Civil Service: Phased Return - how can I make it work?

[Usernamechanged24]

I have been a civil servant for over 20 years. Am returning to work after my first ever absence (unfortunately a very long one) . OH have advised, by way of a reasonable adjustment for my disability, that i should have a phased return over 6-8 weeks. They have suggested that i build my hours up over this period until i am full time.

HR initially welcomed this and said that as it was a reasonable adjustment they would pay my full wage (for 6-8 weeks). Today I have been told they have changed their minds and I will only be paid for the hours I work.

I understand that this probably seems reasonable : you should be paid for what you work. But I just don’t know how I am going to make it work/ survive. The amount I will earn will be very low , even if I am allowed to top it up with a reduced benefit rate , and won’t be sufficient for me to pay travel costs to and from work plus housing and food: let alone other bills.

I asked if I could return on full time hours but they said no because OH have advised I won’t be able/ I need to phase back in. What am I going to do?

I have been on nil pay for a year. I have used up all my savings and have borrowed to the max. I currently live from benefit payment to benefit payment , have maxed out credit cards and overdraft. I feel so fed up : just like giving up.

WWYD? Has anyone been in a similar position? If so how did you make it work. Thank you.

Gosh op, what a mess. I don't actually know if you continue to accrue AL when on unpaid sick leave but I would assume so. I'm NHS and we lose BH days if we are sick at the time so we don't get to carry those over.

You should have AL regardless from your first year of absence so they are definitely giving you incorrect information.

If you're well enough, I would definitely go in the office to meet with the manager and wider team. I can understand his reluctance to give you 'tasks' when you're new to the team and doing a phased return from home.

Make sure you have his comments in writing. If it was a verbal conversation, email him saying 'following on from our conversation, just to let you know that I have completed xxx training and am ready now to take on xxx tasks' blah blah to force his hand in putting his thoughts into writing.

Good luck op, hopefully in a few months you will be well settled and can put this all behind you.

Gosh op, what a mess. I don't actually know if you continue to accrue AL when on unpaid sick leave but I would assume so. I'm NHS and we lose BH days if we are sick at the time so we don't get to carry those over.

My bit of the NHS gave the BHs back as extra leave……

Definitely wrong on the annual leave point:

www.acas.org.uk/checking-sick-pay/if-sick-pay-runs-out

Thank you all so very much for your advice and support.

1. I emailed the links about accruing annual leave when off sick to HR. They have just responded saying I am entitled to 28 days accrued from 1 March 23- 29 February 24 . They say this has to be used by the end of August or it will be lost. I will try to speak to my Line Manager about options. I’d rather not take it all (possibly a few days) as I’m a bit worried it would hinder getting back into the pace of work/ establishing myself? The money would be helpful but I’m not sure what the options are: will look them up.
2. I have come into the office today (with LMgrs permission). It feels like a bit of a mistake : hardly anyone is in, including my line manager, and despite me trying to be friendly and positive there is literally no one to really speak to. The one person who I know works in the same team (although we’ve not been introduced) seems to be having a bit of a melt down so I’m giving her space. I feel useless : don’t have a phone , no clue how to print, use any of the systems (all new) and nothing constructive to add. There’s no one to ask so I’m just spending time trying to work it out myself (not easy when I can’t see any of the Group's actual work). I have completed all the mandatory training etc so think I’ll just email my Line Manager at close of play and say, as per our last discussion, this is what I’ve done and going forward I’d been keen to do more, have clarification over roles and responsibilities etc

I am in the Union but to be honest they are either very stretched or just not very good. Will keep trying to engage them. Will call ACAS if things don’t improve next week : it’s hard to put into words what is happening but I feel very isolated and to be honest a bit scared about what is going on. Still early days I suppose?

For now just trying to be positive, friendly and forward focusing but it’s hard (actually feel like crying!). Is it always like this? I hope i didn’t make any of my old teams feel like this?

Thanks again for all your help and support.

They owe you more than 1 year’s leave. They owe you whatever from the year before as well.

And you have to be allowed to carry it over if you are unable to take it all.

https://www.acas.org.uk/checking-sick-pay/sick-pay-and-holiday-pay#:~:text=If%20someone%20has%20not%20been,more%20to%20be%20carried%20over.

Ask them to pass this to someone that is CIPD qualified to look at as their answers don’t appear to be in line with what you are legally entitled to. And their failures are causing you unnecessary stress at a time when you should be being supported to return to work.

(if you want me to draft something for you message me)

It sounds a bit tricky. Are you and LM on the same site? Was there a reason you couldn’t go in on one of his office days? Could you perhaps request a catch up with OH? Has there previously been any suggestion of ill health retirement or a voluntary exit package?

Thank you so much for your replies. I will look into the annual leave issue although I don’t want to rock the boat/ appear difficult? The response was from a senior HR business partner so I assume they are CIPD qualified : don’t want to appear difficult?

I’m not on the same site as LM (he seems to come into this office a couple of times a month, although I don’t have access to his diary so not 100%).

