Would you sack me

[Hatemyjob101]

I work for the civil service and I have depression made worse by the job . I’ve had 3 stints of sick in a year , now I have been signed off with depression . I have not had a warning yet , but this 4 th period is a trigger point . I’m sure I will get a warning , but what is the likelihood of the sack ? Thanks

If the job is the problem why don't you look to make a change?

Hi there , I will be applying now as my health is really affected .

If your job is making you unwell are your employers aware of that?
To be honest I would be looking at changing careers if it is so terrible
If you’re going to be having a conversation with them re your illnesses shouldn’t you raise the obvious that your role is contributing to this?
Do you have real life support who could help with this?

I wouldn't sack you no, they should be supporting you or moving you to a less stressful department

Nobody's going to sack you if you've been there more than 2 years and haven't had any kind of warning yet.

Hello @rubyslippers. I’ve been too scared to say anything until now .

What conversations have you had with work so far about the impact of the job on your mental health and any adjustments?

How long have you been there? How long are you blocksnof time off?

If you are in the civil service you should have a clear policy which states what may or may not happen at each point . I work in a similar environment and they can only terminate your employment following case conference at which you are invited to take a union rep . There are several layers before this which include meetings with your manager and an attendance improvement plan .

But in your position I would be considering alternative employment if it is making you so unhappy .

Realistically, what can they do to help you?

Their hands are tied as they can't sack you for depression, but it would seem you and this job aren't compatible so why stay?

The other thing is that if your depression is being made worse by your job, this is something you need to mention to your manager. Do you have any kind of absence review / return to work meeting with your manager when you have come back from previous sickness ? If any health concern you have is being caused by, or exacerbated by, your employment they have a duty of care to you .

What have work done to help? Occ health referrals? Anything?
How many days have you had off altogether in the last 12 months? I’m civil service and our trigger point is eight days for full-time staff.

Pretty unlikely in the CS.

What is it about the job that's making you so ill?

Have they adjusted your job?

How old are you? Can you get ill health retirement?

You seriously need to look for another job. This isn't doing you any good and you can't move forward being in this job Role.
It is also not fair in your colleagues, especially if they are having to pick up your workload. It's more pressure on them and would help everybody if somebody who was more suited to role was in place.
I say this as somebody who has been in your position.

If you work in the civil service you're impossible to sack, you have all sorts of protection on your side. You'll be signed off on long term sick and managed to a point where you're moved into a position that suits you better.

I think in my company. They probably would sack you at this stage before your two years are up and it's much harder to get rid of people who are not a fit.
Have you been engaging with them . At this stage I absolutely would.

I work in HR in CS, obviously different departments have slightly different policies but generally you would have to have received a formal warning then gone onto have further absences in the review period for dismissal to even be considered and even then it's a last resort. If you have depression it may possibly be covered by the equality act so your manager should be considering an OHS referral and looking to see whether there are potentially any adjustments they can put in place - a change in role can be considered too if that will help! It's really risky for them to dismiss people that quickly so it shouldn't happen! Obviously depends on how good your manager is as well.

If you have this level of depression then 2 years' service is irrelevant. You have protection under the equality act. Doesn't mean you can never be fired but they need to make reasonable adjustments.

If you've no prior warnings it's highly unlikely they would risk going straight to dismissal.

@AnEpisodeOfEastenders

If you work in the civil service you're impossible to sack, you have all sorts of protection on your side. You'll be signed off on long term sick and managed to a point where you're moved into a position that suits you better.

Of course civil servants aren’t ‘impossible to sack’ (although from what you’ve said, OP, you aren’t about to be.)

If you work in the civil service you're impossible to sack, you have all sorts of protection on your side.

The OP has protections but claiming it's impossible to sack someone in CS, that's an outright lie. It's harder than in private industry, but not impossible, and usually involves stuff like union support which has never come up in any of the private sector roles i've had, and there may be more robust policies to adhere to.. but it's not impossible.

If you work in civil service surely they should have access to occupational health for your place of work?