suspended with pay

gaol-linn

hello

i currently work as a maintenance plumber with a medium to large sized company. i've been off sick with a number of months with a shoulder injury. i've had 4 surgeries on it now, all my sick leave has been certified by my doctor.

i was due to return to work last week but on my 1st day back i was called into the office and told i would be suspended with pay. they told me a private investigator had been following me and had seen me doing odd jobs while i was off sick. the only work i had done was very light at a friends house where i climbed up onto a gutter and i washed the wall behind my house. my doctor had said i was allowed to return to light duties but my factory said the would only want me back under full duties when i informed them of my availability of work for light duties. they have said that i can leave quietly and they will "sort me out" with money or i can wait for the private investigators report and i will be fired.

their grievance with me seems to be that i didn't allow myself time to heal while i was off sick thus preventing an earlier return to work.

when the private investigator saw me working on the gutter, i had been cleared for light duties by my doctor but light duties was unacceptable for my company.


i am deeply concerned as to what is going on as i'm waiting for the factory to contact me and call me in for a meeting.

I've had a few run ins with my boss before and i think there's a strong possibility that all this is personal but it might be difficult for me to prove this however. he is difficult to work with and other employees also find him to be difficult to deal with, but out of fear of losing their own jobs its unlikely any would speak up if this came to a tribunal.

has anyone here been in a similar situation before?

any help greatly appreciated

Eoin

I think you need to get on to a union rep and/or lawyer pronto.

gaol-linn

thanks for the reply

i've been in touch with my solicitor, he just said to make sure my certs are in order which they are and wait for my boss to contact me again.

Eoin

Given that you're already talking to a solicitor about it, I think your best bet is to go with whatever they say, rather than look for advice here.

Hope everything works out

gaol-linn

thanks Eoin

i wasn't really looking for legal advice, more just if anyone has been in a similar situation and a kind of an am i screwed question to put my mind at ease some bit

tenchi-fan

Without giving legal advice (which I'm not in a position to do anyway!) it sounds like they have a case against you.

You're insisting that climbing up onto a gutter, and washing a wall, is considered "light" work. I guess it depends on your definition of light work. I'd have considered filing and shredding light work.

Wait til you see how much they will "sort you out for" before making any decisions.

Outkast_IRE

tenchi-fan wrote: »

Without giving legal advice (which I'm not in a position to do anyway!) it sounds like they have a case against you.

You're insisting that climbing up onto a gutter, and washing a wall, is considered "light" work. I guess it depends on your definition of light work. I'd have considered filing and shredding light work.

Wait til you see how much they will "sort you out for" before making any decisions.

quick question , did you carry the ladder to clean the gutters, cause if its a double extenstion ladder and you carried it etc and they can prove that , its a fairly heavy weight and i wouldnt consider that "light work"
as regards to cleaning actual gutter , and washing a wall they would be light work if you worked in maintaince or construtction , the main argument will be defining light work with relavence to you and if your carrying a double extension ladder around the place thats not good..

gaol-linn

i think i can see ur point in that i suppose it depends on the definition of light duties.

for my doctor, light duties was once there was no heavy lifting or anything that would cause pain. as for what my company thought was light duties is another matter i guess when u look at it that way, i don't really know what they class as light duties, i never asked. i never thought what i was doing at home while i was off was of any consequence to them as i was being paid by social welfare and not my company.

little did i know

gaol-linn

outkast

i used a step ladder that i would consider light but again my company might say otherwise. i really don't want to accept a pay off as my job was well paying and i was quite happy there, plus i have a mortgage and kids etc, in this climate i would prob have to leave the town/county to find another job as good if i even could find one at all.

Milk & Honey

What your employer did sounds unfair. I would expect your solicitor to be more pro-active. A few letters should be written.

Eoin

gaol-linn wrote: »

for my doctor, light duties was once there was no heavy lifting or anything that would cause pain. as for what my company thought was light duties is another matter i guess when u look at it that way, i don't really know what they class as light duties, i never asked. i never thought what i was doing at home while i was off was of any consequence to them as i was being paid by social welfare and not my company.

little did i know

Even if a company doesn't top up the social welfare, long term sickness can still be a real pain for them. They might need to have a contractor in to cover for you, and won't be too sure when that contract can end. And/or they might have to pay O/T and change rosters around to cover for you.

gaol-linn

yes i can understand that but my replacement was actually cheaper than me. he was brought on to cover my sick leave and just replaced me directly, no roster change needed. they actually saved money while i was off.

Nody

Milk & Honey wrote: »

What your employer did sounds unfair. I would expect your solicitor to be more pro-active. A few letters should be written.

Actually suspension with pay would be the appropiate route to go until the investigation has finished. After the investigation has finished, all relevant reports etc. has been sent to the OP there would be a hearing with OP and the company to discuss the issues found in the report (if any) and then a decision to be taken on any further actions.

gandalf

I am kind of surprised at the lax attitude of your solicitor. He should be way more proactive and get the company to define what their definition of light work is to start with. I would also ask them to commit to a timescale to the delivery of this "report" and ensure they provide you with a copy in advance of any meeting.

rainyrun

hi
i

was due to return to work last week but on my 1st day back i was called into the office and told i would be suspended with pay. they told me a private investigator had been following me and had seen me doing odd jobs while i was off sick.

The first thing that i thought was a bit strange was the fact that they had a private investigator following you while you were on certified sick leave.
Why would they do this? Have they given you a reason why they felt the need to monitor what you were doing while you were out sick? could they have been tipped off that you were doing other work? Surely "following someone" without just cause is a breach of privacy and could be seen as harrassment?

Shelflife

The op stated that he had a few previous run ins with the boss, he hurt his shoulder and was on extended sick leave, the boss hears through the grapevine (more likely senario then they hired a PI) that the op is working (they dont know if you are being paid or not) while out sick.

they have a replacement plumber who is cheaper so they use this as an opportunity to get rid of someone with previous and reduce their costs.

the return to work with light duties is really a red herring , you are eith
er fit to return to work or you are not , you cant expect them to keep two plumbers on the books.

basically it boils down to the op working while claiming to be sick, whether thats good enough for gross misconduct , well that depends on if there are any strikes against the op already.

sticky wicket i think .

gaol-linn

thanks everyone for talking the time to reply, i also appreciate people trying to objectively put across both sides of the argument. it was helpful in giving me my companies perspective.

since i last posted i have received a letter detailing what was said in the original meeting i mentioned earlier and then a follow up letter calling me into a meeting at the end of this week.


the 1st letter states that i have had a number of surgeries and have been paid sick leave in the past (i wasn't paid sick leave this time) and that i have missed over 100 days through illness, and they're investigating for me for gross misconduct for 2 reasons:
1. for not giving myself enough time to recuperate properly from my surgery thus preventing and earlier return to work and

2. for carrying out work while i was off sick, work which i was not certified to do at my place of employment.

they also have said i can choose a work colleague to come into the meeting with me, however i have approached a number of people and they have all refused, they have said they are afraid of getting involved and the repercussions it might for have for them down the line. even though i did not like this i can understand their reasoning.

any advice from here? if i can't get someone from work then who should i bring, i think i have detailed most of the scenario from my original post up until now. i don't think i've left out much

any and all advice greatly appreciated

Eoin

Tough one - did you talk to your solicitor? The person you bring is really just your witness. They dont have to argue your case or represent you. But the company has to agree on who the person is. I'm pretty sure my company wouldn't agree to an external person coming in.

ABajaninCork

Are you a member of a union? If so, the union rep should come in with you. You may need to give a bit of notice first if that's the case.