Advice... time off work/are work being fair to me at the moment?

[working9while5]

Bear with me. I am 17 weeks pregnant with dc 2. First pregnancy was entirely uncomplicated medically and despite being sick for 22 weeks I never missed one day of work and was working full time and commuting 3+ hours a day on public transport.

This time, it has not really been so straightforward. From very early in the pregnancy, I have had back pain that has been at times incredibly severe. At 9 weeks, the pain was so intense and all over and contraction-like I was in A and E where the doctors took one look at me and said sorry, sweetheart, you are miscarrying. It was worse than labour, I have never felt anything like it.. but in the end the baby was okay though my back flares up with no warning every 2-3 days while other times it is fine. Seeing physio about this.. I was signed off for the month of December because of it.

When I went off, my manager and I discussed what would happen when I would come back. I was due to take on extra sessions which had been agreed and I said I felt I would have to drop at least one of these, as I am also doing work-related MSc.

I train people at NVQ level and have to make up 11 2 hour sessions for the month I missed. This means that I have to work two late evenings, and on those days I am out of the house from 6am to 8pm because of the commute and having to do the rest of my job. I am contracted to work 22.5 hours but this will take me to 27.5 at work and I have lost the session I used to mark student work, which means I will have to do this at home as I was "paid" for it last term (even though I was off ill?).

I am also being asked to do one session in a new location even further away, which will be a four hour round trip commute for me.

It's just dawning on me that while I will be paid to work three days this term, I will have to work four to make up for the time I was off ill. And actually I'm not that well... it seems a bit mad actually. I know everyone has to catch up when they've been off, but I have to do all this and take on another session in another location and get paid less for it, all because I was sick? I have never been off.

To top it all off, I haven't been able to go back to work this week as I have randomly been struck down with a chest infection (and as have been hospitalised for severe asthma in the past, this is a dicey thing for me, especially as the doctor wants me to fight it out without steroids for sake of baby while my oxygen levels are okay).

It is all such a mess. What should I do?

Would it be normal for other employees to take extra sessions when they return form sick leave? I know it's usual to come back to a desk that looks like a bomb's hit it and have paperwork to catch up on, but to take extra classes? Never heard of that and can't believe it's right.

If you were signed off, then you should return to working your contracted hours afaic, but I have no legal knowledge.

Unless you are self-employed and they paid you in advance for work you haven't yet done (in which case you should be able to chose to refund them?) I can't see how they can ask you to make up time when you were on sick leave

Seems to me like they're being VERY unreasonable - they're supposed to make reasonable adjustments to your workload to accommodate your pregnancy - not to increase it!

I'd have a good read up on your rights - here looks like a good place to start.

Then discuss it with them.

If necessary involve your doctor.

I'm not self employed, NHS worker, but we provide contract to Education. So Education will have paid NHS for our team to provide those classes last term, but I couldn't do as was off. However, theoretically others could have covered it, I am not only person trained within team... and Education pay for line management of whole team etc so it shouldn't really be my responsibility to make it up I don't think. However, it has always been a bone of contention in negotiations re: who pays for things like mat leave/sick leave so it is a political hot potato. Just feel I am being asked to make up for it to gloss over the fact that no one agrees on who should pay for my sick leave iyswim?

This doesn't seem fair to me. Where I work, if people are off sick it is usual that their appointments would be covered, cancelled or rearranged. Any urgent work would be covered by other colleagues wherever possible. If the sickness is likely to be long-term, depending on the role, a temp may be considered to cover.

There would be things the employee would be required to catch up on when they returned but we wouldn't expect them to work extra hours to do so. You shouldn't be expected to make up the time you were off sick.

I would give ACAS a ring. I have called them in the past on various complicated work issues and they are great at explaining your rights and how to communicate them to your employer (www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461)

I have some experience in HR matters/law, not specific to maternity but I would certainly say this is very unreasonable in managing the return to work for ANYONE who has been off sick for a length of time. Also in terms of ensuring you stay healthy and productive this is a ridiculous approach - running you into the ground will just make it more likely you need time off again. Some employers are just useless and untrained at dealing with this kind of situation - others are genuinely punative to people who have been off sick long term. Make sure you document everything that's happened, dates of conversations, meetings and who said what, just in case you have any issues that need addressing later down the line.

No legal knowledge I'm afraid but knitter is right, they are supposed to adjust to make things easier/accomodate your pregnancy not increase your workload and make things harder for you. Right now You and Baby are all that matter and your employers need to make alternative arrangments to cover you. You don't need any extra stresses at the moment. Good Luck.

You could try posting in Employment Rights as well as there are some expert bods who hang out there.

Good luck.