Not happy with contents of occupational health report

thfgre45tyhgfd · 2022-07-08T16:10:20+00:00

I've been off work due to poor mental health, and as part of my return to work I have had a meeting with occupational health. It was a long meeting that was really personal and they have written up a report to send to my manager and HR. I asked to see the report before it gets sent, and it's really upset me to be honest. It's so personal and talks about things I wouldn't even tell my closest friends. AIBU to want to edit it to remove a lot of the details? For example, it mentions things about me struggling to get out of bed, isolating myself from my friends and things I've worried about. It's made the return to work process even more stressful as I categorically do not want my line manager to know all of this about me. Does anyone have any experience in this to know if I'm being unreasonable? The report also includes a back to work plan with actionable steps and targets - surely that's the important part rather than hearing all about my personal struggles?

scotscorner · 09/07/2022 10:38

Sorry OP that you’ve been struggling.

a few different things to say here:

From what you’ve said, the information seems relevant to the nature of your condition - so not unreasonable of OH to include

I can see why it makes you uncomfortable, but the report is supposed to help you back to work and to make management decisions it’s helpful to understand what you’ve struggled with

I think you can dispute factual details - but doesn’t sound like they’re incorrect. You can also withdraw your consent for the process I believe - but my personal opinion is this isn’t a great idea OP

Is there some history with your manager that makes you feel they won’t be supportive, or is it just that you feel really unhappy about the personal nature of the details?

All the information should be very sensitively/confidentially held.

vdbfamily · 09/07/2022 10:43

If you trust your manager, it will be helpful for then to know how you are feeling and they may be able to make some adjustments to help you, however the whole idea of you seeing the report before it is sent is so that you can ask for bits to be changed or removed before it is shared. Maybe ask them to share the action plan with shorter summary of issues

scotscorner · 09/07/2022 10:50

vdbfamily · 09/07/2022 10:43

If you trust your manager, it will be helpful for then to know how you are feeling and they may be able to make some adjustments to help you, however the whole idea of you seeing the report before it is sent is so that you can ask for bits to be changed or removed before it is shared. Maybe ask them to share the action plan with shorter summary of issues

vdbfamily, I don’t think that’s quite right - my understand is that you have the right to see it but not so you can ask for bits you don’t like to come out. You can ask for factual inaccuracies to be changed but I’m not sure you can ask for information to be removed without withdrawing consent for the process?

agree with you though that this is about trust in the manager it’s going to.

Original poster

thfgre45tyhgfd · 09/07/2022 11:40

@scotscorner I'm fine with the report including some details about how it affected me at work/affected my ability to work, but there is a lot of unnecessary detail of things that aren't relevant to work. It details things about my family, my personal life, my social life that I don't want my manager or HR to know.

During the meeting I expressed concerns about the personal nature of the questions, and I was told in the meeting that the personal information would be rewritten to be more 'academic' but it hasn't been, it is pretty much word-for-word what I said in the meeting.

For example, I'd be fine if the report said something like 'X struggled with low mood and lack of motivation' but not 'X stayed in bed all day and felt unable to get out of bed. X struggled to shower and get dressed everyday'

OP posts:

Original poster

thfgre45tyhgfd · 09/07/2022 11:41

I trust my manager and HR, but I know some of the contents of the report would change how my manager viewed me. I'm a very private person and I like to have some form of boundaries between my work and my private life

OP posts:

LadyWithLapdog · 09/07/2022 11:48

I don’t know anything about this but I agree with you that the very personal stuff should be left out. It’s not essential for the return to work action plan. Information should be shared but only what is strictly necessary for decisions.

Jalisco · 09/07/2022 11:57

You should be able to ask for it to be edited to remove some details. But I have to say that I don't agree with you. The fact that you have struggled just to get out of bed, shower and dress IS relevant to how I support you as a manager. And I have literally had this situation with a member of staff who, only because they finally told me this (and the cause behind it), did not get disciplined for constant lateness, did not get dismissed for a string of issues, but instead got lots of support and help, and together we turned the situation around in a positive way that enabled the person to progress. What goes on in someone's personal life does, very much, affect their work. That was only one example I have had, as a manager, where knowing information about someone's personal life has made a difference in how I could support them in work and helped them.

