Serious question for smiffy99

[Andy-2004]

My friends mum works in the ICU in our local hospital....A few days ago the whole department received a notice saying something the like of this....

"note to all employs,

As of 'such a date' employs who claim to be off work on 'the sick' will first be contacted by 'some guy high up in the way of things' and then a house call will take place to check that the statement of being sick is rue....

Thank you"

Or something like that....(im really not sure of the wording like you may have guessed)

I was just wondering if anyone knew the legal side of that or if was in breech of any privacy laws or anything like that....

thanks andy-2004

[nellie2]

If I'm off sick for more than five days in a row I get a visit from my boss.... company policy!

[Andy-2004]

If I'm off sick for more than five days in a row I get a visit from my boss.... company policy!

Is that when you get out the white makeup and fill the hot waterbottle? B)

[Guest ellas]

home visit they call it.

[Andy-2004]

home visit they call it.

:huh: :( :huh:

[nellie2]

Is that when you get out the white makeup and fill the hot waterbottle? B)

No.... last time I was off sick was for two days about 6 weeks ago. I spent the first day throwing up and sleeping and the second day recovering. Prior to that I hadn't been off sick for about three years.

[Guest northamuk]

Probbly just to make sure that you're still alive !! They wouldn't want to keep paying National Insurance if you'd expired on the kitchen floor :P

[Sir Radfordin]

She should feel lucky they care so much.

This is the kind of thing that happens when systems are abused and people take days of sick when they are well enough to attend work. Employers have a duty of care to their employees.

I doubt it is an infringment of any human rights - she can always change her job!

[djohn]

Shortly after leaving the Army in the early seventy's I took a job with a firm and after six months became ill, had a few days of here and there but I'm not the type to pull a sicky and would go in some days just to be sent home again.

After a visit to the vets because I was not getting better, I ended up in Warrington infirmary for eight weeks while they sorted out what the problem was. My boss used to visit once a week to make sure I was still in hospital.

How can I be so cynical? Surly he was visiting me to cheer me up. Well if he was, why did he pop his head in the doorway of the large ward, quick look to see I was still there, then leave thinking I hadn't seen him? :lol: :lol: :ranting:

[Guest northamuk]

Djohn, surely your visit to the vet's raised some suspicions, not surprising he was checking up on you ?? :D

[djohn]

:P

[andsome]

Quite honestly I can't see what the objection is. It used to be that when you were sick you stayed home and sent in a sick note. You only did this when you were sick. It seems quite normal now to be allowed a certain number of sick days in a year by rights. As long as this is considered normal by some people and company's, you cannot blame other company's for being cynical and checking up. I personally know someone who is allowed to be sick on eight days in the year before questions are asked. This kind of policy is asking to be abused.

[-pops-]

Before passing comment, I think it would be better if we knew what the notice really does say rather than having some (probably highly biased) interpretation of it.

I doubt very much that any notice relating to employment and employment issues would be couched in such terms as are quoted.

[ALBINOCAT]

:P WOW!..a real can of worms.... :D

[andsome]

:P WOW!..a real can of worms.... :D

Useful if you are a fisherman.

[Besty]

I would hate for our school to do house calls i would hate to imagine my form teacher in my house (shudder)

[andsome]

I would hate for our school to do house calls i would hate to imagine my form teacher in my house (shudder)

The school aren't paying you if you skive off, an employer is.

[Besty]

Yea but if you go on holiday durin school days then you have to pay the school 100 squid or somefink rediculous like that

[Sir Radfordin]

The school I was at introduced a system where parents were expected to leave a message on the schools answerphone before a certain time explaining an abscance. Pupils that then didn't turn up for school were 'chased up'.

If a pupil doesn't attend school on a 'school day' then the parents of that child are liable to be prosecuted and could face a fine of £100.

The problem is Drs don't want to see everyone who has a "cold" and is unable to work but employers want some proof. A no win situation mostly.

[Smiffy99]

BASIC POSITION.

There is no specific statutory provision giving an employee the right to time off work on account of sickness or the right to return after absence through sickness. Nor is there any specific statutory provision entitling an employer to terminate the employment of an employee who is absent from work for a long period on account of ill health.

The position is governed by general rules (including general statutory rules - of unfair dismissal) and by the express and implied terms of the arrangements between the employer and employee. These latter may be included in a formal sick pay scheme.

The ACAS handbook "DISCIPLINE AT WORK" (available from ACAS - Acas) contains general advice on "absence from work" with particular notes on how absence through ill-health should be handled..

Temporary absence from work does not prejudice continuity of employment whatever the reason for the absence for any period during which the employee's relations with his employer "are governed by a contract of employment " (ERA 1996 s.212(1) . The same applies for up to 26 weeks regardless of the current existence of an employment contract if an employee's absence is "in consequence of sickness or injury" causing him to be incapable of work (ERA 1996 s.212(3)(a) and (4)

As a practical matter, it is prudent for employers to ensure that contracts of employment give them the right to get an independent medical assessment in the event of the employee concerned taking more than a few days off work on account of sickness.

Without this an employer who is dubious about the validity of an employee's doctor's medical certificate can find himself in an extremely difficult position if he thinks an employee who claims to be ill is in fact malingering. However, "Housecalls" are probably not going to be welcome at a tribunal hearing and further, the fact that the "Notice" has not been properly incorporated into the contract of employment may mean it is of little if any effect.

[ALBINOCAT]

:P :P :clapping: very good!..... :D