AIBU to feel tricked? My employer is asking for a fit note from gp to cover period i had antibiotics even though i was only due to work 1 of the days i was off.

[Ren495]

You will have to bare with me this is my first post and quite a long one! I have searched and searched the wise web and seem to be at a loss for specific rules that apply to my situation. After my mat leave finished i returned to work on a part time basis (1 day a week) then i do any additional days as over-time (dh does really awkward 12 hour shifts on rotation). The arrangement has worked well for nearly 18 months. However i got quite poorly just before easter and needed antibiotics and was unable to swallow food and liquids. I was due to work 2 days overtime (tuesday wednesday) and then my normal working day (thursday) all in a row. I obtained antibiotics but presumed i would be fine to self certify my sickness. The following week i was due to work the Monday but it was a bank holiday and i then had some annual leave booked for the following 2 weeks. On my return to work i retrieved a self certify form from the relevant person (we are a tiny company) and said person told me i had to put down the first day i felt unwell up to the day i finished my antibiotics (i.e. was all better) because it would help me apparently. So i did what was asked and this amounted to 8 days in a row. The same member of staff has now told me that because i was poorly for 8 days i need to obtain a fitnote from my GP to cover this time (monday to the following tuesday - i was not due to return to work for another 2 weeks after this date because of holiday leave). I just feel so annoyed and tricked because if it had not have been a bank holiday i would have been back at work whilst taking the anti biotics. I just wondered what all of you think, am i being unreasonable to feel like this is a massive waste of my GPs time ? I felt like such an idiot explaining myself to the receptionist at my surgery today. She had a hard job hiding shock at what i was asking for on the phone. The GP will essentially have to write a note to cover time off... when i would have been off anyway! Thanks in advance for any advice. (So sorry for such a long post)

You usually need to put down when you were fit to return to work (even if you'd usually have been off). Doing it this way may mean you get your holiday back, but I'd be annoyedm

Thanks! Our forms are company made and ask for the date i next worked, not when i would have been fot which would be far more accurate for my situation.

Fit*

You needed to phone your company and report yourself fit for work even if it was a day off. Were you scheduled to work on the bank holiday Monday, or was it holiday? Were you fit to work on the Monday?

Nope. HR is wrong. Your fit date would have been your holiday date; you would assume to have been at work for that time. Otherwise, you can claim the holiday back. See this ACAS leaflet.

It was a bank holiday (but would have been my day to work) so i usually get 1 5th of the day paid. When speaking to my manager when i rang in sick she just said feel better soon we will see you in a few weeks, i hope youre well enough for your holiday next week! I honestly had no idea that i should notify them i am better when ill. I think my manager would question why i was bothering her. We have no proper HR department we have one member of staff who sorts out the finance side of everything, from billing clients to venders to sorting out staff pay etc.

And i was fit to work on the monday and would have been in work had the company been open.

Then I would write a letter to clarify this. State your return to work date shouldn't have been xxx but this was a bank holiday, and then you were off on proper holiday. Therefore your period of sick leave was from xxxx to yyyy which was zzzz days and thus your self certificate should cover this period. If they wish you to provide a GP sick note, you can ask, but they have to cover the cost.

I was unsure if it was possible for me to do something like that without repercussions? I feel like the forementioned member of staff i have been liaising with has a bit of a vendetta and likes to be awkward whenbit comes to me. We have had an incident regarding annual leave before where this person told my manager i had not submitted a holiday form therefor could not have my annual leave (apparently they had checked) thankfully a colleague backtracked to the electronic holiday calendar that the finance person fills in after they are given the paper holiday forms. With us being such a small organisation i feel very uncomfortable questioning/asking for clarification for a lot of things.

Well, the other option is to take advice directly from ACAS, in their presence or with your boss.

Be polite and courteous, explain your understanding and suggest checking this with ACAS via telephone. Then if it's going to be correct as "you know they'd hate to be giving the wrong information". Kill them with kindness!

Thanks so much for all your help/advice.