20:00 / Saturday, 09:00-13:00).

I think if you have a pregnancy related condition they can make you start your maternity leave at 25 weeks, but that's the most they can do.

Ok, even if it is not related to the pregnancy, they still cannot sack you.

When does your annual year start and end? If you have taken too much annual leave from the last year, then that should have come up around The end of April (if you run from april to april), why they are bringing this up now is a question to ask.

If your sickness is preganancy related, then again, they cannot sack. Further more, your manager saying that they don't believe you is totally unacceptable and something that you should bring up in the meeting. Your sick not/fit note is a notice from your dr telling them that you are not fit to work and they need to heed this, even if it is a hindrance on the workplace.

If your illness is related to the pregnancy, then you Mat leave is automatically started from the 4th week of EDC.

You are allowed to take you Mat leave from the 15th week of EDC and you should take all your expected annual entitlement for the year before this. Even if yuo are on Mat leave you will be accruing holiday entitlment as you are considered to be working.

As other have expressed, you need to take someone in with you. Take notes, have questions ready to ask them. Ask them what they will do to facilitate you going into the work place if your dr feels that you are able to return to work, and when they are going to carry out a risk assessment for you (if they have not already done so.) and that this should be carried out in front of you so that you are aware of the adaptations they are going to make!

What previoua poster has said is correct, they are legally unable to discipline/sack you for ill health due to pregnancy- if they try to they are leaving themselves wide open to a discrimination case.

Having said this, there may be an issue if your GP sick note did not state that the illness was pregnancy related? (I may be wrong about this so please check with union).

However, if you have a supposrtive Gp then perhaps it would be worth popping to see thrm and asking them to write a brief letter explaining that in his/her opinion the illness has been preg related, that should cover you.

Thanks everyone, no reply from the union as yet! They must be having a busy week. I have also just had a phone call from occupational health at work to attend an appointment. Feel awful and just to top it all off I now have a huge abcess in a very sensitive area & can`t walk lol. Seeing the GP in the morning so will have to see what she says now. x

Hello,

If your sickness was related to your pregnancy then you MUST state that it was pregnancy-related in your sick notes.

If you didn't specify that it was pregnancy-related they are within their rights to treat it the same as any other type of sickness.

Good luck with your meeting.

Superpenguin, thats what I am really worried about, but I suppose its too late now.

Panic now - it isn't too late. Just get the letter from the doctor saying it is pregnancy related and bring it in.

If they try to discipline you when your illness is pregnancy related they are in big trouble.

Try not to stress (easier said than done)

:-)

Thanks, spoke to nice union rep at last today tried to stop me having a breakdown over the phone. Not dealing with stuff well at the moment even before all this. The thing is I know i`ve been off too much so feel guilty anyway. Does anyone think I should just offer to start my mat leave as soon as possible?

You can't start it until 25 weeks (AFAIK), and I think (if they don't try to do something else sneaky and illegal) they will almost certainly want you to start it then. I think that if you've been off long-term sick with a pregnancy-related illness they can insist on your starting maternity leave at 25 weeks, in fact.

I think you can start mat leave from 11 weeks before edd ie 29 wks, but they cannot make you start it for sickness related to pg before 36 weeks. If you have a dr who is prepared to sign you off until 36 weeks you would be better waiting to start your mat leave then.

Thank You all, feeling a bit better now the union rep has been speaking to H R and the meeting has been cancelled.