Looking for advice/help writing an appeal letter for my Dad, any suggestions/advice greatly appreciated

[glasgowlass]

Hi,

My Dad was signed off sick by the doctor for about 8 weeks in the lead up to Christmas, he was having numbness in and his leg was going "dead". The Doctor stated it was sciatica related and gave him several medications to help alleviate the symptoms although nothing worked greatly. He asked to go back to work on Xmas eve as he was getting frustrated at home and was feeling better, the doctor was willing to sign him off for a further few weeks but he didnt want this and returned to work as he was feeling slightly better and the attacks were less frequent. (the doctor gave him a return to work certificate as requested, though told him to go back to her if things worsened)

At the time his work seemed understanding of his sickness (he drives all day so couldnt really sit down in the lorry for too long as it was painful to sit in one position and he was terrified his leg would go numb whilst driving - he offered to do other duties but this offer was refused), he even spoke to a manager whilst he was handing in his sickness certificate. The manager told him not to rush back, get himself well etc. However, there is no note of this meeting on any records and the manager is denying it.

He recieved a letter this morning stating that he will be taken off the companies sick pay scheme for 6 months and will now only recieve SSP for any illness, certified by doctor or not, in this period. This is because his sick record has been maxed out with this recent period. He has 14 days to appeal and would like me to write the letter but I really dont know what to write without blabbering on too much IYSWIM?

Background is he has worked there for 34 years, cannot remember last time he was off sick, certainly less than 5 days over a few years. It is a large city council he works for and the work conditions have recently changed, going from his working pattern for 33 years of mon-fri to now 4 on 4 off, 12 hour shifts. He feels that the conditions have changed so much he has put in for early retirement and is prepared to leave a job he loves. All new employees are put on rolling 3 month contract and dont seem to be getting any company benefits such as extra A/L for service accumulated. Basically he said the job is unrecognisable. He knows everywhere changes and he has never been adverse to change but he feels that he cannot go on there with the current conditions and that too much work and pressure is heaped on him and his colleagues.

Sorry, I am going on.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a template for an appeal letter that I can tweak etc?

Any advice would be very greatly appreciated and thanks so much in advance for your time.

C

What's he appealing, the decision to stop his sick pay? Is this against the normal sick pay scheme, or is it in line with normal rules of the company in terms of sick pay limits?

Regardless of anything else, I would be complaining about the doctor tbh. If his job is driving all day it doesn't sound like he was remotely fit for work and she shouldn't have certified that he was imo.

You give the impression there is also a possibility of a wider complaint about general conditions and workload, is that right?

Hi There,

You could try the Acas website - www.acas.org.uk. This usually offers some pretty good employment advice. If there is nothing useful on there they may be able to point you in the right direction.

Hope this helps.
Mideco

Thanks for the replies!

Flowery, yes he is appealing against the decision that he will only receive SSP for 6 months should he be taken ill again. This seems to be a new condition that has been brought in that he did not have prior knowledge of. Previous sickness periods have always been on full pay. It seems many conditions have changed drastically over the past 12 months and the council are trying to cut costs at any given opportunity. His sickness record over his employment(34 years) has not been bad at all. He has always gone into work regardless and only stayed off when he is really bad.

I agree with regards to the doctor, told him so at the time. He is of the generation though who does not question a Doctor and he wouldnt dream of it, he stated he would like to return to work and she certified him fit to do so(knowing full well the nature of his job). IMO this was very dangerous and foolish of her.

With regards to the workload, conditions etc, yes it has increased dramatically since his shift changes, the 4 on 4 off etc. He would not be appealing against this at the moment but would raise it any any meeting given to discuss his appeal for the sickness pay.

Mideco I had forgotten about ACAS, thanks for that will pop over and have a look.

Have spoken to him again and he thinks a simple letter stating he wishes to appeal the decision would suffice and he can raise his case etc at a resulting meeting but would like to arm him with info prior to this. He is coming to my house tomorrow morning and will take my DS out for a walk to let me get on with stuff around the house and I will print off a letter for him then.

C

Glasgowlass -

I think you need to try and get your hands on a copy of the council's sick leave policy, both the old one and the current one if it has changed in the last 12 months as you suspect. Although you say that prior periods of sickness have been paid in full, almost every employer will have a maximum period for which they pay company sick pay. After this it is normal to move onto SSP. It is highly unlikely that, even before any changes, sick pay was indefinite periods at full pay.

I suggest that you ask for copies of these policies as a prelude to the appeal, making it clear that you need to see them to formulate your appeal.

If this decision is in line with policy and the policy hasn't changed, all you can really do in the appeal is ask them to be extra nice to your dad, pointing out his long service and previously good record.

If the policy has changed without consultation, I would base your appeal around that and suggest that you come back and discuss it further.

Thanks ribena have now asked him to get a copy of the sickness policy, old and new. I have asked him and he was of the understanding that the old policy was full pay for a period of 6 months over 2 years and then SSP thereafter. Will certainly be adding to letter dads service and good sickness record.

Have advised him to speak to his union representative also. He is off work now until monday so will get him to speak to a union rep tomorrow when he hands in appeal letter and hopefully his rep can get copies of the policies.

AFAIK some of the conditions did change when the working pattern changed(rolling 3 month contracts for new employees, start and finish times), there was a period of consultation and the unions rejected most of the changes but some were still added, unsure as to which and by how much they changed. I do remember my dad saying that the union had agreed to things that the workers had voted against, this resulted in industrial strikes, sanctioned by the union. My dad does not recall the sickness policy as being one which was under review at the time. Will strongly suggest he speaks to rep about this.

Thanks

Yes really important to check the sickness policy, and also find out whether it has recently changed and whether proposed changes were finalised and agreed.

I wouldn't recommend raising complaints about other issues out of the blue on an individual basis in a meeting to discuss his sick pay, particularly if he is asking them to make an exception to normal policy.

It sounds as though all the other issues are likely to be common to many staff and in terms of changes to terms and conditions, will be or will have been negotiated with the union. If he's unhappy with the changes that have taken place recently, his first port of call is his union rep to establish how much of it has been negotiated with the union and/or agreed with the union. He shouldn't start an individual complaint about any of that stuff unless and until he knows exactly what the official position is about any of it, and understands whether there is any ongoing discussion between the union and management.

Thanks to all for help and advice x