Sick leave public sector

Chols34

Hi there,

Due to work related stress I may have to go on sick leave in the near future. In the public sector, so would get paid sick leave for the time being.

I have been applying for other jobs in the public sector hoping to get out of where I am currently. I've recently been moved to another unit only a couple of months ago, so any references would be from my old unit where I worked for almost 4 years.

My question is if I went on sick leave would it be an issue if I got to the final stages of a job application in the public sector?

Would the leave be shown in a centralised database? Or because I wouldn't be going near any current managers for references, would it not be an issue as my chosen referees from my old unit wouldn't be mentioning it?

Any help would be much appreciated 👍🏻

Augme

Most public sector employers would request information about sick leave so if you are applying for jobs I would do so with the understanding any future employer will need to become aware of duration of sick leave you've taken. Whether that will impact on your chances is hard to say as decisions are generally on a case by case basis. If you have no significant sick leave prior to this, that would be a big help.

leanbh

If offered the job, you'll have to disclose where you work currently. It will show up in payroll when you start in a new department.

For hr in new department to get your sick leave record youd have to give explicit consent to your current department to release that sick record to them (because its medical records).if current department disclose to new department that you're off work due to work stress, that's breach of data protection act 2018.

The best thing to do would be to tell your current department not to disclose your sick leave record to any third party.

If its an open competition, new department will just want to know that you're medically fit to do the job and that your work performance reviews are in order.

Minier81

Every reference I have been asked to give to public service organisation has included a question on how many days sick leave in the past 2 or 5 years on the reference form. It would also usually be a requirement for a reference for a public sector job to be from your most recent manager. You are asked before they contact any reference.

Of course sick leave can't be used against you, people get sick but long periods of leave will likely trigger a review with occ health before any job offer.

Ted222

I think you should assume that your sick leave record will follow you throughout the public sector. It wouldn’t be reasonable that the clock would be set to zero every time you move between organisations.

I’m not sure where you’re going with the reference issue. Most references these days are factual rather than subjective and merely point out the length of time a person was in a job rather than how they performed.