Hi I’ m new to the forum and was wondering if anyone can help me with either pointing me in the right direction or who has had a similar experience with warning letter issued by your employer for an MS absence.
I have a trigger point set at 24 days. If my MS sick absence goes beyond 24 days I get a warning letter and can be dismissed.
Has anyone got trigger points set and if so what are they?
Thanks for any help .
Hi Monica
Mine is 13 days over a year. But…I realise that I am very very lucky and have the protection of anything at all that is MS related will not go onto my sick record. Which is a damn good job I can tell you. I work for a huge company and it is absolutely my line managers discretion (spelling?!) as to if he records my sick or not. He generally doesnt unless it is completely MS related.
Hxx
We have three periods of sick days in a year, so three separate sick days would trigger it but a straight few weeks would n’t. I would hope that a decent employer facing someone sick wouldn’t dismiss them if they had just been unlucky and had three separate days off. Monica, I would try not to worry, are you sure that your warning letter is n’t just an automatic letter that has been generated. I would imagine that lots of people have more than 24 days off in a year, people have heart attacks, cancer, yes, like you ms and I’m sure a company doesn’t get rid of someone that easily, I know my company doesn’t, even dispute the absence guidelines I have detailed above. Why don’t you ask, do you get on well with your bosses, if I was you I would ask nicely and explain how the letter has worried you but I wouldn’t be confrontational or get into an argument over it. Just say the letter has worried you and you wonder where you stand. Do they know you have ms? I know people on here talk about absence not being counted if it is ms related, have to say that I am less sure about that myself, I’ve never been able to find anything official to that effect and I have certainly never been told that. However I would hope they would apply dome decency and common sense. Cheryl:-)
Hi, I also work for a large company. Do you have a Union Rep who could help? There are also other associations who can help if you don’t. There is a law with conditions such as MS where you can get an extra allowance added to the usual amount of time you’re allowed off. Also as stress can exacerbate symptoms they are not allowed to add to your problem by causing worry etc with warnings. I hope this helps! Hugs x
As far as I aware if you have informed your employers you have MS you should be covered by the disability equality act and MS related sick leave should not count towards you annual sick leave allowance
Hi Monica. Welcome.
I have retired through ill health now. I retired at the age of 51 from the NHS.
I had 3 warning letters when I was forced to have time off sick because my Optic Neuritis caused temporary blindness in one eye. I also fell while at work and broke my foot.
I was then offered the chance to have a meeting with Occ Health and HR and the meeting was very good and resulted in lots of adaptations being made to help me carry on working for as long as possible.
I was told that the warning letters weren’t personal just had to be done before I could get the help from Occ Health and HR,
Hope this helps.
Shazzie xx
Ring http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/ OR http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461 OR http://www.dialuk.info/ . Do not worry as far as MS illness is concerned it cannot have any restrictions.
It is only after many hoops are jumped through by your employers can they dispense with your employment. Please clarify with any of these originations; takes about 1 year.
I presume you are diagnosed but even if not if you are disabled as the law says http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/advice-and-guidance/your-rights/disability/
You come under safeguards of the Equalities Act that all employers MUST abide by; overrides any local agreements.
Hi everyone thanks for a very warm welcome and all the advice given. I will give you all a better idea of my position and what’s happened with my employer.
I was diagnosed with RRMS in 2002 and have had several relapse during this time. I work for the Government, doing 9hr shifts 5 days a week and until March 2012 the policy was that any sick leave to do with my MS, although did count towards my sick record, it didn’t count towards the department’s trigger point. The normal trigger point was 12 days or 6 seperate absences. From March 2012 anyone who had a disability was to have adjustments put in place to help them stay at work. My manager did put adjustments in place and one of these was increasing my trigger point from 12 days to 24 days (100%increase). He informed me that this is what HR have advised him. I argued that 24 days was not sufficint as my previous relapse’s have all been significantly higher than this ( 146,57,55, 75 & 46 this last one). They sent me for an OHS assessment and a report was sent to my employer.
Even after stating 24 days was not enough and the report from an OHS doctor they still went ahead and issued me with a warning letter. I did point out that this whole buisness was causing me a great deal of stress and this was known to possibly cause another relapse. I was told this was dually noted.
I am in the process of compiling an APPEAL case against this letter mainly because I can’t predict what will happen in the future and I could find myself facing warning letter number 2 and then it moves onto disciplinary action with me being forced out the door.
I have been offered medical treatment of BETA INTERFERON starting January 2014 but have been told there are serious side affects that may cause me to be off sick possibly 2 days a week for however months it takes me to get used to it. I am now considering not starting this treatment as I can’t afford to move onto warning letter 2 as it’s a very short trip to them getting me out the door. Financially I can’t afford to leave.
Sorry if I sound as if I’m ranting but I’m very upset and very very angry that I have given the Government 27 years of my life and this is how they treat me.
Monica.xx
I think I have mentioned this on another thread but many home contents insurance policies include legal advice which covers employment law. It is worth a call to your insurers to see if you are covered.
You urgently need good proffessional help; contact EHRC at the web address I said last time. If you are not in a Union they will do all to help.
I agree with the last poster - you need professional advice from someone who is on your side. It will cost money but an employment lawyer would be the best person. The one thing you need clarification on is the question of time that may be taken off due to a disabling condition like m.s. - does this count as sick leave?