Off sick - constant checks on me, feeling harassed

[BreatheAndFocus]

Hi - I’m off sick at the moment. I’ve been quite unwell - fever, bad chest, dizziness, vomiting. I reported my sickness to work - and they’ve phoned and texted me constantly ‘to see how I am’ and to ask if I’ll be at meetings, am I better now, etc etc.

I’m feeling really harassed by this and like they’re pressuring me to come back. I didn’t think they were allowed to do this? Is there any rule or guidance online about contacting people when they’re off sick that I can quote at them. It’s been every single day and it’s annoying and downright rude. They even asked me how I think I got ill - which is a bloody stupid question when I’ve clearly got some virus. How do they think people get ill?? Just feeling so stressed by it.

Any links to official guidance would be very welcome. TIA.

Local Authority, 5 days self certified, once you get a sick note it really depends. Sometimes no contact, other times every day. Depends on the person, we had someone who never went sick, until they went off with cancer. They were not disturbed, they contacted us when they wanted to come back (which was very quick). Had to go and get a fit note. They were off a bit here and there, used their leave if they had any left. We just let them do what they wanted to. They made a full recovery and haven’t been sick since.

Another off with stress every few weeks, gets contacted every day.

I know we all find different things helpful, but there's no way in hell I would be letting my manager or HR visit me at home - least of all while I was unwell.

I've had "longer" absences after surgeries - I wasn't in a fit state to have visitors, let alone my manager. That's why I was signed off to recover.

I would have found that very intrusive and would have refused, however we agreed phonecalls at intervals towards the end to ensure everything was in place for my return.

Have you called in sick each morning for each of the days you have been off? As in my work we are supposed to call in each day and if they didn't hear from you they would probably call just to see if I was still off and check okay daily. If signed off with sick note I would not expect such regular contact until nearer to the due back date.

Normally for self certification the person who is sick has to phone their line manager each day to confirm whether they are still sick. If sickness was D&V we have a 48hr policy so wouldn't expect a call on day 2 but would in day 3 if still unwell. This is obviously flexed depending on sickness (serious accident, hospitalisation, miscarriage etc would all be treated with care and empathy and carefully targeted communication to support)

Once signed off by doctor I'd typically expect contact between manager and staff towards the end of the signed off period to confirm whether expected to return or further sick note expected, To identify if a referral to occupational health was needed and whether a phased return plan or reasonable adjustments needed.

I'd keep a contact log for extended periods of sickness and would be in touch every 2-3 weeks as a minimum if the sickness is extended.

Good line management support is proven to help people back into the workplace more effectively.

But if you have normal sickness I would have expected you to have contacted me by phone each morning that you were I'll until you were signed off. I would have called you later in the day if that was missed as I would have expected you back at work if you hadn't advised you were still ill.

That's been the policy in all organisations I've worked in over 35 years

I’ve no problem with letting them know each day that I won’t be in. But these messages arrive before I’ve even had a chance to do that. I was asked what was wrong with me and told them, but since then I feel I’ve been interrogated - how did I get sick, what do I think it is, how did this happen, etc etc. Just stupid questions.

I’ve only been off 3 days so don’t have a Sick/Fit Note. I told them how unwell I was so it was clear I wasn’t going to make the meeting that day. I find their messages harassing and unnecessary, like they’re checking up on me but not to see if I’m ok or when I’ll be back. As I said, I rarely take sick leave and usually struggle on and I’m actually quite angry about their attitude, interrogating me about how I got ill and the like. I think it’s unprofessional.

Thank you so much to everyone who’s been kind enough to reply. I don’t feel well enough to reply to individual messages, but I’ve read them all and really appreciate each one. I’m going to see if I can find their Sickness Policy when I’m feeling a bit better.

It suits us both as she lives the next street down and we work over an hour away. I could have met her in the office but didn't see the point when she could walk round the corner.

I personally felt more comfortable crying when talking about my mothers death and the impact its had on me on my own sofa, but as you said people find different things helpful.

That sounds arsey but wasn't meant that way!

I am off sick too in a patient facing role with a virus. My boss emailed me yesterday and said it would be really ‘helpful’ if I could come in as we are short staffed that day, even if it were for just part of the day. I too felt harassed. I also think they are being very irresponsible suggesting this as I could infect other colleagues or our patients!

No, not at all, I can absolutely see how that approach is what's right for you. I'm sorry about your mother, but glad your work sound supportive.

Thank you, its a big Council so I wasn't expecting much, which is sad, but glad they proved me wrong

OP I hope you feel better soon

i used t have a boss who wanted a check in about 4 times a day.

in terms of how you got ill, I'd ask them, seriously, if they think there's something in their water or air supply.

it might be that, but it will also help shut them up, I reckon.

Self certifiying, we had to ring in the morning of the fiirst day, then before the end of each working day, to confirm whether or not we'd be in the next day.

