On sick leave...company is ignoring me

Autonomous

Hi All.
Need some advice, I'm out on sick leave for work related stress.
My manager has been very unsupportive when I mentioned this months ago, refusing to meet me and been dismissive, even mentioned I was wasting their time.
Eventually I was so stressed by it, I couldn't sleep and was having night sweats, so I took time off work with a doctor cert, the manager was trying to ring my phone and wanted to know if I'd be back next week on 2nd day been off sick...
The manager is not even acknowledging my updates or certs now.

davo10

Autonomous wrote: »

Hi All.
Need some advice, I'm out on sick leave for work related stress.
My manager has been very unsupportive when I mentioned this months ago, refusing to meet me and been dismissive, even mentioned I was wasting their time.
Eventually I was so stressed by it, I couldn't sleep and was having night sweats, so I took time off work with a doctor cert, the manager was trying to ring my phone and wanted to know if I'd be back next week on 2nd day been off sick...
The manager is not even acknowledging my updates or certs now.

OP the employer is not required to acknowledge them nor to support you, just to accept the cert. They are also allowed to contact you for updates on likely return date as this may effect organisation of cover. Keep sending certs in prior to the expiration of each previous cert, you then inform your employer when you are well enough to return to work. If this is an extended absence, your employer is entitled to seek an independent medical opinion (at employer's expense) on if/when you are likely to be fit to return .

seamus

As above, they're not required to acknowledge that they've received anything from you, just make sure you keep a copy of everything you've sent in.

Also as said above, the company are entitled to request that you attend a doctor of their choice, and depending on your contract, may be entitled to withhold or suspend pay (if they haven't already).

Autonomous

davo10 wrote: »

OP the employer is not required to acknowledge them nor to support you, just to accept the cert. They are also allowed to contact you for updates on likely return date as this may effect organisation of cover. Keep sending certs in prior to the expiration of each previous cert, you then inform your employer when you are well enough to return to work. If this is an extended absence, your employer is entitled to seek an independent medical opinion (at employer's expense) on if/when you are likely to be fit to return .

Manager always acknowledged them before for previous things, flu etc, never rang either.....
I've a well documented issue with work stress, manager just wants work done regardless of increasing the pressure on me. He's even gotten verbally aggressive on two occasions

seamus

My advice would be to use the time you have on stress leave to go find a new job, especially if you're working for a smaller company without a HR department.

The only way the problem is going to go away is if you are no longer working for this manager. So either get moved to another department or move yourself to another company.

Autonomous

seamus wrote: »

My advice would be to use the time you have on stress leave to go find a new job, especially if you're working for a smaller company without a HR department.

The only way the problem is going to go away is if you are no longer working for this manager. So either get moved to another department or move yourself to another company.

I looked, unfortunately it's not great out there.

davo10

Autonomous wrote: »

Manager always acknowledged them before for previous things, flu etc, never rang either.....
I've a well documented issue with work stress, manager just wants work done regardless of increasing the pressure on me. He's even gotten verbally aggressive on two occasions

This is a completely different matter and you can raise a grievance relating to your manager. But the acknowledgement/support/contacting issue is a not really an issue as it is not a requirement.

Autonomous

davo10 wrote: »

This is a completely different matter and you can raise a grievance relating to your manager. But the acknowledgement/support/contacting issue is a not really an issue as it is not a requirement.

Ya, I gathered thats nothing to worry about(acknowledgment etc) but him ignoring my stress and been dismissive of issues, he's been know to say things like 'in my opinion there is no stress issues, when are you going to stop wasting the company's and my time, when are you going to get your act together' and 'I'm not going to tolerate this much longer'

Autonomous

Would raising a grievance be the end of my job under him, no options to move to another dept atm.

davo10

Autonomous wrote: »

Would raising a grievance be the end of my job under him, no options to move to another dept atm.

Absolutely not, it is your right to raise a grievance and to be treated fairly. But OP, just be aware that there is a difference between feeling stressed at work and feeling stressed due to bullying/discrimination/safety concerns etc. We all get stressed when we are busy/have deadlines/under staffed and too be honest the company may not be held responsible for you feeling stressed, but if your stress is due to you personally being treated unfairly, then you can make a complaint about your manager. You will have to decide whether the relationship with your manager would be untenable after a complaint is made, it really depends on how strongly you feel about the situation.

Mrs OBumble

OP, were you able for the job at one stage, and have become unable as the workload changed? Can you document that?

Or has it always been too challenging for you? And how long have you been there - are you still on probation?

TBH, without knowing the specifics of your job and how much work an employee with the knowledge, skills and experience listed on your CV could reasonable do, we cannot comment about how reasonable or otherwise the manager's response is.

Autonomous

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

OP, were you able for the job at one stage, and have become unable as the workload changed? Can you document that?

Or has it always been too challenging for you? And how long have you been there - are you still on probation?

TBH, without knowing the specifics of your job and how much work an employee with the knowledge, skills and experience listed on your CV could reasonable do, we cannot comment about how reasonable or otherwise the manager's response is.

I was very comfortable and well on top of things from the beginning, lots of changes within company in last few months, manager is behind a lot of them....I've been commended numerous times by upper management before.
I've been in the job 3.5 years and as a full time permanent employee.