Son off sick 3 times in 12 months (6 days total) now has disciplinary meeting.

[Charlysunnysky]

My son is 23 and has additional needs - he stammers severely.
He has worked for 3.5 years at a budget supermarket chain as an online picker.
He is contracted to 7.5 hrs which is the standard, but they only use him for 8-12 hrs so he’s been looking for a new job as it’s min wage and not much to get by on, though he lives at home. He’s been trying to get another job for a few months now, as they’re only using him for 8 -12 hrs each week. But he’s struggling, because nobody will take him on after the interview, as his stammer is quite obstructive during interview.
He got a letter this morning - a new manager started on Monday -she may have been reviewing this and come across it or may have been tipped of by the outgoing manager.
He’s hit the triggers for disciplinary with 3 occasions of sickness absence over a rolling 12 months, even though they total only 6 days. But he doesn’t recall a proper back to work meeting on each occasion, just a foot in the manager’s office confirming he’s okay to return. He’s not aware of any minutes being taken, and no warning he was close to trigger points.

I’ve offered to attend with him but he’s not sure if it looks terrible, taking his mum. I think it might make them tread more carefully, knowing he has a witness, but again, I don't want colleagues seeing him go in with his mum either. I don’t know if there’s other performance-related stuff but surely they would mention those in the letter so he can prepare?
What do you think?

I would be called that under most policies.

It's a trigger point to bring attention to a possible issue. If there is no issue and it all appears to have been genuine, unexpected and unlikely to continue then there is likely to be no further action.

Otherwise there may be support, or alternatively depending on the scenario, actual disciplinary action.

Has he ever recieved a written warning re attendence b4

How did it go - i saw the meeting was today

If someone has a chronic health problem then surely a conversation with their employer/HR/OT/NHS should be in the works. Any half decent organisation will have a policy in place.

Most sick policies are aimed at the majority and make no mistake, they're there for the benefit of the organisation.

( i have a ' chronic health condition ' which is one of the many reasons im in a union. Occy health and my union rep are also there 4 involvement )

@buffyfaithspike No, nothing before.

@worldwidetravel2017 Thanks for asking - I was just coming on here to update as he messaged me earlier.

It didn't take place in the end. He's an early morning picker (5am - 9/10am) and he asked the team leader if it might be possible to bring the time forward to right after his shift as he's be hanging around an hour after work. And the manager came back and said it has all been dealt with as far as they're concerned at the investigation 2 weeks ago (which took place at his return to work meeting after the 3rd sickness). So no hearing after all.

Ace

Do suggest he joins a union ~ they are worth their weight in gold

Is not a 'disciplinary' process, it's a 'capability' process triggered by the companies internal policies. Eg is someone 'capable' of doing the role required with the correct level of attendance (usually 95%).

OP, is also not all bad. If he needs additional support or an adjusted attendance target, this can be discussed and set as part of the outcome of this meeting too.

OP posted the letter where it specifically states it's a disciplinary.

As I said upthread, it's not always a good idea to disclose a long-term condition. Some organisations will look for any excuse to manage an employee out if they know about something like this.

I'm 63 and have worked in ghe NHS my whole life as a nurse. I'm old enough to remember when there was pretty mch unlimited sickness. People took the piss left, right and centre.
Certain people would take their working weekends off sick, go off for 6 months with stress or just I'd they didn't feel like coming in. The timetable was totally unmanageable.
This is why this harsh system was introduced.....solely because of piss takers. You can blame them.