First sickness in over a year, face to face sheduled when union rep not available, do I need one?

[cheerful]

A few days ago I got a bitten by a spider on my leg (while on delivery), it's caused quite a bit more pain than I would've expected, mainly when I put weight on the leg, so I've been off 4 days. I've got some prebooked time off next week, so I'm assuming it'll be fully recovered by the time I come back.

I've been asked to come in and do a face to face meeting tomorrow, but the union reps will be out on delivery.

It's been over a year since I was last sick, I'm not on a Stage 1, so I'm assuming they'll look at the spider bite, I'll get full pay for the time off, and everything will be fine.

I'm assuming I don't need the union there, or should I ask to change the time to when a rep will be available?

I've a couple of slight concerns:
1) We've got a new DOM(? COM?) who is supposed to enjoy being nasty, but I've no idea if he'll be in on the meeting or not.

2) if I do the face to face tomorrow, I'll probably be asked to sign something saying I'm fit for work, and if the spider bite gets infected then I might not be fit to return to work even after the time off, but the chance of that is slim.

[moonjaguar]

Tell him no. Say your leg is too sore to walk or drive and you'll come back when you are able to. Just make sure to get a doctors note after the first 7 days. And I believe you can claim your pre booked time back if you are unable to work.

[clashcityrocker]

Did you report the spider bite at the time?

[cheerful]

Did you report the spider bite at the time?

Yep, send pics of it progressing and a pic of the antibiotics with the date / my name on them.

I normally have a good relationship with that manager (we're in a big depot, and he's the best there), so I don't want to cause undue hassle, but I also don't want to do something stupid.

[guardianangel]

You dont have to have a face to face for 28 days while off sick ,tell him you cant make it because you cant walk and ALWAYS take a rep with you,i only made that mistake once and never again,i hadn't been sick for 8 years dom seemed really nice and good about telling me i had a brilliant sick record no need for a rep and bam tried stitching me up,NEVER TRUST A ROYAL MAIL MANAGER absolute shithouses.

[ted_e_bear]

Reading the above comments if it was me I'd take all that advice and tell them I can't attend as it's too painful walking however if they want to do a home visit they're welcome, hopefully they can't be bothered but it's no biggy to me if they did I'd be quite capable of sitting there with my leg up saying blimey that hurts, the issue I'd suspect with going to the do is that they'd try suggesting you could go in and do something like light duties which never really work out that way.

[cheerful]

I had considered offering to go in and prep door to doors, but the nurses advice was to keep my leg raised, so I've been doing that a lot at home.

The meeting is Saturday afternoon, and I'm on annual leave on Monday, so they can't really get me to do any work.

I am a little concerned about the drive in, using the clutch for a 10 minute drive might probably won't be too bad. The pain isn't massive, but it's enough to say I absolutely don't want to power walk for even an hour on it, nevermind a full shift or doing loads of van deliveries.

I am being tempted to cancel tomorrow or ask for a home visit, but the manager did say it was just a casual meeting, and I'd like to think he'd warn me if it was going to be something serious... probably...

[Gary55]

They will say as you are fit enough to come in you're fit enough for light duties. You usually have to self certificate for the first 7 days unless you visit the doctor and he writes it there and then. Don't trust them

[qwerty2]

Has the spider been put down?

[cheerful]

lol, nope. I probably just blundered through the poor guys house.

With spiders you often don't even realise you've been bit.

The wound kept swelling over the next 18 hours. NHS said spider bite, google agreed. It's also apparently the most popular time of year for spider bites.

[tramssirhc]

this is an accident on duty and needs to be recorded in erica. get the safety rep involved and your local rep.

[iHateD2Ds]

Tell manager you are unable to attend but if they wish to make a home visit that’s fine.
Obviously they think you are trying to pull a fast one extending your leave period to get off somewhere.

[markyRFC]

NHS said spider bite, google agreed

but RM mangers are more qualified to make diagnosis

[cheerful]

Tell manager you are unable to attend but if they wish to make a home visit that’s fine.
Obviously they think you are trying to pull a fast one extending your leave period to get off somewhere.

Thank you, it didn't occur to me they might think I'd been planning on going away early.

I tried walking on it for a couple of hours, and it made me realise it wasn't ready for the drive to work, so I took your advice and invited him for a home visit (he said he would if he's in the area, but he never showed up).

[funkflex55]

Have you developed any super powers yet? I once saw a documentary and a guy got bitten by a spider. After that he could shoot webs and everything. Would certainly help with these impossible walks