DH signed off sick but manager putting pressure on - is this harrassment????

[looneytune]

In short, my dh was thrown off a horse nearly 4 weeks ago and caused really bad back problems. He went to a&e, been back and forth to drs and keeps getting signed off. At Monday's appointment, Dr said she was signing him off for 2 more weeks until the physio has started to help and he's not suffering so much. Dh was feeling bad about being off work and told the Dr that he was worried about his job. Dr said it's nothing to worry about, he can't help what's happened with his back and he shouldn't feel pressured to go back. BUT, as he was concerned, she said she'd change it to 1 week with him going back the week after on a 'phased return' and suggested he just does mornings for a week to see how he is.

Work were told this on Monday and seemed fine. This morning his manager phoned up basically saying that they are not happy about a phased return and that they want him back on full days from Monday. The reason being is that the Dr is worried about the fact he's at a desk for most of the time yet his manager is saying that he'll be up and about at times when needs to talk to other staff etc. The fact is, he still WILL be mainly at his desk and the Dr had said his back could get worse again if he goes back too soon to just sitting at a desk most of the day.

Sooooo, I'm FUMING mad as 1) I feel he's being harrassed and 2) I've found it very hard him being so uncapable of doing stuff as I rush around after 6/7 kiddies in the day (I'm a childminder) and now I have had another one on top!

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for helping dh out, he's needed me etc. and I wouldn't have it any other way BUT if he gets bad again just because of work being **, I won't be happy! He's just started to make progress in the last week and I'm worried he'll be bad again.

Anyway, rant bit over, would you class this as harrassment or are they being perfectly reasonable?

TIA

Seems they're being unreasonable. If he goes back and does a full day he could hurt himself and thus be off for another 4 weeks. Maybe he should just point that out to them.

Thanks. He phoned HR about it and the next next thing his manager is phoning up saying on reflection, he thinks it's best if dh sticks with what the Dr said and does a phased return to work! Funny that! Maybe his manager got in trouble for putting the pressure on???

we had this problem with dh a few weeks back as they wanted him back ft straight away. Got onto HR and his consulatant put recommendations in writing. Bingo he had phased return. Hope your dh is doig ok

it's not up to thr doctor to say he needs phased return. the doctor can only sign a note to say he is unfit, or fit to work.

any negotiation re. phased return to work is between your dh and his boss. some places have occupational health adviser who can provide support with this.

Ok, well his DR DID write a suggested phased return to work and when he told his manager all was fine on Monday. I reckon his manager's boss told him to call but clearly HR weren't happy with the manager for putting pressure on dh otherwise there wouldn't have been a sudden change of mind following his call to HR! I'd sought advice from a friend in HR before dh called and she said it wasn't down to his manager to put pressure on like that.

Anyway, all sorted now

yes a dr can write what he likes but it means not a lot. it is up to the staff andn his employer to agree any changes. when an absence isn't due to something covered by the DDA then his employer isn't really obliged to help much, though of course most decent employers do try to help staff get back to work in a way that suits both parties. not usually much sympathy for self inflicted or sporting injuries though.

Self inflicted doesn't change the fact he couldn't move!!!

Anyway, I see what you're saying of course but as I said, I don't think HR were too happy with the manager putting the pressure on like they did otherwise it wouldn't have changed after that call.

The only reason the Dr suggested a phased return in the first place is because they wanted him off for another 2 weeks but dh was concerned and wanted to go back asap.

p.s. I can't go into details on here but his injury must be covered under DDA as he's had issues before from another employer and it was definitely covered.

BTW, the reason he was signed off was as a result of an old back complaint that came back due to the accident.

Nothing wrong with the doctor recommending a phased return - the employer can of course ignore that recommendation and not allow the employee back to work until fully fit, but a doctor who is willing to put recommendations rather than just tick fit or unfit is helpful, particularly if the employer doesn't have occ health advice available.

Thanks flowery I know you know you're stuff! Can I just ask if a manager is the person to decide or would it be more like HR?

Well the manager would normally be the person making final decisions about managing their team member, it would be unsual (and inappropriate imo) for HR to be able to impose any phased return or similar against the manager's will.

I would expect HR to be advising and influencing, which here would have involved explaining to the manager the reasons (legal and otherwise) why pressurising someone in this position to return to work quickly isn't a good idea, and advising them of the benefits of a phased return, the greatest of which being that the person is likely to return sooner. Obviously if a doctor is recommending a phased return, it's likely that if that request is refused, the doctor will keep them signed off completely for longer. Plus re-entry into work is more likely to be successful and less likely to result in relapse and/or performance problems.