Leaving work after accident

[Jenmarble]

I had an accident at work , that gave me a black eye.
I was hit by a heavy door that swings back and closes itself really fast.
I dont feel great about going back to this job, there has been other things that concern me about health and safety and i've never had any training. But if i just quit i wont be entitled to benefits and i'm not sure what to say to a new employer.
Also a manager has changed my contract for less hours and no hoilday, whereas HR think I'm on a different contract, and its made me really confused and a but stressed.

I think i'm probably going to write a resignation letter, but i'm not sure what to say.
Should i try to leave on good terms and say i enjoyed the job but its not right for me right now?, or should i say i find working conditions stressful? thanks

hi TittyGolightly, i'm sorry, how do you know i had '2 months off last autumn'?

yes I know there will be a problem with that, thats why i think resigning might be better and less stressful for me.

thanks for advice

In financial terms it might be better to be managed out under the absence policy. Get signed off in the meantime. When is your self certified period up?

hi TittyGolightly, i'm sorry, how do you know i had '2 months off last autumn'?

As I said in my first post on this thread, I’m
on MSE.

i'm not in a union :(

You could speak to acas.

should i got to citizens advice?

Why go to citizens advice?

If you don’t need to work financially and aren’t worried about a reference, resign.

Otherwise, either go back to work and work to resolve the issues, or see the GP and get yourself signed off to give yourself some breathing space to look for something new. If you’ve been there more than two years it will take them a fair while to dismiss you for capability so you’ll have time to find something else.

No point going to citizens advice. Either get a doctors line for your notice period and resign, or a doctors line till you feel well enough to go back. But if you’ve been there over two years, think carefully about the implications of a poor reference, because contrary to popular MN belief, employees can and do give bad references.

I’m sure there’s more to it than a simple accident because resigning seems like a huge overreaction. And I don’t understand why you don’t just ask about your T&Cs.

ok thanks, i'll have a think about seeing the GP before i actually do a resignation.

If you don't want to return next week you will need to see your gp. How many days have you self certified?

i will need to go to the GP on tues that would be 7 days

it will take them a fair while to dismiss you for capability

But not for absence.

”But not for absence.”

If an employer wants to terminate someone’s employment because of poor attendance/ill health, “capability” is the reason for dismissal they’d have to use.

OP works in a school, in a unionised environment even if she is not a member of the union. In that environment the procedure for an ill health/absence capability dismissal will be lengthy and IME probably not either invoked or followed at a fast pace. Doesn’t sound like they’ve even started any formal procedure yet.

OP works in a school, in a unionised environment even if she is not a member of the union. In that environment the procedure for an ill health/absence capability dismissal will be lengthy and IME probably not either invoked or followed at a fast pace. Doesn’t sound like they’ve even started any formal procedure yet.

I work in HR in the NHS. Dismissal for capability due to absence is way faster than other capability.

Even with union.

That is definitely not my experience in schools. The opposite in fact.

Term time contracts in schools have your holiday entitlement built into your salary, so you’re paid for them but they have to be taken in school holiday periods. So you’re paid for 39 weeks usually plus 4.8 weeks holiday (or whatever the statutory minimum is)

”I work in HR in the NHS. Dismissal for capability due to absence is way faster than other capability”

And? Performance capability being even more lengthy than ill health capability in the NHS doesn’t mean the procedure the OP’s school would use for ill health capability would be quick!

In fact I’d be astonished to hear of a quick dismissal for ill health capability in any public sector organisation tbh.

Potentially not if there’s a condition covered by the Equality Act.

But otherwise performance capability requires at least 24 weeks just to get through the informal and formal improvement plans at the start of the process.

We’ve just dismissed someone for 6 short term absences in 8 months - they were onto formal stages after the 4th absence. From then to dismissal was 9 weeks. (No underlying conditions, individual was already part time, requested no further adjustments and offered no solutions to the issues.)

Well exactly. 9 weeks from having started formal procedures to dismissal even with zero complicating factors, no underlying condition and no adjustments/solutions to explore. That does sound relatively prompt for the NHS but even if OPs situation is the same and her school is very on the ball, she has a fair while before she’s out on her ear.

As far as we are aware, she has one two month period off for stress, has been back at work and with presumably good attendance since, and now one week for an eye injury. Capability dismissal is a way off.

The OP has advised elsewhere that she is under procedures already.

There are other absences than those.

I've been diagnosed with Generalized anxiety disorder and depressive illness by a specialist doctor.

they say I have triggered absent monitoring.

I've not had any formal disciplinary for absence. or any disciplinary or warnings for anything.

Did you have a Return to Work meeting after the longer absence? That in itself may have triggered monitoring.