Hi all, I’ve posted about this before and got some really helpful advice, I hope it’s ok to ask for a bit more.
Earlier this year I was off for some time as I realised I wasn’t coping with work. I thought I’d have to take Ill-health retirement as this USA situation that’s been evolving for some time - increasing brain fog/fatigue.
It was then found I had a uti so I had antibiotics which seemed to make a slight difference, and I ended up going back to work, partly because I started to worry about money and also because I started to feel like the GP was getting irritated with me asking for sick notes.
However I’m in the same situation, absolutely exhausted, have spent the last four days just slumped on the sofa, can’t think straight.
I just want to stop but I’m really apprehensive of the process. Basically I feel so guilty and like a fraud.
What really worries me is I’ve read that I can be sacked for ‘incapacity’ without being able to get my pension - is that true? And do I have to go off sick to take ill- health retirement? If I’m not off sick will I not be considered sick enough? My job isn’t under very much scrutiny so I could log on and not do very much -which tbh I have been doing lately because I just can’t concentrate or focus).
I think you need to work closely with Occupational Health on this one. All other things being equal, they’re usually the ones who have the final say on what happens, based on their medical assessment of your health, your ability to do your job and your prognosis. If you’re not yet engaged with them, usually via your HR department, then you need to be.
Hi Munki, I’ll assume you work for the NHS and not a 3rd party contractor. That being the case, don’t worry about ‘losing’ your pension, that can’t happen, your contributions already made are safe… What can happen is that if you were dismissed due to unsatisfactory attendance, your pension becomes frozen, effectively a preserved benefit until you meet the scheme criteria to draw it. That will be an age threshold, 55, 60 etc but depending on your length of service there could be several schemes and rules.
The IHR process can be triggered by your line manager, OH Team or you can apply yourself whether at work or not. Your pension scheme website will have the forms. You will have to engage with your HR and OH Team as you go through the process, before that though, speak to your LM about making reasonable workplace adjustments or managing expectations with regards to your outputs, this may solve your problems. In any event any decent OH team will flag this up before they consider IHR. Communication is the key here, early and comprehensive comms.
Regards, Retro.
Thank you all. @RetrovirusUK is it true I could be sacked on attendance grounds? I thought that as MS is a protected characteristic they can’t take absence into account when it’s due to MS? I had thought that my pension was there to safeguard me if I become too ill to do my job, it’s a bit scary if it’s not… I will speak to my union rep and HR.
You can be sacked for poor attendance in any job. Of course your reason for absence would be MS which is protected so if that was the reason for your dismissal then you would receive your full pension at the time you left because you’d leave under IHR terms. Most OH teams will look at everything in the round before making a recommendation.
Workplace adjustments and a discussion about what is expected of you going forward should be the first chat though.