Off sick advice

[Preparedforjobnottolast]

Hi,

I don't know what to do for the best. I appreciate with just 4 months service I'm easily gone. I'm off work without a fit note and my company have decreased half month hybrid work from home roles saying it was only a measure to see us up to Christmas.

I at least work for a national company who do return to work interview and can get occupational health involved, doing company sick pay after so many days out. (also bradford scoring is in place which I understand single days being taken for aren't great)

I was off sick for half day last week (how I found out the above) when I was fortunate work from home anyway (now stopping) and so physically went in Tuesday this week but I just couldn't cope at the moment with being in work.

It is now believed I have Sciatica relating to a back problem and I'm waiting to go to a back clinic. It's early days being on very high strength painkillers and I just feel I cannot make it to work to deal with the stairs to climb at the depot, unsteady on my feet and have a lengthy car journey work which with legs spasms I'm so worried about driving a car safely. I'm hoping to get some days on the painkillers and see if I can make it in for next Monday.

I don't have my Manager's phone number to contact direct and the company have this policy where you have to call daily through to a general absence line to report being off sick - manager has not made contact yet, I have thought about trying to email my Manager? to request work from home as next best sensible suggestion (though I totally get they can say no.) or should it be left until they conduct a return to work form or whatever comes next.

I appreciate I may lose my job but I want to let the company make all the moves as far as this is concerned.

Sorry I'm totally unsure what happens when being off sick and unprotected without a fit note. Any ideas on best way forward would be gratefully accepted.

Massive thanks.

Two things here. You must take action. Are you well enough to work from home. If so get permission and explain the situation. If you are not well enough to wfh get a sick note from your GP. Dont just stay off without contacting anybody,

If you’re too ill to work, get a line.

As for the rest, I honestly don’t know BUT - since taking my job less than a year ago I was diagnosed with MS and my mobility is fucked.

my drive is 2 hours each way and my office is on the top floor of a Victorian building with no lift - I’ve said I’m simply unable to do it (get up the stairs I mean). There’s not been a peep about that - I suspect they’d be on shaky ground disability-wise - however I say all of this because I honestly DGAF if they fire me - my health is way more important than going to an office!

I don’t really understand why you don’t have a fit note if you’ve been to the doctors to get strong painkillers. Did the doctor not agree to give you a note?

Can you get a note from GP for next week or are you not bad enough to get signed off?

They tend only to give fit notes round here for mental health.
I'm just confused and wonder what trouble if long term this is going to bring.
I must not try to grumble as few years ago, I did get a fit note to access DWP services for short term anxiety when I had no job/lost a job due to it.

I've got loads of holiday to take but the soonest I can take leave is week after next. My only way to get to my Manager, unless they contact me, is through one or two colleagues who have better connections with him. Sadly I work in one of those phoneless organisations. I don't really get the absence line setup. It seems a very big company where the Manager may have no say but I'm just going to brave it and ask in an email.

Thanks everybody x

Ah poor thing x

I totally get health is more important then wealth.

You can self certify for a week . Whoever issued the strong painkillers and clinic referral should issue a fit-note.

Definitely email your manager. Outline the problem and ask if you can book a call with them to keep updated.

I really think you should be getting a fit note. Your employer will expect it if you're going to be off for a while and it makes a record of your diagnosis. Also, it sounds a bit strange if you've been referred for investigation and been prescribed string medication yet haven't got a fit note.

They tend only to give fit notes round here for mental health.

What? That simply isn't possibly the case. Doctors give fit notes for all sorts of conditions if you are unable to work as a result. Who have you spoken to? Has anyone actually refused to give you a fit note, and why?

The absnece line seesm to be easy - you explained it. If you are absent you phone them and tell them that.

It seems that you have been off for 2.5 days in total?

If you are saying that you have back problems that make it impossible to drive to the office or to work in the office, I ceryainly wouldn't be considering letting you work from home either - that is not "the easy option" if sitting in a car or at a desk in the office causes sufficient problems to warrant being off sick, then sitting at a desk/table/whatever at home certainly isn't going to be better for you.

You may want to be cautious here because the timing of your inability to commute to work or work in the office coincides unfortunately with the removal of hybrid working, and there may be an assumption that this has conveniently developed all of a sudden the minute you have to go to the office., especially since you seem to be suggesting that you could work from home without affecting the sciatica that is triggered by doing the same things you'd do in the office.

If the company's policy is that you call a number when you're off you need to do that.

Whether you manage to get hold of your manager is irrelevant, you need to follow company policy.

Honestly this kind of sickness and faffing around at 4 months in doesn't bode well for you being kept on .
I'd follow the practice the specify to the letter if you have chance of being kept on.

Yes I know that, and stating the 'obvious' isn't helpful, great if it gives you some sort of rise. I can afford to resign worst case but don't want to given as I appreciate I'm not exactly a catch now to other new Employers so its not a case of just going to get a new job.

I have actually battled with knowing something was wrong / did not feel right for now just over a month, before ending up in this position in seeing a GP. Of course they may well have made a terrible presumption about me too in that I don't have a job I don't know.

It has taken a lot for me to be off work knowing attendance will have an effect on my productivity. I haven't been off work sick/incapable for some time.

Thanks to everyone who commented. I was just wanting to know what could happen in the event there is no fit note, but it seems it is a must. I hear you all.

I agree with @Quveas here. I'm absolutely baffled as to why your GP won't issue a fit note. You say they only provide them for mental health issues, which is bonkers and should be seriously questioned if there's any truth in it.

