Whether or not to attempt to go back to work

[hobbgoblin]

Background:

In a job employed by County Council, currently on sick leave (in my 3rd weeks leave but one week was hsalf term which only would have been a day's 'work')

Am 5 months pregnant and have suddenly found myself single and having to move out of my home with DC. Very upset and struggling at this moment in time.

I work with vulnerable families and normally cope pefectly with this.

I'm due an assessment by Occupational Health in a week.

I need to go back to work as I don't want to lose my job, but I need longer to sort myself out. If I went back now then I'd cope with work, but it would probably set me back emotionally in my personal life as the stress is probably too much right now. I have a lot of practical sorting out to do as well at home with VERY little help or support.

The question is, how much more time can I realistically take before totally jeopardising my employment?

I am not regularly off with depression - this is situational but is quite severe.

Any thoughts on possibilities/legalities?

I think you should explain all this to Occ health when you see them, any good occ health are there for you not just the employer. Sorry you're having such a tough time but I don't think you would be sacked for having difficult circumstances at the moment in a public sector roll, especially a "caring role". You generally have a lot of protection in public service, ( I work in the nhs and have been signed off with spd in pregnancy) Do you have an approachable manager you could speak to? I really don't think anyone would think you were out of order for taking time off to sort things out, especially as you're pg. You have to look after the needs of you, your dc and the one on the way and I'm sure Occ health will suppport you in this. As I mentioned if you have a good manager perhaps speaking to them so you have a bit of re-assuarance not to worry about work issues at the moment and concentrate on sorting yourself out as any manager worth their salt would take exactly that approach imo, I know I certainly would, how can you support others if you don't have a bit of support just now for yourself, we all need it at times. I wish you all the best and hope things work out for you and your family, I'm sure it will.

hobgoblin, I work for local government too.

You need to be aware that your maternity leave will automatically be triggered at 36 weeks if you are still off sick. Unless your council is waaaaay more severe than mine, I doubt very much that sickness, particularly during pregnancy, would jeopardise your employment.

Ok, thank you.

Should I use this meeting to plan a return to work then as opposed to assuming it is to discuss likely termination of contract?

I would very much doubt it is to discuss termination of contract. It is far more likely the meeting with OH is to discuss plans to support you back into work, if you are fit to work. If you are not fit to work then they will feed that back to your employer.

How long have you been off? Rule of thumb (if we are talking long term sickness and you haven't been warned officially for your absence) in local government (at least in mine) is that you sick pay will be exhausted before discussing termination.

llareggub, thanks for the reassurrance. What constitutes long term?

Not sure about local Govt but in central Govt you can have 6 months on full pay and another 6 months on half pay before they will look seriously at dismissal. In your case your pg will get in the way of that anyway.

Why not speak to your GP too and ask to be signed off for a further month (once you have seen Occ health)? At least that way you will have a solid chunk of time to get everything sorted without worrying about work too. you may then feel a bit more in control and able to go back and you don't have to stay off for the length of the certificate if you start to feel more able to cope.

hobgoblin, not sure if you are still reading this, but please don't worry. Local government is incredibly risk averse and I'd fall off my chair with shock if they took steps to dismiss a pregnant woman for sickness absence.

These steps are usually taken for long-term absence after sick pay is exhausted. It is fairly common practice for there to be an OH referral after 4 weeks or so of absence.

When are you due?