Sorry - this is a long post!
I'm 16 weeks pregnant with twins, and have had a pretty rough first trimester to say the least. I had to take one day off sick at around nine weeks, but continued to feel more unwell.
At 11 weeks I went to see my GP and he signed me off for two weeks with pregnancy related complications. Following this period, the GP provided a "fit note" with a recommendation of five hours per day - a reduction from 7.5 - for three weeks and then review after that.
Occupational sick pay as set out in our employment handbook is 13 weeks full pay, 13 weeks half pay and then SSP. There are no guidelines as far as I can ascertain on how long an employee may claim full pay if working reduced hours at the direction of a healthcare practitioner.
I am in the third week of reduced hours and my fit note expires at the end of the week. Next week I have a week of annual leave booked.
Today, my boss (who's also our Chief Executive) finally bothered to do my return to work interview (more than two weeks after my return). He stated that if after four weeks I am not fit to return to full time hours he'll reduce my pay accordingly.
My question is, can he do this? I like my job and want to work as much as I can. It seems a very backward way of looking at it. If the GP signs me back off if I'm unable to work my full hours, I'd be eligible for full pay. If I continue to work, albeit on reduced hours (assuming I'm not fit to return to full-time hours after the GP's review) my pay will be reduced. I do fully appreciate that reduced hours can't be allowed forever if there is no hope of recovery, but this is a temporary state. If I wasn't pregnant, I wouldn't be on reduced hours.
I checked with one of my colleagues and she told me she's had members of staff on reduced hours for more than four weeks and has not reduced their pay. So it does appear that there is no precedent set that we reduce pay.
My boss isn't a pleasant person, and I wonder whether his comment is a way of forcing me back to full-time hours. In my return to work interview, he didn't reduce my workload even though I had sent him an email before my return asking that we discuss how we ought to prioritise my department's business objectives in the short-term given my hours are temporarily reduced.
Finally, and this is what really makes my blood boil, is that my boss consistently starts work between 9.30am and 10.00am and leaves no later than 4.30pm. Lunch is unpaid and he always takes an hour. I have never ever known him to work more than six hours in a day. It seems it's one rule for him and another for the rest of the staff.
I can't speak to HR as my boss made the department redundant about four years ago. He stated that he could manage that function sufficiently...
I appreciate it could be fair to reduce my pay if I'd used up my OSP entitlement, but I haven't AND I do hope to return to work on full time hours as soon as is practically possible. I'm hoping that this question might even be redundant and I'll miraculously feel much better by the time my annual leave has come to an end!
Any advice would be appreciated. TIA