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Original poster

Off sick from NHS job but still work second retail job?

87 replies

Dippiedottie · 05/07/2018 11:52

Just that basically- if I am signed off my full time nhs job can I still work my 4 hour retail contract? I'm due back from maternity leave next week and have been signed off sick (stress of returning to work) so won't be back to my full time job but I have been working a 4 hour retail job on Sundays for past 3 months of maternity leave.
Can I continue to work here? Thanks

OP posts:
DontDoitDoris · 07/07/2018 07:41

Im absolutely baffled by this.
You are off sick after ML because of the stress of thinking about returning FT ?Confused
Surely the answer is to ask for a return PT?
I hope they step on this PDQ-absolute pisstaking !
Meanwhile your colleagues are working even harder ...

Bezm · 07/07/2018 07:55

First you said you're working PT on Sunday, then later this changes to Saturday.
The easy solution is to return to your NHS job part time if the thought of going back full time is causing you stress.
Are you still receiving mat pay? Do you receive sick pay? If not, there shouldn't be a problem with the PT working unless it's written into your contract .

SnuggyBuggy · 07/07/2018 08:02

I think you need to work out if you want the NHS job or not.

pinkhorse · 07/07/2018 08:06

How long do you plan to be signed off sick for from the NHS? Surely it's not the job for you if you're too stressed to function just thinking about going back? Could you do your retail job full time instead? You can't keep the NHS job on hold indefinitely.

2gorgeousboys · 07/07/2018 08:12

DH was a fraud investigator for the NHS and has dealt with similar cases. Like PP say I think you need to check your contract carefully as you are on very shaky ground!

As a manager I would be seriously frustrated that you are apparently using a sick note to delau coming back to work. What did you think would happen when your mat leave ended? Lots of women find returning to work after mat leave difficult and stressful but they either suck it up and get on with it, go part time or quit. You've not even given your return a chance!

MaybeDoctor · 07/07/2018 08:13

I think that the fairest thing to do in your position is to resign the NHS job. You clearly don’t want to do it anymore. If you want, you can pick it up again after a year or two as a SAHM.

This is what I had to do when I was turned down for flexible working in a senior public sector role, after maternity leave. I resigned and had a year at home. It was harder than I anticipated to get a new job, but eventually I found something that I really enjoyed.

What I probably should have done was return to my £50k job for one day, then go off sick!

Biologifemini · 07/07/2018 08:19

It sounds harsh but you need to resign from your NHS job and look for something else.
You could well get done for fraud and be in a worse position and not get re employed by the NHS again. Do you want that?
Signing off sick is a serious thing and the NHS is short of cash anyway. Someone will be covering for you too.
Be kind to yourself but don’t drag out the sick leave. You will be worse off in the end.

shaggedthruahedgebackwards · 07/07/2018 08:25

If the idea of working FT is stressful then taking on extra PT hours for a different employer while going off sick from your FT position can't possibly be the solution surely Hmm

You are treading on very dodgy ground OP

If you can't face going back to your NHS role FT then you need to negotiate PT hours or use AL so you can phase yourself back in with PT hours. In the longer term if your current NHS role isn't available PT then you need to look for a new role, or pick up more hours in your retail role if you find that less stressful

madcatladyforever · 07/07/2018 08:27

I work for the NHS, actually you will be fired if they find out you are off sick but working for someone else so make sure you go in disguise.

InfiniteSheldon · 07/07/2018 08:32

Shocking thread truly shocking no wonder the NHS is in crisis

CherryPavlova · 07/07/2018 08:41

I think you are on a very insecure footing. Unless your medical certificate suggests unfit to work in NHS environment (I’ve never seen one that is that job specific) then it will simply say you are unfit for work. In which case you are unfit for all work.
I would be unhappy, as an employer, about this and would consider taking action. Certainly I’d take occupational health advice and HR advice.
If the very idea of your job is making you anxious, there are two options. Give it up for retail or take the bull by the horns, go back on phased return and see how you cope. It might be that the demands of a full time post in retail has its own stresses which is why you’ve not actually made that jump.
Returning after having a baby is hard but you soon settle into a routine.

ememem84 · 07/07/2018 08:47

If you’re working full time for nhs and can do a part time on a weekend I’m guessing you’re more admin staff than nursing/dr who I assume do shifts?

Returning full time from mat leave is tough. I’ve just had to do it. I’m lucky in that my employer is very supportive and can be flexible with me (although not the reduced hours I wanted due to business constraints) and I’m flex with them. If I need to leave early I can but I make up the time etc.

My contract states I can only do secondary paid employment or volunteer work providing I clear it with my employer first and it doesn’t impact my full time file.