Work have previously suggested ill health retirement but it’s not what I want ( discussion around this was one of the main reasons I was off for so long). My performance prior to my health issue was top box marking and I was on TRA to a higher grade. I know things may have changed but I would like the opportunity to see what I can do? Neither OH nor my Drs think ill health retirement is appropriate. I just need a bit of support to get back up and running?

It’s not being difficult to ensure you are getting what you are entitled to.

im shocked that a senior HRBP is getting this so wrong.

Yes I’ve been surprised by the response from HR. I’m not sure if it’s just that they don’t know / aren’t great or if something else is going on. Making me quite anxious.

@Usernamechanged24 I suspect they have limited the annual leave accrual to your statutory entitlement of 5.6 weeks or 28 days a year which is effectively the minimum legal requirement. Occupational annual leave is not covered by case law.

What you need to do is confirm your annual leave year e.g. 1 April to 31 March. Then work out how much untaken leave you had prior to going sick. How much you accrued when sick and then your current leave year entitlement.

It is reasonable to give a date by which you must take your accrued leave from previous leave years but not for this year’s leave entitlement. You have until the end of the current leave year to take your leave.m

I would use some of your accrued leave as I previously suggested to make your phased return hours closer to full time so you are receiving a decent salary.

As the OP had a year on nil pay and has 20 years service there was presumably a year off before that (6 months full pay, 6 mint's half pay). So there could be another 28 days of leave owed.

@OneMoreTime23 yes, that why I suggested “What you need to do is confirm your annual leave year e.g. 1 April to 31 March. Then work out how much untaken leave you had prior to going sick. How much you accrued when sick and then your current leave year entitlement.”

My comment is specifically about the approach of your manager. I'm a long standing civil servant by the way.

Hiding you away and pretending you don't exist is obviously not helpful even if he thinks it's the right thing to do.

Generally what I find is that the level of LM in CS is so variable - I'm sure this will be familiar to you. But most don't mean it, they just don't know what to do. I lead a team and cannot imagine, though, having a situation where I don't introduce a new team member to everyone at the earliest opportunity and metaphorically hug them into the fold, particularly someone who has been away for a long time.

I would ask for three things for now - whatever your personal top three are (three is manageable for people to not get overwhelmed).

Personally from what you describe I'd ask for:

An arranged face to face meeting with him - should be simple as he comes to the office regularly.

A buddy in the team - very reasonable/normal, not an outrageous ask.

To be included in the team meetings - this is so stupidly obvious I can't believe you'd have to ask for it, but hey ho.

Hi

Thank you all so much for your helpful replies.

I have decided not to seek any more accrued annual leave as, whilst the £ would be helpful ,I don’t want to ‘rock the boat’ and want to focus on making the phased return work.

I asked for a meeting with my LM as pp had suggested. He agreed to a Teams Meeting which was appreciated. I made all the points suggested , emphasising that I’m particularly keen to have a role and responsibility as appropriate to my Grade. He said again that he has been appointed as my pastoral manager but that he’s not a normal day to day manager and as such it’s not possible for him allocate me work. I asked if there was someone else who would be giving me work/managing me under whose headcount I belong but he said no.He said they wanted to see how I get on through a phased return and then decisions about my future would be made. In the meantime he said he would send an email to introduce me to the team but I can’t have a buddy and he would have to make it clear I am not part of the unit. He has now done this but to be honest it’s all left me a bit deflated. I am filling my time with reading and doing online courses but it’s not great and I’m not sure how much is going in.

To be honest i feel very ‘othered’ / anxious: am physically present but not part of the team and with no role and responsibilities. I have emailed HR for advice on how to demonstrate my abilities during this phased return : all they have said is to do mandatory training- which I completed in Day 1. This is all starting to get me down but perhaps I am overthinking it and phased returns are always like this? When I have managed staff in the past I think I have taken a very different approach but maybe it’s different now/here.

Am I over worrying? Grateful for any advice as I’ve no one to speak to in the real world

I'm so sorry this is happening to you.

I think you're being treated appallingly. The point of a phased return is to get you to settle in to the job as you build up your hours. You have to have a job for that to happen. Introducing you to the team and at the same time making it clear you're not part of it to everyone feels like bullying to be honest.

It sounds like you really, really some support "on the ground". Do you have a union rep, or is there some sort of confidential support/fair treatment ambassador arrangement in your department?

Don't give up on the annual leave thing either.

@Usernamechanged24 go and talk to your TU rep. Then with them email HR ( after the Easter weekend) and ask the following:

• Please can you advise me who my line manager is. (manager) has confirmed to me that they not my day to day manager and are only fulfilling a pastoral role and so are unable to allocate me work.
• Please can you provide an up to date job description for my role so I can understand what I am working towards.
• As you are aware on (date ) I returned to work on a phased return working x hours a day. (Enter working pattern). As agreed with OH and my GP I have been increasing my hours/days and I am now working x hours/days. I am on schedule to return to full time 37 hours 5 days from (date) and it is reasonable for me to be told the (departments) long term plans for me.
• As previously advised I am not being given work that is appropriate for my grade and hours. I am more than happy to talk to OH or my GP to ask them to confirm I am capable of undertaking the level of work appropriate to my grade.

