letter re; absent record.

dollyk

my husband works in a health care facility, he has recieved a letter this morning stating
i refer to your absent record since commencing employment in 2008.
given the significant number of incidents when you were absent,
i require you to come to this meeting
you may be accompanied to this meeting.


now while we realise he has had a few absent days ?
it doesnt state how much,
but given the nature of his job, he has sustained injuries inflicted by clients.
he was out for 2 weeks after been assaulted.
by one chap
all in all most of his days off were from assaults.
he was always seen by the doctor at work, who then signs them off if they have bad enough injuries.

he is in a state over this letter, as its not a good time to lose your job ?
any body any ideas what will happen over this, or how to prepare.

IITYWYBMAD

I'd suspect that it's the start of a disciplinary procedure for him. I don't work in HR, but I had to accompany a colleague to one of these meetings (her first) last year. She was reprimanded for an incident which had occurred, and in fairness, was given a fair hearing.

After the "meeting" she was issued with a written warning, which remained on her record for 6 months, after which it was expunged. While it is never a good time to lose your job, I doubt that that will be the outcome of this meeting. try not to stress to much, and ask your husband to consult with his HR department and get some clarification on the letter.

Remember that HR are there to help the employees, and are in no way to be feared or stressed about.

WIZE

has he Doctors Certs for all the days where he has been off for 3 days or More . He should go to the Company doctor and get copies of theses

faw1tytowers

He can not be sacked over being absent due to injuries inflicted at work. That would be totally wrong. He will be given a warning. This happened to me before too as I have had poor health the past year. I am awaiting surgery. In the end I quit cos I was just getting more ill with the stress of worrying about missing days. They then offered me to defer my course till after surgery. I was and am very greatful for this. Write out a full calender of when he has been absent and why and if cert was given. And if anything protest he should be given more protection from such events happening to him. But in general view it as a time to get help and advise.

dollyk

IITYWYBMAD wrote: »

I'd suspect that it's the start of a disciplinary procedure for him. I don't work in HR, but I had to accompany a colleague to one of these meetings (her first) last year. She was reprimanded for an incident which had occurred, and in fairness, was given a fair hearing.

After the "meeting" she was issued with a written warning, which remained on her record for 6 months, after which it was expunged. While it is never a good time to lose your job, I doubt that that will be the outcome of this meeting. try not to stress to much, and ask your husband to consult with his HR department and get some clarification on the letter.

Remember that HR are there to help the employees, and are in no way to be feared or stressed about.

can you tell me what the HR is. thanks.

WIZE

HR is Human Resources

What line of work is he doing

dollyk

Im really grateful for the replys, as my husband is no good for confrontation
Can you tell me who he should bring along to the meeting,
I dont think i would be good in this situation,
and he has given doctors notes for all the times he was sick.
thanks.

dollyk

WIZE wrote: »

HR is Human Resources

What line of work is he doing

he is a health care assistant, for brain injuries, and mental problems.

stargazer 68

Op if he works in healthcare then, as far as I know, this meeting is a requirement. Once you miss a certain amount of days the employer has to call a meeting with you. As long as he has documentation for all his absent days then it shouldn't be a problem.

There shouldn't be any confrontation as long as he has his information in order.

Mo MO

Hi dolly,

I am sorry to hear what youre going through. I went through the same myself when I was working for a bank, they put me through hell. In the end I left as it was making me worse with stress etc.

anyway your hubby has nothing to worry about, they are just doing the "by the book procedure" he has been certified and as his injuries were inflicted at work it all should go in his favour. They have to be seen to treat all employees the same, regardless of the nature of their absence.

He should have a union rep accomapany him if he is in one, the person attending with him is there as a witness of the proceddings and should be someone he can get advise from and they should be able to speak up for him on his behalf if needed.

I know its an awful situation to have to experience but he will honestly be ok, dont be stressing, get your facts all ready and have it clear in his head what he wants to say or ask.

