explaining away 7 weeks of sick leave (stress) to potential employer?! How?! Also how get out of 2 months notice? Worried too about reference

[TheBigClog]

hi - anyone got experience of this, HR viewpoint etc.

Been with current employer for yrs, rather unexpectably likely to be offered v interesting job, locally and on good salary and part-time.

I currently have a horrendous commute and our team is winding down, plus public sector bureaucracy, all greatly get me down and contributed hugely to my stress.

On 2 months notice but potential employer wnat me to start asap due to business needs. Am worried won't be able to be available in time and that the offer will be retracted when they see how much sick leave I've taken (8 weeks up to now) - already told me it gets stressful but to be honest I'm, desperate to work locally, do something v different and have autonomy (all of which are offered by this role). Any advice?

could really do with some advice, anyoen been in simialr position? thanks.

bump?

no idea I'm afraid but will bump for you.

Was your 8 weeks sick leave taken in 'lumps' of time or individually/one or two days at a time?

do you have any paid leave left? Sometimes you can negotiate to take your leave during your notice period. what will the repercussions be if you leave earlier? On the sick leave issue, I think your current employer can only divulge that if asked directly. Unless it affected your work performance and hence a negative reference?

thanks everyone. 8 weeks was all in one go so not directly affected performance at the time. Do have some paid leave left, which I could take.

A potential employer with any sense will ask about sick leave as part of a reference.

i thought so, so they're going to be rather put off, aren't they?

8 weeks all in one go would not necessarily be a problem to me (I'm an employer.)

Odd days here and there set alarm bells ringing.

had odd day or 2 over past 2 yrs as well. sounds bad, doesn't it? all connected, was stress related then too but not as bad

I employ people. I would not be put off with 8 weeks in one go. It would depend on the reason, but I would ask questions about it.

Bigclog about your notice, just ask to be released early as your new employer want you to start as soon as possible. You may be able to negotiate a reduction plus use some annual leave if necessary. If it comes down to it and you just walk out without working your notice there's not a lot your current employer can really do about it, but wouldn't recommend it. Bottom line is, if you are the right person for the job, your new employer won't mind waiting a few weeks more. Recruitment is a pain, expensive and time consuming, they won't want to go through the process again for the sake of a couple of weeks.

Medical history could be more of a problem. In the same situation it wouldn't be the amount of time off that would concern me, if it's mostly in one block for a specific reason, that's less of a problem than lots of odd days with headaches and tummy upsets.

However if someone's had a chunk of time off with stress I would want to reassure myself that the problem was definitely solved and would explore it further. I would want to discuss it with you and would send you for an appointment with occupational health or a doctor for a professional opinion on your current state of health and what can be done to support you and minimise chances of a reoccurence.

It certainly wouldn't make me change my mind about offering you the post immediately, if you are the best person, but it would involve questions being asked and a bit of hassle for you.

thanks - appreciate yr frankness, sound like you know what you're talking about. Yes, i guess it is going ot be a hurdle and am wondering when to tell them, it's a v small comnpay, no occ health or even hR.

Do you have a proper offer in writing yet?

I would have a chat with them once you have that, have accepted it and they are about to contact your references, which is presumably when they will find out about it.

You'll have to play it by ear in terms of how the discussion goes. Although they may not have any HR or occ health, they may have a doctor they use for anything they might need like this. I would be inclined to mention it along the lines of:

'When you get my references back you will see I've had a chunk of time off. My general attendance is excellent but I was signed off with stress for 8 weeks. I [had counselling or whatever other treatment if applicable, and took xyz measures personally to ensure there was no possibility of further problems] and I am comfortable that the problem was successfully dealt with. Since then I have suffered no further problems and have moved on successfully with no negative impact on my job performance. If you want to have a chat with me about this I am more than happy to do so.'

OK that sounds a bit rehearsed if you say that but that's the general message you want to get across. I am assuming you will get a decent reference about your performance from your current employer anyway, which is more important.

thansk again, shall rehearse that, sounds quite convincing!

I am going to be totally honest and say that when I am recruiting I would be worried about taking on someone who has taken so much sick leave regardless of what it was for. Unfortunately that is just the way of the world. We have someone here who has been on stress leave three times (for 3 months at a time) over the last 3 years. The problem is that other people have to undertake their work. I know that she has had a couple of conversations with HR regarding the stress aspect but she refuses to give up the role.

fair enough, i understand. It's why I want this new role - local and v different nature, hopefully much more hands-on rather than bureaucratic, political bollocks...