Work

[BethDan]

I had a small surgical procedure, a D&C due to retained pregnancy tissue, on Wednesday (Yesterday). Before I went off I had it approved by work and as the learners weren't in (I'm a teacher) they agreed for me to do the admin work I have from home as normal working hours and I would be paid for this for Thursday and Friday. As now they want me to go to a physical restraint training, they have said I must go or I will not be paid. And if I am well enough to work from home, sat on my laptop, they have argued I am well enough to go to a physical restraint training or I won't be paid even though this was previously agreed. Do I have any rights with this? As I am not out of my 6 month probation and I work unfortunately for a private company I don't normally get sick pay, but they originally agreed to the arrangement of working at home doing planning, training and admin. Please advise if anyone knows!

No, sorry, you must either comply or get no sick pay. They don't have to agree to any alternative to being off sick, and the fact that they previously agreed to your working from home cannot be enforced. On technical grounds you are either fit enough to work, or not fit enough to work.

Surely you can get signed off for two weeks after surgery? When I had keyhole surgery the GP said I mustn't work for two weeks as General Anaesthetic affects your brain and decision making capacity.

Thank you for your reply! I think I'm stuck so I will have to attend and let the instructor make a decision on if I can partly or fully participate. Just seemed insane to me that they could relate me sitting on a laptop planning/admin either at home or in my workplace office, to me going offsite to a physical restraining training course that wasn't planned until Tuesay. Appreciate your answer :)

It wasn't an incision surgery and I didn't want to be signed off for 2 weeks as I don't get paid and financially I wouldn't be able to pay my mortgage etc. I was advised of a recovery of 1-2 days with some things taking a week or so but I have half-term next week so it seemed like the perfect time to do it and get an extra weeks recovery with no repercussions. But my work agreed to let me work from home as the students aren't in this week for us to do admin and planning just as I would do inside the college building. Unfortunately they've then decided if I am well enough to sit on my laptop, I am well enough to attend a course where I will need to practice physical restraints.
Thanks for you reply, I really appreciate it!

I did think that the type of activity may be a problem. But it is irrelevant because any "grey area" between fit and unfit for work is at the employers discretion. Of course if you attend and the instructor decides that you cannot participate, then it is not "sickness absence" and the employer must pay you.

Wow - your GP is very cautious. I was declared fit for work and driving 3 days after MAJOR surgery! Medical advice is generally 48 hours after a GA. Perhaps it was the risk to the surgery rather than the GA?

Thank you! I will attend as luckily I've managed to secure a lift as it is an hour away as my insurance doesn't cover me to drive for 48 hours after GA and I will let the instructor know and hopefully it will work out that way. Thanks for replying and helping put my mind at ease it's been an emotionally and physically taxing few days, so I appreciate it! :)

Ah yes, that now makes sense as to why you have a problem - you are advised not to drive for 48 hours, and I didn't realise that you needed to drive there. But unfortunately sickness is a very blunt instrument in law - you are sick or not sick. We all know the real world is much more complicated.

Glad you feel better about it now. And even if you can't participate, maybe spending some time with colleagues will take your mind off the surgery and be fun!

That sounds crazy, are you in the US? It takes six weeks at least to recover from most major surgery.

I went into work to collect something after a week and I was exhausted. Another week later I returned and I was fine. I had an ovarian cyst removed and lots of endometrosis tissue. I've not heard of anyone returning to work less than a week after keyhole surgery, but two is advisable.

No, the UK. And to be fair we were discussing the GA not the actual surgery - you said "When I had keyhole surgery the GP said I mustn't work for two weeks as General Anaesthetic affects your brain and decision making capacity". The NHS says "General anaesthetics can affect your memory, concentration and reflexes for a day or two, so it's important for a responsible adult to stay with you for at least 24 hours after your operation, if you're allowed to go home. You'll also be advised to avoid driving, drinking alcohol and signing any legal documents for 24 to 48 hours." After a similar surgery to the one you describe the actual surgery (not the GA) meant five days off work. After a hip replacement - two days! The only lengthy period I had was 9 weeks (although I did work p/t from home) was after ankle surgery, and that was because I wasn't allowed to put the foot on the ground at all for 8 weeks!

😧

I wasn't only talking about the GA, as the OP's question was about recovery from surgery generally. I should have added "among other things" to my original comment. NHS websites often only give you the bare minimum timescales anyway, to be realistic that some people will need to return to work but also to stop people driving themselves home from the hospital. The NHS's idea of nutritional advice, the Eat Well plate, is based on minimal not optimal nutrition. GPs opinions will differ. Other websites differ as well, and talk about some people feeling groggy for a lot longer than the NHS page suggests. I think if you ask a handful of people hardly anyone would be back at work so quickly after surgery, by choice. It would only be when they absolutely had to for financial reasons.

Just because you can be at work doesn't meant you ought to. Loads of people end up with further complications from surgery. Wound infections are very common, particularly if people try to rush around and do too much. And with a lot of surgery, including that of a gynacological nature people have surgery because they have been in a lot of pain or unwell for some time. Personally I'd had severe pain in the lower abdomen. I thought it was an ulcer. The GP suspected ovarian cancer to start with. They weren't quite sure with the surgery whether they may have to remove one or both ovaries. While (you would hope) the surgery sorts out the problem the body has to recover from whatever was amiss, not just the surgery itself, and perhaps being poorly for months, and the stress and worry that goes with it.

And it really depends what someone's work is, how they travel to get there and several other factors. I had to commute by train and Tube at the time, a three hour round trip four days a week , and I'm really glad I didn't do that for two weeks. For the entire first week I slept a lot and was exhausted just doing normal stuff at home. After a week I felt better, I thought, and went in to pick something up from the office outside of the rush hour and was exhausted again when I got home. After the second week I was all good to go, but returning sooner would have done more harm than good.

I would advise people to take their time whenever possible, even when it is a simple op.

@rainfallpurevividcat I wouldn't disagree - I was originally just talking about the GA, which yes, can affect some people differently, but in most cases (including the OP's obviously) is short-lived. But I don't disgree that people should feel that they have recovered sufficiently from surgery before returning to work - I did (it was choice not necessity) and it was with the doctors approval. As I said, one surgery is was impossible to return / return full time for several weeks, and that was what it was.