Best of luck

WIZE

this is what I would do before the meeting

1. request the Absence records going back to 2008 from his Superviser

2.It should be listed in his Contract what the Absence procedure is .( does it say the Limit on how may Sick days your allowed to have before producing a Doc Cert )

3. Match the Doctor Certs to the days of Absense ( I beleive a Company is not insured for an Employee if that employee is onsite with Doctors Cert. )

4. For the days he was missing with out Doctors Cert he will need an excuse for theses .

5.He should list down the days and write down the Excuses and bring them to the meeting also .

People normally bring a colligue or Superviser they trust with them .

Due to him working i Health Care i would think that even if he has a cold he shouldnt be in Work .

Did he call his employers everytime he was sick ?

dollyk

WIZE wrote: »

this is what I would do before the meeting

1. request the Absence records going back to 2008 from his Superviser

2.It should be listed in his Contract what the Absence procedure is .( does it say the Limit on how may Sick days your allowed to have before producing a Doc Cert )

3. Match the Doctor Certs to the days of Absense ( I beleive a Company is not insured for an Employee if that employee is onsite with Doctors Cert. )

4. For the days he was missing with out Doctors Cert he will need an excuse for theses .

5.He should list down the days and write down the Excuses and bring them to the meeting also .

People normally bring a colligue or Superviser they trust with them .

Due to him working i Health Care i would think that even if he has a cold he shouldnt be in Work .

Did he call his employers everytime he was sick ?

yes he did call in sick everytime within the requirments.
i will get all these documents ready ,
thanks WISE..

WIZE

He will be fine

Let us know how he gets on

Plazaman

Wouldn't worry too much. This is a new policy being adopted by all Public and Civil Service areas as part of the review of productivity by the Department of Finances Implementation Body (part of the Croke Park Agreement)

This is a review of all cases where there has been multiple absences due to illness but the idea is to cut out unnecessary sick leave i.e. Johnny calls in sick on Monday cause Arsenal won the match on Sunday and he got hammered on Sunday night. Managment notice that Johnny is out most Mondays (I know, I know, Arsenal don't win that much :eek: ).

Where an employee is out on certified sick leave, there should be no problems and hopefully this will give him another chance to talk to managment about health and safety issues if he's being assaulted on a regular basis.

More Info Click HERE and select Doc type : Circular Year : 2010 Categiry : Leave


Oops Document to read is "Management of Sick Leave"

Mrs OBumble

Another thing to consider: if he's getting to many injuries from clients that his absence level is being noticed, then I'd have to wonder if he needs more training so he has the skills to do the job without getting injured.

dollyk

ok so we received a letter tis morning.
it says 53 days from 2008 to march 2011.
16 incidents .

wmpdd3

Thats an absent percentage of 7.3 %.

The max where I am is 3%, after that its the disciplanary precedure. Its strange that there was no communication about this, the rates being investigated, the system being put in place to manage this.

Get that list of work related injuries ready. Work out what percentage this is of you total absence.

dollyk

, thanks everyone.
meeting lasted 15 mins.
he was told a lot of days are being wasted through missing work over minor things.
no disciplinary, they will do a review in 3 or 6 months..phew.
thanks guys for replys. dollyk

wmpdd3

Thats good, but did they not give guidelines to what absence levels they expect employees to achieve?

dollyk

no they didnt, they just said they wanted to cut back from absent days period..?

tricky D

If the days are being missed due to injuries inflicte byclients, there might be a Duty of Care issue that the employer need to address. I.e. the employer should be doing more to prevent these injuries. It would be a matter best handled/advised by a solicitor though. ianal

LegacyUser

Sorry i am annomouys on this one

I am presently sickwith bad chest infection I applied to my boss to have next tuesday off, But he said i couldnt have it off due to 2 other persons already having booked earlier in the year that day off. i asked for this day off due to i have a hospital appt that morning and a hosp appt that afternoon for my sick elderly mother who needs al lift there and back

Anyway i had to go the a&e on friday as my breathing was a lot worse they gave me treatment etc and new prescription and told me stay off work for a week

I am now dreading that if i dont turn ip for work on tueday morning there will be hell to pay for me

Any advice will be greatly appreciated

wmpdd3

The best you can do is keep you boss up to date with what's happening and get a cert from the hospital, when they are treating you.