sick leave.. new job? please help

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ive applied for and got an interview for the NHS doing an admin role.

prior to the interview i have to fill in a health form. one of the questions is how much sick time have i had off in the last 2 years.
Answer.... loads!

For all sorts of reasons. I went back to work ft for 4 months last year. i pretty much suffered a burn out. in the weeks running up to this i was always ill, puking, bad tummy, flu. it was all caused my stress.( never knew stress could be so physical) i changed to another full time job and had about a week off in 4 months as dd and i caught a terrible bug ( loads of people got it and it was in the local papers)

Since may this year ive been working part time, have had about 5 days off, but this is due to dd being ill not me.

So how many days do i put down? i really want this job. SO i could lie, but dont want to get found out when they get refrences.. and will my present and past company discolose this sort of info?

Please help.

They'll find out how many you've had when they write for a reference. The reference is likely to state the number of sick days you took I'm afraid.

be honest. they will ask when they send for references. Many employers will not disclose sickness details and will only give out basic factual references but you don't ant to risk it.

ok, so do i count parental leave ( looking after a sick dd) as my sick days?

i dont do i?

in which case, its not as bad as i think.
and they wont ask for a ref from the first company i worked for. so i may just knock those days off, seeing as i was off due to stress caused by them.

don't include time off for dd as your own sick leave, this is an entirely different thing, Parental Leave, which you are entitled to.

and get yourself over to the Suffolk christmas thread

I think you'll have to be honest. Most NHS reference forms I've seen have got a specific bit where you ask the current employer how many days off sick they've had in the past 2 years - if the days don't tally you've had it anyway.

So, I'd put the correct number and if it's lots of days (over 12) I'd put the reasons you've said above in a short note on the form somewhere.

Also, you shouldn't have taken days off sick if your dd was ill - could you have not taken special leave or even annual leave? 5 days off in the last 6 months is still quite a lot.

But go for it and be confident if you get an interview!

aw well, in which case its about 5 days in 2 years ( omitting the job from hell) so not too bad then.

suffolk xmas thread.... ooohh weres that?

crossed posts! It depends if you declared those 5 days off as sick leave or special/parental leave?

Check with your current HR as to how they've got it recorded.

Suffolk thread

Was it really parental leave (13 weeks per child) or was it unpaid time off for dependants? You don't want to declare it as parental leave if it wasn't parental leave since you will be eating into your entitlement - plus your old employer will tell your new employer whether you've had statutory parental leave

oh no, i didnt say i was sick if dd was ill.
ive always said when it was her that was ill.

so its not as bad as i first thought.

And ive got and interview already.

ANother question then.
They have said they will ask for refs from present employer and the one before that. That is fine.

Job from hell is one before that one. But it is still only a year ago. That is the one where i had lots of time sick, but seeing as they havent mentioned needing a reference from them i guess i dont need to worry?

Don't lie they may well ask your current employer. As dotty says check with HR that sick leave is recorded as sick.

Emergency dependents leave for looking after sick child is different to sick leave but check it is recorded as that. Did you ask for that or did you throw a sickie? Unless you have a generous employer you may well not get paid for dependents leave so lots of people phone in 'sick' instead, which will obviously go on sickness record.

Your employer can divulge number of days off sick in a reference but can't say what it was for without your permission.

oh dont know.
We dont have an HR where i work, its just a ittle charity. They dont even make notes off sick days or holidays....

for the job i did before this i dont know, i was always paid..... but said when it was dd.

parental leave for your DD is not sick leave, unless you pulled a sickie.

If you said that it was dd then go with that, some places do pay for time off when children are ill

x-posts with everybody!

If I was asking for references I would want them to cover a couple of years ideally, not just the last 2 jobs - that could potentially be a very short time so they may want a reference from job from hell when they discover the short time only 2 will cover.

OH NO, that would be a disaster.
I left on very very bad terms. the whole time i spent there was horrific. But my other two refs would be good. so if i explain that we parted on bad terms without going into any detail ( sooo not a good thing to do) then they should be happy with that? and my job before that would be happy to give me a good ref too.

OH no, i really want this job as well.

No, I wouldn't worry about references - as long as you've got one from your current employer, you're OK (I would have thought) with another one from whoever you want.

Don't panic too much. I am cautious and thorough and like to ensure recruitment decisions are fully informed, but that certainly doesn't mean everyone is - it may be that if they can tick their '2 references' box all will be well.

Cross that bridge when you come to it. The job from hell may only give factual dates and stuff anyway - giving a 'bad' reference is highly dodgy so they may not want to go there.

DOn't panic yet anyway

ok
so i should:

just put in sick dates for myself. ( will put all in, bar those from job from hell)

just give my two refs as they have asked.

be wonderful and sparkle in the interview and get the job and not worry!

GREAT PLAN.

thanks everyone!

oh and thanks for the link POTC!