employee is using sick certs to scam off work

nuggie86

how's it going all,

I have a friend that runs her own business and recently she has had a now x employee using sick certs for six weeks and then she decided to hand in her notice, but now another employee was called out on her on lack of productivity,
now this was put very nicely calm and confidential, but the very next day she handed in a sick cert (from the same doctor as the first employee) calming that she needed time off for stress now its been over three weeks and she is still calming she is still stressed.

now she has been seen drinking and socialising with friends and seems to be taking advantage of the fact she can receive sick certs so easily, now it is believed that this employee have no intention of returning.

now my friend is wondering where dose she stand as this person is holding a job position that could be filled by a person that wants to work,

any help with this would be greatly appreciated.
many thanks,j

December2012

Are stressed people not allowed to socialise?

Ramonapixie

i know someone who went to a doctor recently claiming stress, but was told by said doctor that stress is not an illness therefore no cert.

wmpdd3

Unless your friend can compel her employee to attend a company doctor she cannot comment on her condition unless she is a medical professional.

All employee discussions should now be documented. Is she paying sick pay?

Mistakes made in relation to employee la can be very expensive to rectify, might be a good time to get onto her local enterprise board to see if she can get some training in basic employee law.

nuggie86

no of course stressed people should socialise, didn't mean to come a cross as unsympathetic to people that are stressed,
but this person has been badmouthing her place of employment and seams to have no intention of returning, now the employer is very approachable and very accommodating and is been taking advantage of by this person.

now I know it is very easy to say that her work environment is stress free, but it is a very stress free environment.

nuggie86

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Unless your friend can compel her employee to attend a company doctor she cannot comment on her condition unless she is a medical professional.

All employee discussions should now be documented. Is she paying sick pay?

Mistakes made in relation to employee la can be very expensive to rectify, might be a good time to get onto her local enterprise board to see if she can get some training in basic employee law.

thanks for the reply,
no she's not paying sick pay.

Bepolite

If it's an employer they should know what to do in this situation. If they don't, seek proper legal advice. This should have been done when the employment contracts were drafted, and employment policies put in place. It's easy for not everything to be taken in when this process is going on but a quick phone call to the company solicitor should resolve this, assuming things are properly in place.

Santa Cruz

If the employee is working there a short time they won't have protection of a lot of the employment law so it might be a good time to get rid.
Otherwise the employment contact (if one exists) should cover the rules re sickness etc. In any case this matter should be taken on straight away

purpur1

Hi. Ok employer should first avoid contact with certified stressed employee unless absolutely necessary and done in a face to face meeting with minutes taken etc. This is to cover employer against a claim - who knows why they're stressed, they can use being contacted unnessarily against employer - but employer must give them time to recover.

If sick pay is not paid, just go with the system. Employer needs to keep the business running so they are perfectly entitled to employ a temporary worker until stressed employee returns to work. Stressed employee should not be asked to assist temporary worker etc - avoid contact.

On stressed employees return to work - meet with employee. State you are happy they have returned etc and hope they are now ok, and get them to confirm that they have had plenty of time to recover. Advise you expect the productivity issue to now be resolved as they are fully recovered.

Back to work. Any issues that come up should then be dealt with under the disciplinary procedure, unless it is gross misconduct. Tell your friend to get her contracts and HR policys up to scratch asap - she can implement an employee handbook at any time and is entitled to change contracts by entering into a consultation period. She can put an illness clause in the contracts which allows an employee to be absent for a certain amount of time before the position terminates - fyi this is usually about 250 days.

ScouseMouse

It would also be a good idea for a doctors letter to be provided saying they are fit for work.

xxlauraxxox

very easy to say that the employee isn't stressed, weather its personal or work related at the end of the day an employee only spends up to 40hours a week in the work place and an employer shouldn't even be mentioning/discussing the illness of the employees to other people regardless if its friends family or work related that employee can sue on the grounds of confidentally. I was absent from work for 3weeks in april after a car crash and I was accused of been on holidays by my employer even though id weekly certs from my gp and was in hospital the first week after it

Only thing your friend can do is send her to a company doctor and get a second option and seek professional advice on where she stands with this employee

AlanS181824

Please do let us know how the situation pans out for you Op.

Rachiee

Perhaps your friend is a lovely friend but not a great employer, one staff left after a period of sickness and a second staff looks as though she may do the same. Theres no smoke without fire shes clearly not very good at human resources.