Not professional?

xxlauraxxox

Hey guys a bit of advice please if ye can help..
I work in retail and have been in this place since we opened in 2007,im full time and dont really have any issues i enjoy my role,the responibilities that are put on me cus nobody ese 'will do it right' im told and id say i have a relationship with management,customers,reps and i get on with the staff
.anyway in 2009 id a serious car accident that put me out of work for six months and id a cert to cover me and i kept the owner informed of my progress and he not once pressured me into going back to work and was very understanding..anytime i miss any day i always have a cert to cover me.id another accident in april last year and i missed a week due to aggrivated injury of the previous accident(none were my fault) and i missed 3weeks in october cus i had borderline pneumoina and again i missed 2weeks in january as i had high blood pressure.again id the owner informed and certs in..now my manager keeps throwing it in my face that im always absent and saying i must be on my 10th accident claim and before long ill be claiming off them for been so sick.i dont find this fair and its getting old now and i dont find it very professional slagging me off whenever he has the opportunity over my attendence over something that cant be helped...im wondering can anyone offer me advice should i go to the owner or leave it go...
sorry about the long post but thanks for reading

Keepan Eye

Hi - thats an unpleasant situation for you. There was a terrible fLu going around in Oct Nov and still. Took me out for 3 weeks of work. When your Manager mentions the ill health again ; say "Yes I had a run of bad luck and sickness but that can happen, even to YOU" .....then as time moves on and he/she sees you are now well, he'll forget about it -- If not, look for a different job while you still have your current one and if the new job suits you, move on. You could make a legal issue of it regarding your rights [ citizens advice bureau could help ] , however that can cause stress for you perhaps. If you dont mind that kind of stress then thats an option to pursue. Does your place of work have different sections...maybe you can ask to move to a new area with a new manager......Best wishes.
keepaneye:

Eoin

xxlauraxxox - as Keepan Eye recommended, you should say that you had a bad run of illnesses, but you're over it. But as unsympathetic as this might sound, you have missed a lot of work, so there is an onus on you to prove that you're over it.

I wouldn't overplay that you're getting sick certs every time you're out. It won't do much to reassure them that you're physically able for the job.

xxlauraxxox

Eoin wrote: »

xxlauraxxox - as Keepan Eye recommended, you should say that you had a bad run of illnesses, but you're over it. But as unsympathetic as this might sound, you have missed a lot of work, so there is an onus on you to prove that you're over it.

I wouldn't overplay that you're getting sick certs every time you're out. It won't do much to reassure them that you're physically able for the job.

sorry i phrased that wrong i meant to say that i had a cert on these four occastions that i was out sick..in the six years im there its the only four times ive been absent i understand the pst 12months hasnt been great but since switching gps were working on gettin my immune system up and going again and im feeling better i just dont like been put down when i know i cant help it and it really makes me feel like crap and singling me out slagging in front of staff and customers

tatli_lokma

OP, I'm going to tell you something you won't like...but missing a total of 7+ months in a four year period is a lot. All explanable and understandable, but nonetheless it is a lot. The average worker misses maybe an absolute max of 1 week per year. Probably what makes it worse is that in the last 12 months, you have been out sick for 6 weeks. Again, that is a lot. Having a cert does not mean that you cannot be fired for being absent. It explains an absence, it doesn't excuse it. In retail, for a boss to have someone out for a week, 3 weeks and then another 2 weeks in the space of a year, they are almost certainly going to have an issue with it.

Now having said that, how your boss is handling it is all wrong.

If it gets mentioned again, I would say to him 'I understand that my recent absences have caused inconvenience to you and I appreciate how frustrating that must be for you, but there is no need to discuss it with me in this manner in front of others. My personal illnesses are not a matter for discussion in front of others. If you would like to discuss it with me and have issues you want to raise, I am more than willing to meet with you in private to discuss this'.

If he then says yes, lets do that, lets have a meeting, ask him is this a disciplinary meeting. If he says it is, then he needs to follow strict guidelines regarding notice of the meeting etc, and you are entitled to bring someone into the meeting with you.

Could be that for now, you are an easy target. Faced with the option of formally disciplining a good and productive staff member (who despite some bouts of illness has proven her value to the company) he might back down. You need to make him aware that you are not going to stand for snide comments or bullying or unprofessional behaviour.

I would also recommend that you make an appointment with your doctor and ask him/her for a letter to confirm you are fit to work. Many companies ask for these when you start work, so s/he should be familiar with them. Basically a short letter saying that in the past you have had sporadic bouts of illness but that you do not have any condition or ailment which renders you unable to perform your work duties. I would give this to your manager as soon as possible - have it on record.

Anyone can be unlucky and have a bad run healthwise. But you need to reassure your employer that this bad run is an anomaly and is not ongoing. By getting in there first with your fitness to work report, you are making it that much more difficult for your manager to use it as amunition in the future.

Best of luck, and I hope your health improves.

tony81

Op, also remember to make good use out of your annual leave. It might be tempting to do DIY, or go on a mad holiday and come home feeling run down (possibly due to recycled air on aeroplanes)

Make good use of your AL. Try to take a block of 2 weeks or at least one full week during the summer.

Take care of yourself so you don't get sick, and take AL before you feel run down rather than taking days off and getting sick certs while saving your AL.

tatli_lokma

+1 ^^
If you have worked (will work) 8 months in a year, you are entitled to 2 weeks unbroken leave. The usual way for people to take it is 1 week in Spring, 2 weeks in summer and then 1 week in winter. Some people chose to break up on of the spring or winter weeks into a couple of long weekends or odd days off here and there. This is obviously subject to approval by management.

Tony81's advice is good advice - don't let yourself get run down to the point that you are suseptable to all manner of colds and bugs.

Also, there is a gray area as to whether or not you can continue to accrue leave whilst out sick. The Irish legislation says no, you don't, but recent european rulings say yes you do. Now, if you are like most people and only miss a day or two or max a week in a year, then the difference to your AL accrual would be minimal and as such most employers don't bother deducting this from your leave allowance. However, you were out for 6 mths at one stage and then 6 weeks since last April, so you might want to check if you got your full 20 days AL. If you still accrued your full leave despite so much illness then I think you need to be careful how you play it, as your employers have been fair with you on that point.

I still think a 'fit to work' assessment from your doctor is your best form of security.