Signed off sick, work still pressuring me

[SunshineYouAreMySunshine]

Hi everyone,

So basically I am signed off work and have been for a while. I'm 22 weeks pregnant and struggling in regards to fatigue, sickness (sometimes) and generally adjusting to my new body and baby is draining me! However, work are contacting me almost daily trying to get me to attend meetings with them. I have no intention to go back to work right now as I have enough strain as it is.they want me to attend occy health appointment but when I said can't attend at the time provided, they've made a massive fuss and said they can't rearrange!

I just want them to leave me alone, but I don't know how to go about it? I Will speak to my doctor in hope they could maybe advise as they're really stressing me out and I struggle with depression and things as it is.

If anyone can offer advise, please do? I may consider quitting but don't want this to effect my maternity allowance (not entitled to smp) so if anyone has experience of leaving during pregnancy please share :)

Sorry it's long winded but thank you x

You can't just ignore your employers though. You worked there for such a short time, got pregnant right away, missed so much work that you needed to be signed off sick, and now don't want to work with them to sort things out?
And the excuse about a single key is bs, because if you hadn't got sick you'd have to find a way to go out anyhow for work.
You seem to have a million excuses and zero accountability

It’s what my GP told me when he signed me off sick for basically 8 months. Do you really think GP’s are totally autonomous and don’t have guidelines like NICE and other watchdogs etc etc to adhere to themselves regarding if they’re signing off too many individuals or prescribing expensive drugs all the time. I’ll take the word of a professional actually working in their chosen field knowledgeable about the guidelines that cover their profession than some random mumsnetters

So baking what do they do when they’ve used up their quota of signing people off and another patient comes to them needing signed off? Tell them tough shit and that no matter how ill they are they need to go to work?

I’m not a dr but I do deal with people signed off for work a lot. I’ve never once come across an employee not being able to be signed off by their GP. Ultimately if you go to your doctor and maintain you’re being constantly sick/suffering from stress or anxiety (for example) and aren’t fit to go to work, how can a GP tell you you’re not? They may be medically qualified but they don’t know how patients feel.

Things like prescribing expensive drugs has a wider impact on things like budgets and finances though. Signing an employee off sick has no impact other than on the employer and employee. Employers have to pay the sick pay and don’t get reimbursed by the gov (it’s not like SMP)

Do you really think GP’s are totally autonomous and don’t have guidelines like NICE and other watchdogs etc etc to adhere to themselves regarding if they’re signing off too many individuals or prescribing expensive drugs all the time.

Drugs, yes. Signing people off, absolutely not.

(GP’s can be idiots too.)

Mumsnet isn't always the best place for legally accurate employment advice as a lot of posters are not legally qualified and base their replies on personal feelings and weird moral judgments.
Contact ACAS, citizens advice or an independent employment law adviser.
I negotiated a leave package when I was newly pregnant and off sick with stress as I knew I didn't want to go back (bullying line manager and senior manager, both slightly younger childless women). It took a few meetings to thrash out a decent deal as I didn't accept the first offer they gave me.

Ill wait for a medically qualified GP to tell me I’m wrong and totally agree with newimprovedninja in that a lot of people have no professional basis for giving the advice they do on matters of employment or medical issues

I’m a fully qualified HR practitioner with around 15 years in different industries. Am now in the NHS.

But sure. I’m totally unqualified to give employment advice or know about what GPS can or can’t do.

GPs

I think just for a minute it’s helpdul to look from the companies point of view. You’re ill and they would like to understand how ill, whether you will be back soon, so they may need to make provisions for you working part time or getting cover. Existing colleagues will also want to know if they are covering your role, they have a duty of care to them.
Appreciate you’re shattered but put yourself in someone else’s shoes for a minute and I’m sure you can see the other side.

Am i right that companies can start your maternity leave early if you are off sick past 25 weeks? Or have I misremembered? Could be worth looking into OP

If you’re off sick with anything 4 weeks before expected week of confinement, yes.

OP are you planning on going back at all before your mat leave starts? As you will only qualify for payments between 17-25 weeks for your mat pay so if you've been getting SSP you've sort of done yourself a disservice here.......

The OP isn’t entitled to SMP. MA is calculated differently.

"OP are you planning on going back at all before your mat leave starts? As you will only qualify for payments between 17-25 weeks for your mat pay so if you've been getting SSP you've sort of done yourself a disservice here......."

Untrue. The OP can use her best 13 weeks pay, of any of the 66 weeks before her due date, that is the 6 months before she became pregnant until her due date, and they don't have to be consecutive weeks. It doesn't matter if she uses weeks from different employments, or if there are gaps in employment between the pay weeks she chooses.

I'm not suggesting, at all, that the way the OP is approaching this is the best way, but let's not get carried away with saying things that are blatantly untrue and make the OP's life any harder than it must already be.

It would be true for SMP purposes.

a lot of people have no professional basis for giving the advice they do on matters of employment

Maybe “a lot” don’t. I do.

Likewise.

I’m only at 11 years though, just a whippersnapper ;)

OMG I’ve just realised it will be 20 years for me next year!

Is there a qualifying period for maternity allowance? I didn't think their was.
. I'd assumed the op can't make the meeting for the same reasons she can't make it into work, ie she's sick! If it was just about working hours etc then presumably she'd also be at work

26 weeks of employment in the 66 weeks before the baby is due, Stealth.

That’s the qualifying period for statutory maternity pay - no qualifying period for working for maternity allowance.

”That’s the qualifying period for statutory maternity pay - no qualifying period for working for maternity allowance.”

No, the qualifying period for SMP is being continuously employed by the same employer for 26 weeks by 15 weeks before due date.

There absolutely is a qualifying period for MA and it is as lougle describes- 26 weeks work in the 66 week period leading up to the due date. If there were no qualifying period someone could say they’d done some work 5 years ago and still get it!

Perhaps you were thinking of the right fit Maternity Leave, sarahbanshee? There is no qualifying period for maternity leave - all employees qualify for 52 weeks (26 weeks ordinary ML and 26 weeks additional ML) from day 1 with no restriction. Unfortunately, that does not give you unrestricted rights to pay during that leave.