How much would a candidates sickness record sway a job application?

[Beauregard]

?

I think it depends on the sickness.

Recently on placement I saw a job offer revoked because of sickness.

I had roughly 12 weeks off with anxiety/depression following maternity leave .

I employ a lot of staff and it would sway me a lot unless there was just 1-2 specific incident of illness.. that can happen to anyone.. those that have high levels of odd days scream unreliable to me..

If it were a one off, such as an operation, an accident etc., prob not.

If it's a series of short term sick leave, 1 day here, 2 day there, every three weeks, pointing to a pattern of unreliability/ malingering, yes, massively.

Yes, would depend on what sort of sickness and how suitable otherwise you thought they were for the job. IME.

Quite a lot. A load of us just got made redundant in April. Lots of references coming through the personnel manager, who pointed out to a young colleague that had quite a lot of 'odd' days off (mostly mondays) that a lot of the references were asking for sickness record.
None of the employers asking for sickness record gave my friend an interview but she got interviews from a high proportion of the ones who didn't ask that question.
Would you want to employ someone who had loads of sickness over someone who hardly took any time off?

well it wasn't days here and there.

If I really liked the candidate and they'd had one longish period of absence (like yours and like mine after I had my MC) I might ask them about it but I wouldn't rescind the offer on the basis of it. But like others have said, it's the one or two days here and there every month which are a lot more annoying and indicative of unreliability.

In summary, I'd expect to be asked about it. But no one will get your sickness record unless they're actually offering you the job so at that point, you could explain what happened.

Also can i ask my current employer for the exact length of the time or can i estimate for the application?

Thankyou

On the online application it requests sickness record.

Sorry x posts before PFNM. In your case, I guess I'd look at how long ago it was, what your record has been since, and possibly before maternity leave, and specifically with depression, whether you have it under control. Having said that I'm not in HR and it's not my call.

For the application, I'd estimate and state that you've estimated and that if you were offered the job, you'd confirm exact dates as part of the references process. You don't exactly want to announce that you're looking for a new job.

Of course you can ask your current employers for your record, but would you want to alert them to the fact you are looking to leave?

An estimate is fine if you make this clear on the application form.

I would be far more inclined to employ someone with 12 weeks long term absence rather than lots of ad hoc days.

you can estimate - just try to be reasonably honest! i have employed someone who has a serious bowel condition and has to have time off, but he's in a part time post and is a fantastic worker so he's worth it

Shouldn't affect you PFNM

Surely it would be illegal to tell someone they couldn't have a job because they'd had post natal depression? It would be indirect sex discrimination wouldn't it?

and i'd definitely employ someone who had only taken one chunk of sl with pnd, if you feel there is the opportunity/ if appropriate to offer brief explanation, then consider it. what sort of work u looking at, if u dont mind me askin?

Thankyou all for the advice you have been so helpful.

My current(part time) job is in limbo at the moment so it wouldn't be tragic if my employer knew i was actively seeking other employment.

One thing that does worry me is that following my return to work last year , 6 weeks later my manager told me that Finance had mistakenly had me down as being off sick still.He had forgotton to fill a form in telling them i was back.

fihi -Health care support.

sooo good, that's the same general area as me. the 'people professions' tend to be far more understanding and don't let it count against you - that's my expce anyway. i've had reams of understanding from employers and all in care field. good luck, if u can stop worrying bout it, please try!

Thanks will try

Strictly speaking, you are not allowed to discriminate against a prospective employee on grounds of sickness.
It's whether someone can do the job now that matters.

well said, neverenuf

I wouldn't expect to give that sort of information in my application. Usually it's picked up in the reference, and then with the occupational health check if you get that far. Having sais that there was a while when we had to ask at interview about sick leave, which I felt quite uncomfortable about. It's a tricky one because having a member of your team on long term sick is very difficult to manage (and expensive as you usually aren't allowed cover until their period of full pay runs out). Our references ask for the last two years only, so it's not digging to far back in the past (hard to remember anyway). however I do work for the NHS which has very employee friendly rules on the whole. Personally it would depend entirely on the pattern of illness and how otherwise reliable the candidate was. So for example we have recently appointed a person with some significant problems with their helth, but they are also uber consientious, so I think we get our money's worth as it were. I have other people in my team who seem always to be off each time for a few days. That worriesd me far more, because it's difficult to figure out what's going on, and whether I should be being very sympathetic, or sending them off to occupational health for an assessment.

As a person who's done quite a bit of hiring in the past...

One longish period of absence (which can happen to anyone) but has an otherwise good absence record is a lot less concerning than someone who regularly has 3 or 4 days off every month or 4 or 5 individual weeks (ie can self cert for the period) a year etc.

Try not to worry about it too much, I'm sure they won't hold it against you.

Thankyou
I shall ring for an application form tomorrow.

From a HR perspective the kind of sick leave that is particularly worrying is the single days on mondays and fridays and next to public holidays. These signify low motivation and commitment and therefore performance. In Australia they can ask at interview if you have any condition which may prevent you carrying out your job and if you had MS or something like that then you would be expected to respond. If you are an external applicant the only way they could find out about the pattern of your sick leave would be with a reference check and it is highly unlikely that a referree whose name you willingly supply would make negative comments (deliberately anyway). A genuine illness such as yours would probably not attract a lot of attention from a 'good' employer!