In your situation, I’d make sure I’d cleared the part time work first. If also make it clear that it’s teturning full time that’s stressing you out not the 4 or so hours part time you do.

I’d check contracts. And make sure that I also spoke to full time manager and worked out a back to work plan to alleviate the stress. Because whenever you go back it’s going to be there. So you do need to deal with it.

WellThisIsShit · 07/07/2018 08:48

Can you find your contract to check what it says? Sounds like that’s an important thing to do.

Kintan · 07/07/2018 08:53

Agree with pp- the most ethical thing to do is resign from you NHS job and take up a career in retail. The NHS is on its knees financially.

Cakietea · 07/07/2018 08:56

I work for the NHS, it’s people like you who are causing the honest working staff to become burnt out and overloaded. Presumably you will be getting full pay if you are off sick. Whilst you have not been getting pay on maternity there will have been perhaps bank cover paid for in the team. If the department are now going to be paying you full pay to be sick, there will be no money for cover and the rest of your team will be expected to pick up the slack. If I was in that team I would be very annoyed and angry that you have not even tried to come back to work after probably a year off, because you’ve chosen to have children and now feel stressed about working and looking after them. Most of us have families and work, we also feel stressed about it - what would happen if we all got signed off?

If you are not capable of doing your job you should resign so that they can employ someone who is.

LIZS · 07/07/2018 08:56

It would depend why you are signed off and if reasonable adjustments could enable you to work. It seems a bit dubious to work one and not other, unless, for example, one was clearly physical and you had an injury and other a seated role. What would make your first job feasible - could you apply for flexible working, use accrued leave to work a shorter week initially etc. Tbh if you felt you could not do ft you should have started negotiations earlier, when was the career break turned down? Do you have childcare arranged to cover your current contracted hours?

Shiftymake · 07/07/2018 09:02

Shocking thread truly shocking no wonder the NHS is in crisis < NO, the NHS is in crisis because of the Tories cutting funding in a bid to privatize it. Please do not drag the workers down like that, they are run ragged with ever decreasing resources so I get where the OP is coming from if she is one of them .

Cakietea · 07/07/2018 09:07

shiftymake

The staff are run ragged by the reducing resources and by staff sickness, some genuine, some maybe not so genuine. This is just a pisstake - she’s been off for maternity leave, probably for a year and now the thought of going back and sorting out the children is making her so stressed she has got herself signed off sick without even trying to come back. Although she’s fine to go to work at her other job, which I hasten to add wasn’t the job that paid her very generous maternity pay!

As I said - a total pisstake. Angry

AgentProvocateur · 07/07/2018 09:11

I’m really quite shocked at this. It really feels like a pisstake to have a year or similar’s mat leave then get signed off as the thought of going back is causing stress Hmm I’m glad you’re not my colleague. As others have said, no wonder the NHS is in the state it’s in.

rainbowstardrops · 07/07/2018 09:19

You've been signed off at the thought of going back to work???? Jeez.
Absolute pisstake

ememem84 · 07/07/2018 09:21

If you don’t go back to your nhs job at all do you have to repay the maternity leave pay? I’m not in mainland uk so our rules here (Channel Islands) are slightly different. If I chose not to go back to work I’d have to repay my mat pay from my employer.

Nyancat · 07/07/2018 09:25

If you were looking for a career break previously to pursue full time work I'm retail it would suggest that your NHS job really isn't for you. You might seriously consider taking the leap into retail fulltime and letting your former employer find someone to replace you who wants to do the job.

If you have an actual plan to address your stress, like requesting PT working or different role that changes things but from the tone of your previous posts you just don't want to go back to work in your previous post. There's nothing wrong with admitting that it's now too stressful and moving into a job that meets the requirements of your life with kids. But if you are going on sick leave because you've realised that you don't want to do the job anymore then that is unfair on your employer and your colleagues.

aldaniti · 07/07/2018 09:25

I think most doctors will sign off for stress to give you a break and period of recovery before attempting to go back to work maybe on a phased return. So v odd that the doctor would sign this off after a year off as what's the benefit of staying off longer? Surely you want to get back to work op, I imagine being signed off for stress is quite stressful in itself- - what steps can you take to get yourself in the right head space? Have you thought about a phased return etc?

I don't think the doctor's been helpful at all here.

LIZS · 07/07/2018 09:29

Being certified off sick counts as service, so that may contribute towards any minimum period to avoid repaying omp.

SnuggyBuggy · 07/07/2018 09:29

I'm with Cakietea. As an NHS worker our hearts sink when someone goes on maternity leave because this is so common. Either that or they come back on a part time arrangement that suits them but is a total nightmare for their colleagues.