Basically what you are doing is setting down a marker that you are not being given work so they can’t then claim you are not performing. By writing after Easter you are (I think) half way through the phased return so they need to have a plan for you. Plus it’s the start of the new financial year.

Hi @Usernamechanged24 I was speaking to someone at the Charity for Civil Servants yesterday & they have a sort of hardship fund and do sometimes give financial help. All civil servants are entitled to benefits from this charity you don't have to join/pay membership. Apparently there is a savings limit but from what you've said previously that wouldn't apply to you.

It's worth asking them. I was wondering if their support might pay for your travel costs to help you out. They have a helpline & the lady said you could just ring them up and ask for some support & help. X

I'm not in the civil service but I think they are treating you appallingly. It seems like they are trying to set you up to fail, so @Propertylover's suggestion seems like a good one to cover yourself. Not quite the same but I had someone come back from maternity leave on a phased return. The first week she did mandatory training, week two was basic tasks and shadowing, week three was given more complicated tasks. By week four she was back to the full range of her role bar one aspect which has changed significantly while she was off and will change further so we're not training new starters on it at this stage for the same reason. At each stage I checked in with her to see how she was getting on and the whole team have supported her with coming back to work.
I really struggle to see how they can expect you to perform if they're not slotting you into the role they expect you to do; something tells me they're trying to set you up to fail. I really hope I'm wrong though. Well done for peservering so far, I wouldn't blame if you did decide to leave!

This is EXCELLENT advice.

Thank you all for your replies : I am grateful.

On Friday (end of week three) my ‘Manager’ wrote to the team introducing me (which was good and responding to a request I had previously made ). He told them that I am on a phased return and, not going to be a member of the team/unit but a member of the wider directorate. I don’t know why but it upset me a little.

Anyway I will write after Easter, along the lines@Propertylover suggested (am extremely grateful for her advice).

He (the Manager) also said he might be able to find me bits of work to do. That would be helpful but I am worried that without a specific role or responsibilities I might never become part of the team/ performance issues will inevitably come up (it’s never been an issue before but I’ve never been off sick before). I suppose they could possibly be trying to ease me in gently but I don’t get that impression ( I thought a buddy was a great idea , someone that I could at least talk to /ask about using the IT etc but he wasn’t keen at all). To be honest it’s all making me quite anxious/ tearful but am trying really hard to appear positive , upbeat etc. I do want it to work and have decided to increase the amount of time I am in the office. Will try and sign up for lots of courses in the meantime and just try to be positive each day. Fingers crossed.

Thank you again for all the support.

@Usernamechanged24 Im sorry your manager sounds useless. I can see why you would be upset by his comments.

I hope the email you send after Easter yields some positive changes.

I’m sorry to come back to this post again so soon.

I checked my payslip to see what I will be getting paid on Thursday. It’s completely empty with the exception of a figure at the end (but no indication of how that was reached). There are no details about tax , national insurance, pension etc. I will ask for an explanation from pay services/ HR but just wanted to check here first whether this is normal on return to work /phased return)?

@Usernamechanged24 no it’s not usual at all. You are legally entitled to an itemised payslip.

https://www.gov.uk/payslips
https://www.acas.org.uk/payslips

I would expect to see gross basic pay for the period worked. This may be in hours and could include any annual leave you have taken.

SSP adjustment for sick days (can be notional due to phased return)
Normal deductions e.g. tax, NI, pension.

It should be possible to work out how many hours or full days pay you have recieved.

Do a quick check of gross basic pay by dividing by the number of hours you worked this should give you an hourly rate. If less than NMW point this out.

On Friday (end of week three) my ‘Manager’ wrote to the team introducing me (which was good and responding to a request I had previously made ). He told them that I am on a phased return and, not going to be a member of the team/unit but a member of the wider directorate. I don’t know why but it upset me a little.

I think it upset you because sending an email saying 'this is our new team member but she isn't a member of our team'! I don't understand why he keeps talking about 'making decisions about your future later' - have you not returned to a specific job role? Have you effectively been redeployed because of the length of your sick leave?

Thank you for your replies. On planning my return to work I was told that my old post no longer existed but a new post would be found for me in a similar area (they didn’t say I had been redeployed but in effect I suppose I may have unofficially been?). I had 2/3 meetings with them (HR and new ‘manager’) but it was all kept very vague. They asked if I wanted medical retirement. I said no I wanted to return but with reasonable adjustments. OH and my doctors all confirmed I should be fine.

I suppose on reflection I should have been firmer and pushed for more details about the role and responsibilities but even now when I ask they are very vague. I do wonder whether they may have thought I just wouldn’t be up to it and just wanted to see if I can get through the phased return before committing to anything? I’ve never been in this position before and I managed my teams very differently so I don’t know if my expectations are too high. I just want to contribute but maybe they think I’m not there yet?