Yes, the timing of your illness coinciding with hybrid working coming to an end WILL look suspicious, to any employer.

My workplace is also mostly phoneless. We have an absence line and that's about it. It's not difficult to use though, you call it and either leave a message if nobody's manning the line at the time, or if they do pick up you explain why you're not coming in that day. I really fail to understand why that's foxing you so much.

My workplace also uses Bradford scoring. Most companies do. Your score is high after four months, and very few employers will tolerate that.

I'm sorry OP, sciatica is fucking awful (been there, done that), but your post is full of excuses and a lot of it just doesn't add up.

I know how horrible sciatica can be but it’s not something that will be fixed in a short timeframe. When I had badly bulging discs in my back a few years ago I just had to grit my teeth and get on with it. My GP didn’t even give me decent painkillers (even though I needed them). The only thing that fixed it was intensive physio which is a medium to long term thing.

Obviously not possible to work if you’re a nurse or other similar physical job but for office work it’s doable.

@Preparedforjobnottolast I have actually battled with knowing something was wrong / did not feel right for now just over a month, before ending up in this position in seeing a GP. Of course they may well have made a terrible presumption about me too in that I don't have a job I don't know.

So if I am reading that correctly you didn't ASK the GP for a fit note? You assumed that they would telepathically know you needed one??? It is your responsibility to tell your GP if you need a fit note for employment or other purposes, once you have self-certified for the first weeks absence. And your claim that they don't give them out for anything except mental health conditions was based on your not asking for one???? GP's get enough flack for things without being blamed for things that are your own fault.

And I am going to say this in the kindest possible way, but you aren't going to like it. As @bluetongue has said this is not something that will be resolved in the short term, if ever. You are, and believe me I am certain about this, not on "very high strength painkillers". There is (a) no way that a doctor will prescribe such high strengths for a new condition that isn't properly diagnosed or managed yet, and (b) if you were on such very high strengths you'd be lucky if you could manage to type or think, never mind sit at any desk in any location and work. I know this because I have been there - I am badly disabled, my spine is shot due to arthritis and when I needed "very high strength painkillers" the levels of morphine in them had me floating somewhere near the ceiling! When you need that level of painrelief the description is not "something doesn't feel right", the description is "I am in such bone shattering agony that I can't move".

None of that means that you aren't too sick to attend work. But it needs to be because you are too sick to attend work - not because you don't want to return to the office. You might have had some negotiating space had you got a proven employment record with the company, but with only four months under your belt, and already on your second absence, then they have no way of judging your commitment to your job. It may not be fair, but the presumption is almost certainly going to be negative, especially given the timing of this. So if you are too sick to work, then by all means get a sick note. But do not try to argue that you are fit enough to work from home, because that is going to raise a whole load of red flags about you.

And finally, I do think that @Crazycrazylady is correct and fair in her comment. You may not appreciate this, but you are coming across even here as a "red flag" employee. Your concern is pretty clear - you actually really wanted to know when you can raise the fact that your unfortunate declining bad back means you should be able to work from home? Should you contact your manager now when you can't contact them anyway, or leave it until your return to work interview? The answer is as I just said, this would raise all sorts of red flags with managers. You have worked for them for 4 months on a hybrid basis, and now that is changing you have a bad back and can't travel to work or work in your office. But you can work at home. At a desk. Just like the one you have in the office but possibly not DSE'd???? That is not coming across as believable.

And I will pin my colours to the mast - I work from home 95% of the time. I can drive, but my disability makes it harder, especially in rush hour when traffic is slow moving. And when the employer redesigned the office post Covid, they decided that it would work as well for me not to have to come in. But that is with 12 years prior work record with them. They know who I am and what kind of work I produce. Your employer doesn't know that about you, and the advice you are getting, whether you like it or not, is designed to help you get to a point where they can and do trust you.

You can self certify for 7 calendar days, after that you need a fit note. If you re off sick without one after this most likely your pay will be suspended and you may face disciplinary action.

Have you actually asked your doctor for a note? What you say about them only giving one for mental health doesn’t add up at all.

If two of your colleagues are contacting the manager, can you not ask how they are doing so and do the same?

@Quveas but some people can work on those painkillers. I could, I was working FT on them until I had spinal surgery
Opiates just don't affect me in that way

Of course they may well have made a terrible presumption about me too in that I don't have a job I don't know.

It is not a GP's job to offer a fit note to every patient, you need to say you don't feel you can go to work and then they consider if they will provide one.

Even if you offer to WFH you need a fit note to document your problem and your employer can decide if your offer to temporarily WFH for a week or so instead of being off sick is something they would consider while you get used to the strong painkillers.

Yes, but I'm guessing that you hadn't been thinking that "something didn't feel right" for a month??? With those levels of painkillers there's a hell of a lot more than a feeling something isn't right. And that is not my only point - it's in the context of the OP's record, their short employment, and the timing of this developing just as they had to stop working from home. Take that all together, and, as I said - it raises loads of red flags. I am not disputing that the OP perhaps shouldn't be in work if they are in so much pain that they cannot manage. But, in my view, the entirety of the context is not likely to be viewed favourably. Bad timing, almost certainly. But it is what it is.

Here is an update.

My GP surgery have said they are unable to issue a fit note until 8th day, I must self cert until then.

8th calendar day sounds right

@Preparedforjobnottolast That is correct as legally you can self certify for 1 week.

Yep.

I made contact with the Manager but they have refrained from replying as yet.