How much contact when off sick

[Kedece2410]

I'm off sick at present with stress, anxiety & depression - work related. I have a fit note for another 4 weeks.

My line manager is phoning twice a week 'to check in' Now while I appreciate the concern - even if it is partly due to their mishandling of something that caused me to go off - I feel its too much

I've nothing to say. The situation is still unresolved. I'm not any better mentally - struggling to get out of bed some days.

Should I just sick it up or tell her in the nicest way possible to stop it. I dont want to come across as awkward or uncooperative but I'm already dreading the next call on Thurs.

What is normal policy where you work? That would be my starting point. For example, where I work there must be weekly contact - although that may not be from the line manager (we would appoint a "welfare contact" if the line manager was deemed part of the problem). But apart from policy there is no "rule". You could ask for someone else to contact you, or ask your GP to specifiy that on the fit note - but you can't say no contact at all because the employer has a duty of care. So you need to find a way of balancing it.

Ive absolutely no problem with contact There's no defined rules. But we work 6 days & are off 4. My previous line manager called once per run of shifts if you were off This one is calling twice in the 6 day period.

I just feel its too much

I agree OP; you should be left alone if you are off sick. Is this NHS by any chance? Sounds like their awful policies....

There will be defined guidelines about this, even if you don't know about them. The HR dept will, and line managers will know what they are expected to do to tick the boxes.

As @Quveas says, it's part of duty of care towards employees, seeing if there is anything the company can or should do for you, helping with a managed return etc.

Unless you feel you are being hassled about returning sooner than you'd like, I think you just have to work with them tbh.

Stop answering. It's too much. TBH one phone call at the end of the sicknote to ask if I'm coming back yet followed by disappointed faux sympathetic noises if I'm not, feels like god-awful pressure, with the implication you're letting everyone down and annoying the boss by being ill. I feel like - if you don't hear from me, expect me back the day after the sicknote runs out and if I'm still ill, I'll call you and let you know. I don't see there's any need to contact people off sick at all and find it very intrusive.

That's about the worst advice you could give to someone on long term sick leave. If they didn't think badly before (and there's no reason to) they certainly will if she stops talking to them.

Found the SOP online - just states 'regular contact' theres no time frame

As I said I have no objections to contact its just the level at the moment

Who cares what they think? They're the boss, not God. If OP isn't doing anything wrong, and she wouldn't be by not answering her phone to work when she's off sick, then there'd be nothing they can do. If they want to contact her that badly they can write to her and she can call them or write back when she feels upto it. If she has a sicknote then she has one and that's the end of it.

I have worked for a large company and our welfare calls should have been one per week, when I was off with being under paid company sick pay to start with. Perhaps the policy changed when I went to SSP as I had a Manager who wouldn’t make them
Iost out on a lot of important stuff to know which erk’d me and found it was me chasing them to the point they removed me from the systems even (did my mental health wonders first day back) every single note/reminder lost on return.

I worked for one of those businesses were inbound telephone contact wasn’t easy once you’d past being able to call a sick line for daily reporting so suppose you could email them (?) asking them to tone it down, do call and email or confirm their policy. Maybe they will leave of the longer you are signed off.

Twice a week is a lot unless you are only sending in very short term sick notes eg 1 week at a time.
I work in OH so deal with many people over different companies off long term sick.
It varies depending on company policy, occasionally weekly but usually every 2-3 weeks.
People who are off for several months (and it's usually a fairly serious issue if someone's off that long) feel abandoned by their employer if there's little contact and it's much more difficult for them to see a clear route back into the workplace.

Could you ask them to text instead?

This is something your manager should have asked when you went off sick- they need to keep in contact and I would start off suggesting once a week however sometimes it’s too much. There should have been a conversation to agree up front what’s suitable. Given that it’s work related stress I would suggest these calls twice a week are more unhelpful to your recovery than helpful. What is the benefit? You’ve been signed off for 4 weeks so what is there to discuss twice a week?
of course your manager will need to discuss the work related stress as just because you’re signed off doesn’t mean these discussions shouldn’t take place but I’d normally be doing this after a month.
I would however be referring anyone with stress to occ health and be talking to them about a stress risk assessment when they return (if you look on the health and safety executive website there are examples)

id be honest and say you’re willing to keep in contact but the frequency is causing more stress and would like to request weekly/bi weekly.
if they are referring you to occ health I’d make sure you mention this in your meeting. Or if you’re seeing your GP they can make a recommendation on your fit note.
i see a lot of absence cases- some employees go silent and avoid calls which I wouldn’t advise as it leaves the manager wondering what to do/with the impression you’re being awkward. If you’re up front that it’s affecting you (and put it in writing) everyone knows where they stand.
mid they ignore your request then there’s your evidence of what’s causing your work related stress!!