I’m not yet diagnosed, currently under investigation and have been back at work on a phased return for 4 weeks. Late last night I became quite ill with what I suspect is Norovirus (it’s rife in my area at the moment, schools have even been closed, it’s that bad). I’ve been up most of the night with the usual symptoms of a vomitting bug but am supposed to have a face to face meeting with Occupational Health today at 10:30am.
My boss has already warned me of the importance of attending this meeting and that even if I’m not in on shift I will be expected to come in for the meeting at least, as the company will still be charged for the appointment if I don’t show up.
I’m so worried and don’t know what to do. I know if I call my boss she will go mad and make me feel even worse and that’s making me think I should force myself in to work for the meeting.
If you are in the throes of a vomiting bug - I cannot see how you will be able to go to work for your meeting. You will not be fit enough and you are likely to give the bug to everyone you come into contact with. They would be very unreasonable at work if they did not re-schedule the meeting. Stay at home and get well. Teresa xx
Well, I’ve just phoned my boss and have been told she will come and pick me up from home, take me to my meeting and then make arrangements to take me home again. So now I’m worried about throwing up in her car!!!
How completely and utterly irresponsible of your manager. It is extremely contagious and you could make a lot of people very ill…not your fault but your manager is acting like a prat. I would be furious if I worked in occy health. Poor you. Xx
Manager picked me up, took me into the meeting and back home again, had to stop the car a few times but no major mishaps. The meeting was with a GP from occ health to discuss my symptoms so he can provide my manager with a report with his suggestions. I had previously had a telephone meeting with an occupational health advisor who asked me the same questions the GP asked me today. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING DIFFERENT!!!
I was so annoyed by the time I got home because the meeting was a complete waste of time and could have been done over the phone, just as the initial occ health meeting was. It was at my managers insistence that occ health arrange a face to face meeting so they could possibly do a more in depth assessment and physical exam (the GP laughed at this and explained that he would not need to do a physical exam because that’s clearly not where my problem lies).
So basically I was dragged out of bed after no sleep, driven the 13 miles to and from work, to be told and asked nothing I hadn’t heard before, whilst trying to keep my stomach under control (car journey didn’t help), for absolutely no reason. By the time I got home I felt even worse than before I left because I had no energy.
The only positive is that they can’t say I’m not cooperating with the absence policy, when I clearly made an effort to attend the appointment.