Very hormonal. Sick record when pregnant - what are my rights?

[Fran44]

Hi everyone,

I've just gone home sick after feeling like "I can't do it any longer". Can't do what exactly, I'm not quite sure. I do know that I'm 9 weeks and very hormonal - was crying at my desk - and am exhausted. I actually felt physically worse with my first pregnancy but I just felt like I couldn't finish the day at work. I couldn't get in touch with my boss so sent her an email and left. I'll call her later. Anyway, my sick record is usually non-existant but since starting my new job in September, this will be my third episode. I work for the NHS and checked the policy which states that pregnancy-related sickness will be treated in accordance with the normal sickness policy. If this is the case, I'm in for the treat of an informal sickness meeting with my boss. If this is the case with with how I'm feeling at the moment (not exactly the most stable I've every felt), it's not very supportive if they go down the disciplinary route.

So I guess my question is, anyone else feel a little mental in their first trimester, even if physically they weren't too bad and, what's the story with sickness and pregancy rights?

Thanks for reading,
Fran

Hi Fran, I also felt very much like you and went into work feeling and looking dreadful (so my boss could see just how ill I was) and on 5 occasions I went home mid to late morning. These five days were not recorded as sick leave because I had already done part of a days work? I don't know if this is just my company's policy.
I hope you feel better soon. I wasn't actually sick but gawd I felt dreadful oh and the hormones and crying...I was a right mess and felt I had properly lost the plot. Mine has been worse this time than it was with my previous 2 pregnancies. I'm now 17 weeks and I felt a lot lot better past the 12 week stage. Good luck at work x

Thank you, thank you blueberry. It's such a comfort to be reminded that I'm not the only one. And also that it passes x

Hello - I used to work for a co. which worked within the NHS and their policy was very similar to that of the NHS. The sickness policy seemed to be there to guard them from folk taking the mickey with illness. The meetings after 3 periods of sickness were pretty standard, and my employer was very understanding, I had probs in my pregnancy and had quite a few occasions off. I seriously doubt you would be disciplined in any way at all, and if you are, to put it bluntly you may well have a case to complain. It's very hard to treat a pregnant woman unfairly - and an organisation such as the NHS have very good HR policies which will protect you as well as them. If you are concerned write down all events and keep a record. I think you are worrying unnecessarily, which you do not need on top of all the rest - you will feel fine soon hopefully. Try not to stress about it x

Poor you, as if it wasn't hard enough :(
I was under the impression that any maternity-related illness didn't count towards your general sickness record, or is there something in your contract that counters that? Could be worth posting on the employment board as there's a lot of experts there who are full of good advice.
I felt terrible too, to the point that my colleagues who didn't know I was pregnant thought I was dying . Like Blueberry says be reassured it will pass and you'll get to the blooming stage soon. Hope you feel better soon :)

Contact HR and employee services for advice. I am NHS and sickness that is demonstrably pregnancy related is not treated the same in my trust.

However I am not sure crying and "feeling hormonal" would be accepted as a valid reason to go sick - do you have any TOIL/flexi/annual leave you could take? Or is there an option to take long lunch breaks till you feel better? I think you need to talk to your boss about this, the management where I am would take a very dim view of me going home in the circumstances you describe.

Also, here it doesn't matter how long you have been at work, if you go home sick that WILL be counted as an episode of sickness (I once left 45 minutes early with a migraine and that counted as a half day's sickness!).

Do have a chat with someone who knows the policies and can advise you - I am not unsympathetic but tbh I think your management are likely to be unless you show willing to use leave etc.

If you are truly unable to complete a day at your desk I think you need to go see your GP and discuss it (ask for your iron levels checking). If they give you a sick line do make sure it states that it's related to pregnancy or it will be processed as "normal" sick.

Are you new to the NHS? They are generally pretty harsh with regard to sickness/absence I'm afraid.

You will probably start to feel loads better in a few weeks once your placenta kicks in, but make sure you're eating as well as you can. good luck! x

ps I second what the others say about the "meetings" - if your sick record is previously good they will just go through the motions. If you do have problems speak to your union rep, and do keep a record of who said what when about what (!). NHS HR are not always enlightened about maternity rights - I work for a HUGE trust and have had to set the union on them before for flagrant disregard for the law - the problem is that HR don't actually do much these days and it's delegated down to individual managers, some of whom don't take it seriously or think that laws apply to them!

Panic not! 4 periods of sick in the NHS results in an informal meeting and being placed on 'sickness monitoring' which basically means they sit down and look at how they can support you in your sickness and if a referral to occy health is needed. However with it being maternity related it is not counted in your normal sickness, and it will just need to be something to discus in your supervision and perhaps a bit of annual leave to rest.

I am at where some of you work! My trust is 3 periods of sick in 12 months (was brought down to 2 for a while!) and it is NOT a touchy feely how can we help you kind of process, I need to know where you work EggsMichelle and get a job there meself.

Having said that I am a nurse and we are expected to work unless we are actually dead...

Helen DH is a nurse and they are pretty strict there - 3 x sickness = meeting with the manager and either referral to occ health or disciplinary as required.

I'm a mental health nurse, I think we do get a good deal cause our jobs are perceived as high stress/high risk. I had wrongly assumed all trusts were as nice as ours!

NHS worker here too - pregnancy related absence does not count towards the sickness/absence policy.

