Can I be dismissed for being off sick?

[Marmie4]

About 2 months ago I was off sick for 2 days with a vomiting bug, this resulted in a strongly worded letter from my employer as I had been off 4 times(6 days total), in the past rolling year threatening dismissal if I am off again in the next 2 months. I am now off sick again with a chest infection on doctors advice and with medication. My company has been taken over and I wondered if the sick days will be transferred over if I have a new contract? Also does anyone know how the rolling year works as in the past 12 months I have now been off 3 times. I work in a healthcare environment and am exposed to bugs/viruses on a daily basis. Any advice would be appreciated as the whole situation is really stressing me out.

There will be a process to follow but yes, ultimately ill health dismissals are generally considered straightforward (as dismissals go). If your absence record is such that you can't fulfil your contract then they can dismiss you.

The contract being transferred and the rolling year will depend on the terms of your contract and the policy.

It would depend on what the company’s policy is.
They couldn’t just dismiss you for sickness; you would need to have a formal meeting with a manager perhaps and maybe given a warning?

Yes, you can be dismissed if they follow their policies and procedures.

The 12 month period is usually the previous 12 months, not a fixed period - so say you were off next Monday, they'd look at the year before that date.

Try not to stress about it too much, hope the treatment for your chest infection works well for you - rotten time of year to be ill!

Thanks for the replies, I guess I will see what happens on my return, I have struggled in for 2 weeks with this on my mind, which has resulted in me being worse.

What’s their sickness and abscence policy? It will tell you everything you need to know in there.
I’ve just sacked someone for sickness, so yes it is possible but they need to follow correct procedures.

That is a high level of sickness for 1 year

More than four instances of illness would lead to disciplinary procedures in most of the companies I’ve worked for I’m afraid but as pp have said there’s a process to follow first.

Long term illness are different but if you have lots of instances of being off with colds, bugs, etc then they will manage you out.

It also usually puts you at the head of the queue for redundancy.