I was never, ever contacted by work while off sick. As I understood it, they were not supposed to do so.

In your position, OP, I'd not be picking up the phone or receiving messages. And I'd say that I was sleeping when asked why I hadn't responded.

I wouldn't be happy with that - a quick call or email to say 'still unwell' is reasonable in the self certifying period. But constant messages aren't. If you've said you're not coming in on X day, obviously you won't be attending meetings that day!

I worked somewhere like that once, it wasn't enough to say you were ill and couldn't come in, it was a barrage of questions. I was off sick and called about 3 times a day to check I was still sick. I was quizzed as to every symptom, what was I taking for it, had I seen a GP? Oh, I had. So, how come I was well enough to see a GP (I was a 4 min walk away from my surgery) but not well enough to travel a 2 hour round trip to work my core hours of 8:30am - 6pm?

Fortunately I now work somewhere where a sensible approach is taken. Once someone is clearly needing more than a couple of days off, they can call back once better or signed off, rather than calling daily to confirm they still have a chest infection/flu etc.

I'd be inclined to call in, say you're unwell and won't be in and are going back to bed and switching your phone off. Ignore further messages.

I would be tempted to just say "no" if they keep asking "will you be in tomorrow".

As a manager, I’d expect a call on the first morning, after which I leave well alone. I was very pissed off to have multiple messages from my boss when I was last off, telling me that I needed to do x, y and z, all of which I’d done already and lots of questions. Bugger off and leave me alone, I’m never off sick, so it’s serious. Being contacted throughout the day is inappropriate, imo, unless there’s something really urgent.

It’s always been my policy to tell people to ignore emails (some people have them on their phone-just no!) and not think about work when they’re off sick.

I can sort of understand them asking where you think you caught it from (and when), as then they will know whether they need to look out for other members of staff being ill. This is more of a thing now since Covid.

They may also want to be covering their backs if you think you may have been affected by anything in the work environment e.g. your symptoms could indicate Legionella.

This pisses me off massively with colleagues. I work in a large community NHS team - Nurses, Physios, OTs, HCAs, Social Workers. So many staff the past few weeks have come into work clearly very unwell sniffling and coughing everywhere. Now i understand the NHS is under a huge amount of pressure atm but ffs stay off. Patients do not want us in their homes breathing germs everywhere and now I am sitting here with every bone in my body aching and a bloody sore throat on my day off, if I go off sick I look like the weak one as all the others have come in whilst unwell...arghhhhhh!!

Where I used to work had an awful policy. We had to ring an hour (no later), before our shift started to let them know if we were ill. If you were on the 6-2 shift you had to leave a message on the answerphone as there was no-one in, then you had to wait for your supervisor to ring back after the shift started to talk to you in person. The last thing anyone needs when they are ill is having to get up at 5am then hang around until 7am at the earliest for a phone call back. We had to do this everyday unless they were provided with a DR's note, although that didn't stop them calling everyday sometimes.

I hate this. I got signed off with stress, told my boss it was for various things including a police investigation.

He badgered me constantly, wanting me to contact clients to let them know events I was hosting would be off etc.

(I had just done a video interview relating to a serious sexual assault I suffered and had PTSD. He had no business knowing that so I didn't tell him but he made things a million times worse with this badgering).

I just told him in the end that I didn't want him to contact me.

Same with mine, are they phoning you because you're not phoning daily?

Curious to know what time they’re contacting you?
Our policy is daily notice before you’re due to start for short term absence and that’s because it affects the plan for the day. If you’re not notifying before 9/10 your line manager might be following up with you because you haven’t notified in the expected window. It sounds a bit inappropriate though the way they’re questioning. It might be worth a message the evening before (I’d happily accept that but not for someone to tell me they’ll be off until Wednesday on a Monday morning for example as too far away to know how they’ll feel then)

hope you feel better soon. some nasty viruses going round at the moment!

There should be policies in place if employers are going to be asking such intrusive questions.

As this thread shows, policies vary between organisations.

At mine, it's a phone call before your contracted start time on Day 1, Day 3 and Day 7 and a Dr's note is required on Day 8.

Check what yours is, and, if necessary, escalate to HR.

For short term sickness (without a drs note) I would expect a daily text/email before the start of the work day to confirm their continued absence then I would call later in the day to ask how they are doing and to gauge if they are likely to be in the next day. For employees with a sick note I don't expect a daily text/email for the duration of the planned absence and would call on the last day of the planned absence for sick notes up to 2 weeks, for longer periods it's on a case by case basis

We are expected to phone in to advise we won't be in for each day we are off without a note and that has always been the case in every job I've worked in.

However what that actually has entailed is a 1 minute phone call each morning to advise of being unwell and that's it. If you are doing this and they are still actively contacting you throughout the day and trying to make you commit to a future day that you're guaranteed to be back by, I would raise it with HR.

Whether it's a workplace culture thing or a poor management training thing, it shouldn't be happening.