In our Trust it is the 4th episode that triggers 'sick watch'.

I've had 2 episodes of D&V in the last 12 months, and am currently off with hyperemesis. I have been invited to a meeting to discuss the absence - as I have been off longer than 4 weeks. But there is not a jot they can do about it at present, because it is pregnancy related.

Do your work know you are pregnant? If not it will be just classed as sick.

I agree with the previous poster though, I don't think having a hormonal day is a reason to have a day off sick! I suffered with antenatal depression, and still tried for as long as possible to go into work (until my manager evil woman made things so much worse for me so I couldn't cope but that's another story).

They can't count pregnancy related sickness towards disciplinary trigger points, I'd presume it means regarding sick pay, and informal discussions eg how can we help you not to call in sick so much.

It really seems to vary doesn't it? You'd think NHS policy would be blanket really, but that'd be too easy!

My ex once got punched in the face by a relative (medical admissions unit) and his manager wouldn't let him go home despite the fact his eyes had swelled up, one of the consultants came onto the ward, took one look at him and gave him a lift home in his Porsche - xp thought it was almost worth the pain for that!

Sorry for thread hijack OP. Hope you feel better soon. Arm yourself with information and get your GP onside - if you are feeling overwhelmed it's better to be signed off for a bit.

I am also 9 weeks and last two weeks i have felt awful! couldnt even brush my teeth with out being sick! and if any one spoke to me slightly funny or loud i just burst into tears! luckily last two days i have felt slightly more normal and long may it continue!!
I hope you feel bit better soon, it will all be worth it in the end!

I also work for NHS and I'm pregnant at the moment. I've had 1 day off sick due to mastitis and have been told that if I take another within the next 3 months I will be on 'monitoring'. Which further leads to occy health and management interview.

They ARE strict, however, it isn't disciplinary in the strictest sense of the word, basically, they can't punish you or reprimand you in any way, it'll just be lots of meetings where you'll have to justify your sickness, but that's all.

I hope you feel better soon, I remember that feeling well in the first trimester, thankfully it's gone now.

I work for the NHS too, and have a nearly perfect sickness record, until this pregnancy. IIRC, if it's a directly pregnancy related issue, then it doesn't 'count' in the same way because pregnancy has an obvious end-point and those issues will be resolved and not impact on the work force long-term. However, if you then took a bad cold, or got D+V, food-poisoning/ a sicky (!) or whatever, that is not pregnancy related then it does count. Eg, you take three days off for morning sickness one week and got the flu a fortnight later, then more ms, then food poisoning, it would be classed as 2 non-pregnancy related illnesses and you would be on monitoring. HOWEVER, check, because that may reflect local rather than national policy and be at the discretion of your manager. Mine has been great, but looking back over the last 6 months, I have only had the three episodes in 6 months (all pregnancy related) and taken holiday where I can.

Just read rest of thread: I've only ever been aware of the 3 episodes for the monitoring thing. And as regards the informal meetings, it is supposed to be 'can we just verify the validity of your sickness' and 'to help you not call in sick so much' or at least 'is it something work related we can make life easier for you' but from friends' experience, they can be really unreasonable. I have known it said :"we can see you are not swinging the lead (from your hospital consultant's letters) but we are taking disciplinary action anyway, because that is what the policy says" yet they claim, the policy is there to catch fraudsters and the meetings are to identify such people; the implication being, if you are genuinely ill, you have nothing to worry about, although they may redeploy you to a more 'suitable' area.
Anyhoo, as helenovhull said, I too am a nurse, and if you can breathe unaided, you are still expected to work

Oh dear, I hope i don't get into too much trouble. I've worked in the NHS for 5 years at various Trusts but wasn't aware of how they operate their sickness policies as I've never really been sick. Until I started in an acute and caught everything going. I don't expect special treatment because I'm pregnant but I guess the thought of being put on sick watch scares me, especially at a time when my stress level are quite high.

I'll drag my sorry a*se in tomorrow and try to take it as it comes. Thanks.

Aawww Fran, don't be scared I am pretty sure that pregnancy related sickness is different, as I explained below. The policy is there to stop people taking the mick, that's all. And, any manager with half an ounce of wit, will not discipline for genuine illness; it opens too big a can of worms in terms of discrimination/unions etc.

The others are right though, I don't think that 'being hormonal' can really be regarded as sick, but if you are genuinely suffering with morning sickness or are struggling to cope (potentially = stress) for pregnancy related reasons, to the point you cannot do your job, then talk to your manager, or occy health, they will advise you.

Hi Fran, you are not alone, I feel exactly the same as you. I'm 14 weeks now and from about 9/10 weeks I did start to get bad sickness which increased the exhaustion but also had the "I really can't face work but can't explain why" feeling. I also work for the NHS and do long shifts and the thought of them would leave me anxious, in floods of tears and close to a panic attack and I'm not usually a dramatic person. I couldn't bare work but I think I was also getting bored of being at home alone and getting a bit depressed. I went to see the GP who said he wanted to see how it goes before giving me anything for sickness/depression, he signed me off for a week though and I would have said that it's getting better although I feel pretty rough today having recently thrown up all my lunch! I worked on the weekend and it was ok so I try to tell myself that sometimes the thought is worse than the reality but I'm still not feeling great about it. I haven't looked into the sickness policy so can't give any advice there but just wanted you to know that you're not the only "hormonal" one. All the best x