Manager views on sick notes: stress mentioned by OH but not GP

[user7897866]

As a manager what do you honestly think when a OH report states work stress but the fit note states another reason and the staff member has never mentioned being stressed?

I would think I would need to ensure I do a stress risk assessment with the employee before they come back. No judgement either way.

My default assumption is that stress contributes to the vast majority of sick notes, even if that stress has manifested in a physical way. For example, I had a month off last year with a viral infection and that’s what went on my sick note but the reason that I struggled so much with it and took such a long time to recover was because of the hours I was working/stress that I was under. So, I wouldn’t think anything of it if I got an OH report mentioning stress even if it hadn’t been on a GP note, especially as they can be very vague (and rightly so).

I take the information, don’t judge and try to have a conversation with my team member to see what’s causing the stress, how I can support, and try to understand why it’s not been mentioned on the sick notes.

If they don’t want to talk to me about it I try to facilitate them having a confidential conversation with someone they will talk to.

Lots of people feel a sense of shame at being stressed and ask their GP to put something else. Equally, some people don’t want their manager to see stress because the manager is (or is perceived to be) part of the problem.

Personally I'd not assume anything from it other than potentially the employer didn't feel comfortable disclosing with management that they were struggling with anxiety especially work related (as unfortunately there are people who doubt it or judge those with anxiety or other mental illness), it may be they felt in a structured essentially medical setting with someone who's actually an OT/Occupational Health they could be more open about it? That said on the flip side maybe it's not that case, but I'd be wary of trying to judge per say.

I'd agree with PP who suggests carrying out a stress risk assessment. I had one done following an absence and OT assessment and it identified several risk factors at work which were then adjusted so they could be managed better.