Flowery Tale - Need Advice Please!

[ilovemydog]

My DP has had problems with his knees for absolutely years and operations on them about every 3 years.

He is in complete pain, but cannot take pain killers due to the work he does, so if he wants to take pain killers, he has to have some time off work. He has refused an offer from the Consultant to be signed off until operation on New Year's Eve, as he doesn't want to start the Managing for Attendance monitoring procedure.

There is a huge push to get absenteeism down, and it's 3 episodes of being off sick in 6 months and one gets referred to Occupational Health.

DP has seen Occupational Health and the doctor queried why he was there as DP is on waiting list to see Consultant.

He now has seen Consultant, but work are asking for 'evidence' of him having operation, but it was all verbal with the Consultant and was told he wouldn't be getting anything in writing.

Further, all of his absent periods have been for the same reason...

While I understand the reasons for Monitoring for Attendance, he is getting fairly stressed about it all and is hobbling to work...

Any ideas would be very welcome!

Can you ring the consultant's secretary & get them to put the op in writing. I'd want a bit of paper anyway (but that may be my inate distrust of authority

Surely he will get written confirmation when his op is booked so he can show them that.

No, nothing is being confirmed in writing. DP asked the Consultant, and he said, 'just show up!' He got his pre assessment the same day.

I'm not flowery, but he should call the consultant and explain that his work need something in writing to prove that he needs the operation. They try to keep paperwork down, but if you say you need a letter for work, will normally happily issue one.

Otherwise, pass the contact details of the consultant on to work and say that, although you have nothing in writing, you are sure that the consultant will be happy to confirm any details they need of dates, recovery time, etc.

Also, try not to get too stressed. It sounds strongly as if your DP is disabled for the meaning of disability discrimination legislation and would qualify for special protections. One of those tends to be (depending on the nature of the illness) being more reasonable about absence than might otherwise be the case. Being referred to occ health might actually be a good thing, as they could help him work to find long term solutions to adjust for his problems. I think it is very unlikely that he would be dismissed by a good employer for absence in this type of situation, so long as it is all genuine and steps are being taken (i.e the operation) to address the issues. If he is, you could look at your legal options, but don't get ahead of yourself worrying about that.

Thanks Ribena - great advice. I will get DP to call the Consultant's secretary tomorrow.

What is irritating is that Managing for Attendance, I thought, was essentially for those who are, um, taking the piss, rather than for those who have already been identified as having an illness/injury that has been confirmed by independent means. It is sooo frustrating that DP's line manager cannot make stand up to H/R who are robotically going through the procedure.

And if anything, DP is forcing himself to go to work, despite being in extreme physical pain, so as not to implement the disciplinary procedure

One of the only times I advocate taking drugs (piankillers), but he just can't....

Tell your DP not to go in when he's too ill. Managing for Attendance IS essentially for those who are taking the piss. However, the only way to be sure who is and who isn't tends to be to put people through at least part of the procedure.

If he is really worried about this, I would suggest a pro active approach to his HR department to explain that he has a serious health issue which is being managed, and steps are being taken to improve it, but that actually the managing for attendance is adding to his stress. HR will probably bend over backwards to give him a bit of reassurance.

Agree with Ribena

Managing attendance isn't just for people taking the piss. It's partly to weed that out and deal with it, but also partly about identifying real problems as soon as possible, and getting those people the support they need to either get back to work, or make adjustments, or whatever it might be, in a timely manner.

I'm not particularly a fan of absence management systems that trigger processes automatically, but they can be useful and often essential, especially in big organisations.

Your DP shouldn't force himself to work if he's not fit. He shouldn't worry about negative disciplinary consequences, it's a genuine health problem. He should definitely push the consultant for something in writing as well.

Flowery - Thank you! As I know you hate it when people don't thank you! It's just that I was galvinized with your advice and about to draft a letter to H/R.... (oh, and my own employment case is about to be heard by HMRC Commissioner - they are representing me, so fingers crossed...)

Ribena - agree that a pro active approach is best. It's a male dominated environment where being 'called into the office' is a scary thing. DP would almost prefer living with the extreme pain than a chat with his manager . But you are right that the stress of living under a managing for attendance is adding to his stress levels. Think he is also concerned as I really really don't advocate time off for illness unless really necessary, and he knows I would give him a harder time than his boss!