Going home sick

[newbiemummy10]

First time poster here but looking for advice.

Someone I know went to work today but became ill with a stomach bug having to go to the toilet regularly and feeling sick and light headed. Her colleagues there at the time told her to go home and she was ill so left. Since then her boss has messaged and told her she's not ill and to return to work.
Does anyone know if there's any laws regarding forcing workers back to work when sick?
I'm just extremely worried a vulnerable person is being exploited here.

They should have contacted their boss before leaving the premises. If they weren't available, to have left a message asking the boss to telephone. If she's unwell, she's unwell and she can't be forced to go in. It sounds like there could be other issues at play here as well.

The priority here is the company sickness and absence policy and the extent to which the person adhered to it.

Are you saying they took the word of "colleagues" (to whom they don't have a reporting line) to give the permission to go home sick? And they went ahead without seeking clearance from their manager? Even if the manager wasn't in the office, they should have contacted them formally somehow (email, text, phone call) to put the situation on record.

Eg: "hi manager, I'm feeling very ill with a stomach bug and need to go home immediately. I have let colleagues a b and c know. I will contact you with an update by tomorrow morning" is a reasonable approach and will comply with most company policies on sickness absence.

Yes is the boss's issue that they don't believe your friend is really sick, or that they're annoyed she didn't call/speak to them directly before leaving? As others have said it's quite normal to have a policy that you must at least try to make direct contact with your manager if you are going to call in sick or go home sick rather than leaving messages with random colleagues, in my workplace repeated breaches of this would mean a conduct/disciplinary warning and/or withholding sick pay - but we wouldn't ever ask someone to come (back) into work while still sick!

If it's more the issue he doesn't believe her when she said she was sick, the law on this is quite clear, employees can self-certify their illness for the first 7 days to get statutory sick leave/pay so there should be no need for a doctors note or anything like that to 'prove' illness. Obviously if employers/managers have reasonable grounds to suspect they are being lied to (e.g. employee witnessed zip-lining, clubbing, at a sporting event etc 2 hours after calling in with D&V) then of course they can investigate and could potentially be grounds for misconduct dismissal OR if an employee repeatedly calls in sick to such an extent it affects their job then also that can in some circumstances be grounds for fair dismissal on the grounds of capability. But in neither circumstances can they reasonably insist someone attends work to 'prove' they are really sick.

However, I'm not sure your friend has too much actual legal comeback to the behaviour of this manager however unreasonable it seems, particularly if she has less than 2 years service there. I very much doubt she could sue him for harassment or successfully claim constructive dismissal or anything like that on the basis of this one incident unless there is a lot more back story.... sorry if that's not what you were asking but you did ask what the law says. She could make an internal formal complaint about his behaviour but obviously that is quite a serious step to take if she is otherwise vulnerable/stressed out/feeling unsupported and they need to continue to work together... perhaps better to clarify with him informally why he said what he said, how upset it made her and how they can avoid any problems in future? If she's in a union they could support her to do that, or perhaps a colleague could help?

Your friend shouldn't have left without informing a manager - you can't just walk out of work!

But employees can self-certify for seven days before employers need evidence.

Her colleagues there at the time told her to go home and she was ill so left.

In these circumstances, you friend is fully responsible for the decision to leave work. Colleagues cannot tell her to go home. When she decided she was too ill and was leaving work she should have communicated this with her line manager, HR or if not available whoever the company policy says she should communicate to. They cannot make her stay or come back if she says she is too ill.

Tell her not to say colleagues told her to go home. It will make her sound irresponsible and immature. She needs to come up with a reasonable explanation why she left without following policy and informing them.