Staff member sick union work query

[BlueLight71]

Hi
I manage a staff member who is a Union rep.
He is often off sick and recently signed off long term mental health issues. He is Bi polar.
It was brought to my attention by other staff members Union rep is posting about Union events etc and actively promoting events and advice on socials. During working hours that he is being paid sick pay for.
This seems wrong to me but I’m not sure where we stand on this ?

Op doesn't make the policy.

No wonder NHS is is in the state it is, in business they'd just sack this person, no way would they tolerate 50% sickness over a 5 year period. Absolutely ridiculous that this isn't managed as it should be by NHS, it's public money and having a disability/being a union rep. doesn't mean you can be absent as much as present.

My friend got into some troubled for being off sick from work and posting about her MLM. She explained she had pre-arranged the posts to go out at set times. Depends if he’s posting in the moment and if he’s engaging with the posts. I agree though, tred carefully!

It sounds like you would very much like to dismiss this individual, and want people to say that’s the right thing to. Otherwise, why are you so bothered about it?

Some are. I have a colleague who has a part time paid job role, in which they are an unpaid rep. And a paid union role which is also part time.

Reasonable adjustments are for people with disabilities. And what does it matter what people’s opinions are, quite worrying that a manager is jumping on MN to try and get people to criticise their direct report.

If they are regularly getting signed off because of their bipolar I would be very surprised if they weren’t disabled. It sounds like a discussion with HR and a occupational health referral are in order, not a MN pile on.

(a) If you are posting about him being off sick and posting on social media and "it seems wrong" then you are looking to discipline. The tone of your posts makes it clear that you do not believe he is really sick, and that you want to deal with it. Not mentioning the actual word doesn't make your intent unclear.
(b) If you just want opinions, then they are irrelevant.
(c) Of course there was mention of him being disabled - he has a mental health condition, has (in your own words) had a lot of time off sick (so significant impact on day to day activities is ticked), and this has gone on for at least five years (so long-term is also ticked). He also has a wide range of reasonable adjustments (you said so) and in law reasonable adjustments only attach to disability and nothing else. So you have said that he ticks every legal box for disability.

Whether or not he is genuinely ill or not (and again, your feelings on the matter are rather transparent), he is not doing anything wrong in posting union messages on socials. There is no law that says someone off sick cannot have a life. He does not have a second job - he is a union official in his capacity as an employee of your employer.

And whether you think so or not, that was a very friendly warning that I posted. The minute that there is any question raised, the union will swing in like a ton of bricks. And you and anyone else involved will be buried under them. It is exceptionally hard to take action against an elected union official, and your grounds have to be crystal clear to even attempt to do so. Otherwise you will find yourself and the employer on the end of a claim of victimising a union officer. They are nasty, and the vast majority of employers will not even entertain that risk. Far better - if they are going to do anything - is capacity or ill health retirement.

As I said earlier HR advice is vital; their role is to protect the organisation from potential litigation.

Our policy specifically says they must be consulted re capability proceedings for someone with a disability.

Having been at an employment tribunal for someone claiming disability discrimination (unsuccessfully) I know that it’s imperative that you have done things by the book.

Your employee using the sick policy to its full advantage would definitely be classed as having a disability if they have a long term MH diagnosis.

I urge you to approach with caution and good advice!

A timely read.