Sickness meeting with work

[magot]

Not sure I've got correct place but needed to vent.

My boss called me in for a meeting today to discuss my sickness.

I've apparently accrued a bad sickness record over the last 12 months so I had to have a meeting to discuss it and I'm so angry. It feels like a big kick in the teeth if I'm honest

Here's my sickness record:

11th May 2010 - 1 day for bad back
4th Jan - 10th Jan 2011 - Suspected miscarriage
20th Jan - 2nd Feb 2011 - ?ectopic so treated with Methotrexate inj (required 2 weeks off work as advised by EPU)
28th March 2011 - 2 days for minor op

I said I was not happy that I had to have a formal meeting to discuss my sickness when in my 10 years of being there this is the most sickness I've had!

I'm mostly angry especially given my reasons for being off; it's not as though I'm using excuses and playing on it. I work for the NHS so they know how serious my reasons were in January. I told my boss I would have much rather have been able to work and currently pregnant than being where I am and found it upsetting they felt the need to call a formal meeting!!!! This is apparently policy but it stinks if you ask me I'm now not allowed any sickness within the next 3 months otherwise HR will be involved.

Has anyone else had issues with their employer around pregnancy/time off?

 

[silvershadow]

I know thats how the NHS works, (i work for them too) and it does suck ass!

 

[misslissa]

Yep I've been there, last year. My boss sent me a letter on the first day of my leave last year saying I was on a stage 1 formal warning for being sick for 2 weeks (3 months earlier btw!). Even though my doctor and the company doctor supported my reason (I had / have chronic fatigue syndrome). Best thing was that my boss had the nerve to put "have a great holiday" on the bottom of the letter! Malicious b**ch!

Fortunately I contested it and the whole thing was thrown out by a more senior manager as she had gone against policy. But the stress it caused me when I was already ill was already there and I will never forgive her for that.

Would you believe it she then went sick in December (for stress and tiredness would you believe) and has been on phased return to work since January. So I got treated like crap for 2 weeks sick and she has been working 12 hours a week for 4 1/2 months and getting paid for her full time hours! Nice to see how well she is being looked after Thats Network Rail for you.

 

[Madgirl]

Oh how awful of them to add salt to the wound, Im sorry!

 

[Sophe]

I know its awful, had the same thing, was off sick.. totally different reason (broken arm) they gave me such a hard time and some of the people in the department stopped talking to me because they thought i was exageratting, but i work on a computer all day and I had one arm out of action, it was ridiculous, I was not happy and made a huge fuss, they dropped the case against me too!! People don't realise how upsetting it is when you're already having a bad time to have this kind of stress put on you. My DH said they could have sent me a card to wish me to get better... they were so mean, I have no respect for them now, I just do the minimum i need to do and go home.

 

[misslissa]

There are some bad bosses / employers out there that's for sure. Fortunately I have a great relationship with everyone else and, when my boss is in work, her office is 2 hours away from me so I don't deal with her much.

Oh and the person who advised her last year was the hr manager who strangely enough came onto me earlier last year! Maybe he wanted me out of the way in case I put in a sexual harassment claim......

 

[Sparkles237]

thats the NHS for you, my mum works for them and had an operation at the same hospital she works at 2 years ago and it went wrong all her time off has been to do with that operation and having more operations to correct it and they called her in for a meeting about her time off, my mum had ago at them telling them is it fair to balme her for time off that that hospital caused, if it werent for that hopsital messing up she wouldn't need the time off, apparently the one in charge of the meeting went all quiet after that. It is out of order how some companies work.
My boss pulled me into a meeting because i took a hoilday in term time was half term mainly just the flight didn't get back until the tuesday and the kids came back on the tuesday and she had moan saying hoildays aren't allow to be taken in term time and not to do it again, she then went and had a holiday 3 weeks later in term time!!!!!

 

[silverbell]

That's the way it works in the NHS I'm afraid. I work for them too.

However, don't stress about going through HR. All of your reasons are legitimate and documented, so any thinly-veiled threats really shouldn't intimidate you at the moment - HR would support you.

What annoys me is that if you have a 'block' of time on sick leave you're pounced upon, whereas those who choose to have a day off sick every couple of weeks (and I know plenty) don't get any kind of warning or meeting at all because it's just 1 day and it's not throwing any flags up. Madness.

 

[magot]

I'm sorry to hear that a few of you have also had problems surrounding sickness. Perhaps companies/organisations should concentrate on much bigger problems they have than minor sickness for legitimate reasons.....!!!!

Silverbell - I think whats really annoyed me is that this will be on my file now and I don't like that idea. I'm thinking of changing jobs too, having it flagged up on my records is not going to impress much!