pre disciplinary meeting for sick leave

epyon01

I got meeting appointment today for a pre disciplinary meeting in 2 days. The subject on it is about my sick leave.

I do have an ongoing medical condition that my job is aware off. Anytime i call in sick i always produce a doctors note. I did not miss alot of time this year for sick leave.

So im just worried they might terminate my contract and give me the boot. But in my job i always exceed targets and deadlines.

They have in the past advised me to help me out they would give me some sick leave with pay. But they never kept their word on this. I have used up 95% of ky holiday time in there for doctors and hospital appointments. Could they let me go? I never been in trouble in my job. Never got a written or verbal warning. I have had issues in the past with bullying in there from people leaving false notes om systems in my name on note pad documents and all i got back on it was they cant trace it whom it was. If they are going to let me go do they have to give me a notice of it before the meeting or am i kust screwed.

Stheno

epyon01 wrote: »

I got meeting appointment today for a pre disciplinary meeting in 2 days. The subject on it is about my sick leave.

I do have an ongoing medical condition that my job is aware off. Anytime i call in sick i always produce a doctors note. I did not miss alot of time this year for sick leave.

So im just worried they might terminate my contract and give me the boot. But in my job i always exceed targets and deadlines.

They have in the past advised me to help me out they would give me some sick leave with pay. But they never kept their word on this. I have used up 95% of ky holiday time in there for doctors and hospital appointments. Could they let me go? I never been in trouble in my job. Never got a written or verbal warning. I have had issues in the past with bullying in there from people leaving false notes om systems in my name on note pad documents and all i got back on it was they cant trace it whom it was. If they are going to let me go do they have to give me a notice of it before the meeting or am i kust screwed.

You've two issues here.

The first is your sick leave.

How much sick leave including sudden holidays have you had in the past year?

The second is the bullying. Have you kept a log/reported it?

InReality

You might as well prepare for a fight. Has your manager or workload changed recently ? Sounds like something is changed from how they were treating you earlier. They could let you go eventually , but would take longer 1 meeting ,( except for "gross misconduct" ) Have you a union ? Get as much advice as you can before meeting.

epyon01

I was probably out a total of around 20 days this year so far from sick leave and had always produced doctor certs. In my job its required to produce if out for 3 days or more. I have only been out 1 or 2 days max. They told me befor the new year they wpuld give me some sick paid leave. To help me but this never happened. This is why i had to use 15 days holiday pay to take time off for recovery.
I have reported the bullying they came back to me saying they cant find who does it due to details being left on Microsoft notepad. Which is a common thing in my job to use to leave notes on files and can easily be modified.
I dont have a union as i work in the insurance sector.
I still have further evidence of it happening but i dont report it since it cant be traced.

Nody

Having a sick cert does not magically make the sick leave go away; it simply means you can show why you did not come into work that day.

Secondly assuming that your sick leave is the issue at hand the fact you have no other warnings etc. has nothing to do with it but rather two questions of a) are you still fit to perform the job and b) what steps the company need to take to reasonably accommodate it (that does not include paying you for sick time but rather about work equipment etc.). If you're not deemed able to perform the job (and this is talking about as a full time job; not when you are in the office only) then you yes they can make you redundant (but there is a whole lot of hoops for them to go through if they would go that route and they would more likely try to buy you out) with notice period.

If possible try to get an appointment with your doctor after the pre meeting but before your final meeting to get a written statement on your capability to work and what can be done to accommodate you at work.

Now if I read your post correctly the thing that would raise red flags for me is the fact that you have 20 days of sick leave on top of taking 15 days of holidays for recovery. That would put you at 35 days out in 8 months; that is a lot of time as you've basically missed 2 out of 8 months at work so far.

cml387

In fact some companies view regular one or two day absences as more disruptive than one long absence and take a much more dim view of it (google Bradford factor, for example).

3DataModem

cml387 wrote: »

In fact some companies view regular one or two day absences as more disruptive than one long absence and take a much more dim view of it (google Bradford factor, for example).

Very much this.

epyon01

So if for example i was diagnosed with cancer and was getting kemo for it and from that i called in sick would that be the same case? Cause my employers know i have an unknown illness doctors have not been able to find out in over a year.

Stheno

epyon01 wrote: »

So if for example i was diagnosed with cancer and was getting kemo for it and from that i called in sick would that be the same case? Cause my employers know i have an unknown illness doctors have not been able to find out in over a year.

Employers can take action up to and including dismissal if employees health issues mean that they are unable to do their job.

mrsbyrne

epyon01 wrote: »

So if for example i was diagnosed with cancer and was getting kemo for it and from that i called in sick would that be the same case? Cause my employers know i have an unknown illness doctors have not been able to find out in over a year.

There's no easy way to say this but your health problems whilst I'm sure are very genuine and I do sympathise, but it's not your employer's problem past a certain point. They are running a business and are entitled to expect employees to he fit to fulfill their duties.
Employers are.prepared for staff to be out sick a couple of days with.flu or to ask for 2 days of holidays at no notice if a staff has a crises but 35 days including holidays at little or no notice or even possibly in retrospect is too much. IMO you should really be out on IB if you are so unwell.
The administrators at your employment have to consider what best for the business and unfortunately for you , dispensing with your services would appear to be what's best at this point.

Rob Thomas

OP, I hope your overall medical condition is improving and I wish you the best. However, it would appear that something has changed in your company's attitude regarding your future there. Given that it is a pre-disciplinary meeting that would make me think that they are keeping their options open. The meeting will be relatively informal and depending on the outcome they may never proceed further through their formal process. My opinion based on the limited info you have given ( and I'm not expecting you should give more of your personal information on this forum) is that they have decided that they cannot keep you in the role if your current level of absence is going to continue in the future and this meeting will be used to determine your current condition and how likely it is that you current attendance record will continue or improve. If the status quo is not going to change, I imagine they are preparing the groundwork to possibly reassign you, or process you through their own disciplinary process to an exit from the company and to do this correctly in line with their procedures so you won't be able to pursue them in the future. I'm sorry if this sounds worrying for you.

Other posters have highlighted the bullying issue. I don't think this is a factor in this action by your employer, it's probably just your absence; but you should, as advised, make sure that this issue is addressed properly, especially if you feel that things are moving negatively against you following the meeting. Have they fully followed their own procedures in dealing with your grievance? I don't think it's enough to say they couldn't find out who did it so that's the end of it.

Given your medical worries, I would advise that you try not to upset yourself about the meeting, it's going to happen so you are as well to accept it and prepare as best you can. If you feel that you would like a trusted colleague there then bring one if it's possible. Worry will do no good to you. If your employer values you and they can see that you are not abusing your absence they will try to help as best you can. Ultimately, unfortunately they are a business and they have to be able to rely on their employees being fit and able for work. If they are trying to force you out and are not genuinely in their dealings with you, you have rights and in the end, while it might not feel like it, you will be better off out of there. Mind your health and good luck.