Off work sick and work calling me.

[Megan91]

Hii,

I have been off work since Friday sick with a sick line for one week. My work know its pregnancy related but had a call today from my work asking how I'm feeling when I'm due back and they've called as they need to book an attendance review in with me on Monday when im due back?

Anyone have any thought on this if this is normal procedure?

Thanks

Erm no... pretty sure if you're signed off by the doctor for a certain period of time then they shouldn't be contacting you. Surely they know when you are currently due back, as it's when your sick note expires. So assuming that they're aware of the date of return to work on the note then there would be no reason to pester you when you are off sick.

Regarding the review - pregnancy related sickness cannot be grouped together with other sickness absence and doesn't count towards Bradford Index (or whatever metric your employer uses to monitor sickness absence). If the time off you are currently having has been recorded as pregnancy-related then your employer cannot use it to trigger an absence review. Have you had a lot of non-pregnancy related time off prior to getting pregnant?

I'd be looking into your rights so you can be armed with all the relevant information, before the review happens!

I'm no HR guru, but have managed a team and this would be standard procedure for us. A courtesy call to check that how the employee is doing and to arrange a welcome back meeting. Obviously if they're calling multiple times it's a bit odd, but one or two calls would seem normal to me.

Make sure your sick cert says pregnancy related.

Possibly just wondering if you will be back next week or off longer? They weren't ringing you with work queries. All you can say is you plan to be back/definitely won't/don't know yet but will be in touch

If you get along with your manager well and they give a courtesy call just to check in on you I think that's fine. Repeatedly calling is unnecessary while you're off and they shouldn't try to arrange a meeting with you until you're back In the office well or if you've been off for a long period of time they may need to speak with you. I think GP certs would need to be submitted of you're off for so long (5 days I think) check your sick policy. But calling to arrange a meeting for Monday assuming you'll be back is not on, especially in pregnancy.

Erm no... pretty sure if you're signed off by the doctor for a certain period of time then they shouldn't be contacting you. Surely they know when you are currently due back, as it's when your sick note expires. So assuming that they're aware of the date of return to work on the note then there would be no reason to pester you when you are off sick.

You’re wrong. They may be needing to arrange cover and wondering if she’s likely to be off longer than the fit note (not uncommon for a 1 week fit note to be the start of a much longer absence). Not at all unreasonable. A fit note isn’t some sort of invisibility cloak.

any time i have been off, even before i was pregnant my manager would always keep in touch every few days to see how I was (sometimes just by text) and there was never anythign sinister. We have a close knit team so generally all keep in touch

I'm pretty sure that HR can contact you to ask how you are doing however they cannot ask you any work related questions (when you'll be back/setting up meetings etc) until you are back. They should be able to see from your sick note when you're due back so wouldn't need to ask you this.

If it was me I would speak to them once, something along the lines of 'I'm still not 100%, thanks for your concern. I'm happy to arrange a meeting when I am back in work after my sick note ends'.

Take it easy OP x

Standard procedure where I work so may be the same where you are too. Is there a policy or sickness procedures you can refer to?

This was normal procedure where I worked. If the absence went beyond 28 days, they would arrange a home visit that could not be declined or it affected sick pay.

I'm pretty sure that HR can contact you

That’s a very old fashioned model. Nowadays managers should be managing staff.

Thanks everyone, there was nothing sinister in the call it was just to ask when im due back etc, my manager knows when im due back but called to confirm. I work for a big company who wouldn't need to arrange cover for me or any employees who are absent sick.

I have not had alot of previous absences before pregnant absence but my work is very strict with absences. I understand pregnancy should be marked separately however my work use the bradford factor for absences and even pregnancy related absences are still recorded as my manager expressed to me that if i was off for another 40 days over the course of my pregnancy then they take in consideration my sickness over 2 years and this can cut my pay in half? I wasnt sure if this was correct as iv heard pregnancy absence shouldn't be marked the same. However she stated this was correct for disciplinary action but not for pay? Anyone ever been told this?

Sickness absence due to pregnancy isn’t counted for absence management, but it is treated as sickness for pay purposes. So if your company gives 40 days full pay, and you were off for longer, pregnancy or not you wouldn’t get more full pay.

Sometimes mat pay is affected if staff are off sick during the reckonable period from which mat pay is calculated. Especially where companies only pay SSP.

Your manager is correct that your absence can be managed in the same way as any other absence for pay purposes. However, it must be recorded and managed separately for disciplinary purposes.

Just to confirm, at my workplace, in your first year, you get 1 month of sick pay, second year, 2 months of sick pay, etc so if someone exceeds their limit even when pregnant, they pay drops to half play (plus SSP).

Pregnancy related sickness can't count against you at all but if you only get a certain amount of days paid sick then it's still noted, I'm lucky that I get full pay for a year so don't need to worry about it and have been off more than I've been in so far this pregnancy I think and I'm now 24 weeks pregnant !

My boss has called me a couple of time to see how I am and if I'm due back etc just so they can allocate work out and make sure that I don't comeback to backlogs which is nice I think

we have to phone in every day when off sick then call to say when we will be back, if we do not phone to say what day we will be back and just turn up they send you home!!!...

It's good practice for them to keep in touch and ask how you are and asking when you expect to be back is reasonable, but as long as they're not calling constantly. I'd wait to arrange the review until you're back but not u reasonable to do it now if you have an expected return date