Appointments

Everyday living
1

Hello All,

I was wandering…

I am currently in full time employment. If i have an appoinment with my MS Nurse or Consultant I would normally book the time off work and use my holidays. Are these appointments supposed to be taken as paid leave not holidays?? or is it up to the employers??

Thanks

Dee xx

2

I believe under the Equality Act, your employer has to allow you the time for appointments. You shouldn’t have to use your own time. I could be wrong like but my employer allows it.

3

In my work I would normally just take the time off & make it up during the week. Even if legally you must be given the time I would offer to make up the hours as it would hopefully make them more amenable. JBK

4

I don’t have to use holidays, but I do take it as unpaid leave

5

Hi, I dont know legally what the rules are - but I am given any time I need for medical appointments and I also get a day off every 28 days for Tysabri infusion which is not out of my holiday and I still get paid for it.

6

When I was at work, before I retired, any appointments due to the MS were taken as disability related leave - this does not count as sick leave - and is covered by reasonable adjustments.

7

Under the Equality Act an employer has to make “reasonable adjustments,” which includes taking time off for medical appointments relating to your MS (treatment, symptom management etc). With a condition like MS, where fatigue can be an issue, it’s not necessarily feasible to voluntarily make up the time taken - I have to travel up to two hours for some of my appointments so they can take up to half a day or a full day, which would mean me working at weekends/evenings when actually for my own health I need the rest. I’m given the time as “paid authorised leave” - it doesn’t come out of either my annual leave or sick leave.

There is no way you should be taking it out of your annual leave - holidays are for holidays… going to the hospital isn’t a holiday!

8

Taking time off for medical appointments is covered by reasonable adjustments. Your employer doesn’t have to grant you these and will take into account how long you have worked for them and whether they can reasonably cover for you etc. You should discuss it with your line manager as I think most employers are so scared of falling foul of the Equality Act that they are happy to grant the leave with pay without argument providing you are not asking for an unreasonable amount of time off.

My employers have never expected me to make up the time although I do wherever possible and if I am able to (given my health) as I see it as ‘give and take’ and don’t like to feel that I am taking liberties.

There is an excellent booklet available to order from this website called Working and MS and this type of thing is fully explained. It is now my bible …

Tracey x

9

Same here, when I was full time last year I just took the time needed for the appointment, it wasn’t part of holiday. Now I’m part-time, I get appointments outside of my working hours as it seems only fair since I was off a lot last year.