if someone is off sick, how often do you ring them - if you are manager or HR/personnel

[romanrainsalot]

Just that really. If someone is off sick, they ring daily to see if you will be in the following day. Even when someone has provided a sick note for two weeks they ring every day.

I understand employers don't want people to be off and have to plan, but in the case of a medium term absence, with sick note provided, is it a bit OTT? I can see it is starting to stress the individual concerned.

Appreciate thoughts.

I organise cover in school, I will always text someone after lunch to find out if someone is back in the next day as it means I can start to organise the cover in good time, unless I already knew they needed longer, e.g. 48hr rule or a sick note.

I would never ring, always a text so they can choose when to get back to me. Likewise all requests for cover come via text.

We expect employees to call in at the start of their working day every day they are ill, that's up until the point they get signed off and then I would leave them to it, if you're signed off you can't go to work. I would call towards the end of the signed off period just to see how they were and what their plans were. Daily calls are excessive.

In my place of work, HR are not permitted to contact them at all, It is up to the person who's off sick to say when they will return to work.

I was off Post-op and my HT phoned me to ask if I was going to come in for review meetings when I was still signed off.

I told her politely what to do

You should go through a procedure before returning to work whilst still on a fit note. A company has to be sure that they are not allowing you to return when you are still unfit for work. The company therefore gets a chance to evaluate and decide.

A copy of prescription was provided for time off sick before docs note was required, then the docs note was provided, clearly stating friends return to work date (expected).

I was open mouthed when my friend told me they'd still been ringing her, asking could she come in because her colleague was struggling on her own!

Hi I have been on long term sick and never had a phoncall in 6 and a half months due to start back on Friday got a phone call from the clerk of the council asking was I coming back on Friday because the didn't know the doctor signed me off for the 16/1/17 and I have been off with stress at work as I had been discriminated from a full time job

BT have just brought in a new plan called Call Protect where you can add numbers you do not want to come through to your telephone. They are diverted to a junk ansaphone without your phone even ringing.
I would ensure that my employer's number was on that system until I was fit to return to work, the onus being on me to phone them when I am ready!

Assuming your friend is not in a union, I'd say their first step should be to contact HR, explain the situation and ask what the policy says. Chances are, manager has got the wrong end of the stick, HR sets them straight, problem solved.

In my experience, sick absence policies tend to recommend that for short-term, uncertified absence, employee should check in daily to confirm with their manager that they're going to be off.

For longer term and certified sick absence, like others have said, HR or manager checks in with employee, unless employee has first contacted them, towards expiry of certificate, in order to find out whether it's likely to be extended, or to talk about any necessary adjustments/phased return etc. If we're talking about long term illness, running into months, it's not unreasonable for employer to keep in periodic contact. Actually, unless there are specific reasons not to, I think it's pretty lame for an employer to demonstrate absolutely no interest in their employee's recovery, and can contribute to feelings of isolation that make reintegration harder. It's not just about them finding out how the employee's doing: they should also be keeping them updated with overviews of any changes in the workplace, such as new hirings, systems, projects etc.

None at all - maybe a text before the morning due back

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