With respect, you might like to have boundaries between what you consider your personal life and your work life. If those boundaries were what you want them to be, then you wouldn't be talking to occupational health at all, and we wouldn't be having this conversation. The boundaries disappeared the minute that whatever else was happening crossed into your work life, and/or vice versa. The only way to get them back is to work through why that has happened. Your manager can't help you with that unless they can talk to you about it.

knackeredmu · 09/07/2022 14:52

Jalisco · 09/07/2022 11:57

You should be able to ask for it to be edited to remove some details. But I have to say that I don't agree with you. The fact that you have struggled just to get out of bed, shower and dress IS relevant to how I support you as a manager. And I have literally had this situation with a member of staff who, only because they finally told me this (and the cause behind it), did not get disciplined for constant lateness, did not get dismissed for a string of issues, but instead got lots of support and help, and together we turned the situation around in a positive way that enabled the person to progress. What goes on in someone's personal life does, very much, affect their work. That was only one example I have had, as a manager, where knowing information about someone's personal life has made a difference in how I could support them in work and helped them.

With respect, you might like to have boundaries between what you consider your personal life and your work life. If those boundaries were what you want them to be, then you wouldn't be talking to occupational health at all, and we wouldn't be having this conversation. The boundaries disappeared the minute that whatever else was happening crossed into your work life, and/or vice versa. The only way to get them back is to work through why that has happened. Your manager can't help you with that unless they can talk to you about it.

100% agree with this also as a a manager with a team member with similar concerns.
As manager's we are here to support you back to work and this sort of information helps us to do this - the separation between home and work is a bit broken right now but can easily be rebuilt.

SarahProblem · 11/07/2022 22:36

I've had a similar OH report written about me during an MH crisis a few years ago. I get that it's awful to see written down.

But as a manager, to make a decision whether reasonable adjustments or your capability to work can be assessed, it needs to be accurate.

"low mood and issues with motivation" sound like me on a Tuesday (always worse than a Monday for me) and probably massively undersells how poorly you are right now.

Thereisnolight · 11/07/2022 22:45

OP, do a quick Google of just about any UK occupational health guidelines - all are clear that Occ Health can only make recommendations to your employer re adjusting your work - they cannot divulge any details of your medical condition without your consent. That is what Occupational Health is for.

Original poster

thfgre45tyhgfd · 11/07/2022 22:46

Thank you all. I ended up keeping most of it in, I was able to speak to my manager before the report was sent which helped as I kind of explained that it was quite detailed

@Jalisco and @knackeredmu 'The boundaries disappeared the minute that whatever else was happening crossed into your work life, and/or vice versa' and 'the separation between home and work is a bit broken right now but can easily be rebuilt' - those two sentences have helped me so much. I keep thinking about them, it's helping me a lot. Thank you

OP posts:

Thereisnolight · 11/07/2022 22:46

The final paragraph of your OP is correct.

Jalisco · 12/07/2022 18:15

thfgre45tyhgfd · 11/07/2022 22:46

Thank you all. I ended up keeping most of it in, I was able to speak to my manager before the report was sent which helped as I kind of explained that it was quite detailed

@Jalisco and @knackeredmu 'The boundaries disappeared the minute that whatever else was happening crossed into your work life, and/or vice versa' and 'the separation between home and work is a bit broken right now but can easily be rebuilt' - those two sentences have helped me so much. I keep thinking about them, it's helping me a lot. Thank you

I'm very glad it helped. Not every manager is a great manager - had my own share of those. But the majority really care for their people and will step up to support them. As a manager my first step is always "let's fix this". It doesn't always work. But it does more often than it doesn't.

I hope you can move forward now. Good luck