Occupational health referral - do I need to be wary

[Strumpetpumpet]

My employer has offered me a OH referral due to work stress. I’ve been making them aware of issues since October (all documented) and nothing has happened until last week when I embarrassingly got upset at work. I mentioned looking for another job hence the referral- they’ve only suggested it because I only have to give one months notice (due to an admin error when I was recruited) and my role would be impossible to fill in that time…I’m not daft enough to think they actually care about my workload or wellbeing.

ive never had anything like this before, been lucky enough to only ever have one sick note for 2 weeks following a miscarriage 22 years ago, so my attendance record is fine.

i just wondered if there’s anything I should be aware of before the meeting with Occ Health - are there any potential pitfalls or anything I shouldn’t mention?

Any insight from anyone who’s been through similar would be much appreciated

It’s a tick box exercise. It will be part of their Managing stress in the workplace policy. There is often counselling available.
I was offered this when I was very stressed but I declined as the stress was due to covering for so many vacancies and I didn’t think OH could help so told my manager so.

It probably depends on your job role.

When my husband had an OH referral, it was to re-refer to a psychiatrist and then manage him out. The company had insurance to make an exit package.

At my work, it would just be ticking the box to say they’re helping and supporting you. Then nothing would actually change.

I would be more wary. Probably nothing will come of it but you never know.

It might be helpful. They will ask the doctor to assess you in terms of ability to do your job, what adjustments they could make that would help you, etc. The duty on employers to deal with work related stress is increasing so that's probably why they have asked you to attend OH, the HSE plan to start prosecuting employers against their H&S duty! I suspect they will want to run through a risk assessment with you too.

I had a burnout/stress situation at work and I felt I wanted to leave, in the end I had counselling and realised I didn't want to leave my job! Maybe they don't want to lose you?

Thank you everyone. I suspect it’s box ticking but I’ll go along with it and see. Thanks for your replies x

I Had a phone appointment with occ health on Tuesday. In the subsequent report, sent to HR and my line manager the same day, it states I’m showing signs of moderate depressive symptoms and severe anxiety, and recommends I take time off work to recover.
Neither HR or my manager have spoken to me about it, so it appears it was just a box ticking exercise after all.
I am so tempted to go off sick….Im not sure how else they will get the message that I’m really not coping…

Hey op, I've just been through a OH review and I'm signed off work for depression and anxiety. I'm due to go back next week on a phased return.

If work is severely impacting your mental health I recommend you look after you and take some time off to recover.