I am feeling that I am even hearing wrong or reading too much into what my boss has said this week. Monday he said 'ok you need to take time off as we cant have you popping in and out when you feel you can from work or others will start talking.'
I asked why the need to take sick if I felt strong enough to come to work and he seemed more concerned about me being in 1 day then off the next....I replied welcome to RA World.
Bizarre, so checking wth HR if they have an issue with me turning UP for work!
Take care with this. I was told by Occupational health better to take time to try and get on top of illness than be in and out of work. Speak to OH if you can for some advice. Wishing you the best.
Take care I don’t trust bosses they say one thing but your welfare isn’t their priority. I find employers don’t understand the disease most GPS don’t. Disease awareness is soooo poor. Good luck
Sometimes its easier for employers to arrange cover for you, if they do that, for a period of time.
It is difficult to arrange workloads when they dont know if you will be at work or not.
When I first became unwell I was handing in sick lines a week at a time, my line manager asked if I could get a line for a month to allow her to arrange cover for me (I was a teacher) and manage her budget.
I unfortunately do the job I do and not much else can be done by others as a small team. I think he comes across as he wants a pre warn and I can't. Some days I can do it and then the next fatigue kicks in and I go home relax and then the next day good again.
I think he likes neat boxes though he is a perfectionist so struggles. But he did admit after a crap 4 months with hubby being ill and then me being diagnosed in June I have done everything and more so......
Employer's are following procedures, because they have to by law!! and not because they have our welfare at heart!! We are all just a number, so think about yourself and your health and do whatever is right for you, that's what I do now, when I think about the times I have gone into work when I shouldn't have gone, nobody cares!! Just like J1707 said they haven't got a clue what we go through with this disease!! This RA awareness is absolutely zilch and stinks!! I'm going now as I'm getting Soooooo angry 😡 about the whole situation, and breathe!!
I JUST joined this forum tonight but wow I had a similar work issue. I was calling in sick "same day" as late as 9 am every couple of weeks and it was getting worse. I asked for a meeting to discuss working from home or becoming an 80% employee and was given a warning that my attendance needed to improve because of same-day call-ins. I was angry and getting worse, so I just gave up. I called in a couple more times and was fired. A person from HR had a suggestion for unpaid leave where you get a few extra days a month to call in as needed. I was fired before I could pursue that option. This happened a few weeks ago, so I may challenge it, but not likely.
If you have a diagnosis and paperwork, and IF you want to involve HR, you probably have options for medical leave. I wanted a week or two off without pay to find out what I was dealing with and how to move forward.
Do you have access to occupational health! If so, I’d urge you to get an appointment. They will then write a report hopefully saying how unpredictable it is.
As an employer, I do know some of the ins and outs of employment law. I can see where he’s coming from too. His other team members may become unsettled with the unpredictability and then he will have a problem. Funnily enough, I have a similar issue now with a lady and her back. My other team members are getting cross with having to pick up the pieces and it’s not conducive to a good working atmosphere. I have said to her, if she’s unwell, she needs to be off work properly. We can’t suddenly cover unpredictable absences.
A compromise could be that you call him when you’re unwell and work from home that day instead if that’s possible.
Legally, you can’t be fired when you’re ill. But, you could be managed out. Also depends how long you’ve been working there.
It’s tricky and you do need to keep communicating with your boss. Hopefully, with the right meds, your situation will improve and this won’t happen in the future.
Hello Deeb2908. This is almost certainly to do with the way HR records sick leave. There is a much-used formula in which the number of PERIODS of absence counts against you more than the number of days off. In the experience of a friend of mine who sometimes gets migraine unpredictably, taking three separate days off in a year is deemed "worse" than taking a month off all at once. You can be called in to HR to explain why you have so many absences (three), while the person who was off for a month (one) will not be questioned. This has led to my friend forcing herself into work when she could barely stand. It's cruel, but once they get their rules they treat them as if Moses brought them down the mountain.
Try to get something in writing and don't trust verbal promises from bosses or HR. They have different priorities from you.
It’s very difficult because you feel vulnerable when unwell and having been in this position I used to ruminate about conversations and comments a lot. But there is the equal opportunities and maybe they can make reasonable adjustments to your job. Good luck with it all and I hope everything works out for you. 🤞
Have you thought of taking a week of sick leave to see if your condition calms down if you don’t have the stress of trying to go to work everyday?
If there are certain tasks you perform....it can be quite difficult if other staff have to cover for you & do their own job with no prior notice... ..especially if it is happening regularly.
Once you are settled on successful medication it will be easier to sort out your work hours.
Have a word with your boss & see if that might help the day to day organisation....& keep your work colleagues on side.
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RA and methotrexate, work and benefits
1st video meet with with rheumy disapponting.
A Happy Day.
