Absence

[Body Beyond Repair]

A wee issue,can management stop pay(threatened in a letter) when someone is off sick for not attending for an interview and refusing Atos until they've seen there own doc who knows there medical history and is clearly unable to attend and the reason has been explained over a telephone call already ,and are attending the doctors two days later to seek medical advice.Is there a Royal Mail policy for this as im not so sure as i've asked my manager to produce it (Not yet) although he's gave me some local document that says he can if you dont follow all the guidelines on it going to fax it to Cwu legal team as i think some of it is made up and he's using it to bully staff into these meetings so he can question the genuious of the absence, but i'm curious to know if he dose this is it a breach of contract through employment law because if it is a might just let him do it and then we'll see what happens

:Two lines from this document- The employee must provide his/her manager with as much detail about there illness and the manager should determine if the employee can be employed on temporary alternative indoor duties.Where this is not practical and an absence is required ,the manager and emploee must agree a futher contact in the next two days.

:Conditions on which sick pay is paid-The buisness must be satisfied that an employee's absence is necesssary and due to genuine illness

Any advice before i take him on

[POSTMAN]

Moved to Union room

[DGP1]

They've been stopping sick pay over here for years.

[peterloo]

they do if you do not allow them to manage your absence i.e interviews medical records etc. but in two cases i heard about both got there dosh back at an employment tribunal

[Sick Postie]

I know of a case that this happened in, pay was stopped until the person attended an interview although it was then back dated. It's totally wrong that they treat people in this way when you are already off sick this is only more of Royal Mails bully boy tactics. Atos have also been known to over-rule a doctors sick line and say you are fit for work even if your own GP says you are too sick to work, but then I suppose that is just to keep the Atos figures right.

[michris]

no what your going though,im now on long term sick(diagnosed with the big c)but prior to the diagnoses my hospital appointments had to be taken as holiday or without pay

[TrueBlueTerrier]

from the Attendance Procedure document in downloads: http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 36&t=11808" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

8. STAFF ON SICK LEAVE
Where an employee is off sick and cannot attend for interview at any of the formal stages, he/she will be given the opportunity to put forward his/her case in writing, within 7 days, and would be free to enlist support from the relevant union representative for that location or a friend from the same location in drafting his/her case for submission. If the opportunity is declined, the case would be processed in the normal way.

A return to work discussion will take place but employees will not be required to disclose information of a personal or sensitive nature if they choose not to do so.

Absences due to sickness are assumed to be genuine.

However, with regard to ATOS and not talking to them, I would say this is a dodgy step. ATOS and your GP will have no connection with each other and will operate independently of each other. Whatever ATOS says it won't affect your GPs opinion and the opposite is the same. It ain't fair by any shot, but my advice would be to always accept any referral or contact by ATOS as it shows you are willing to get the situation regarding your sickness addressed. If you subsequently disagree with their assessment then its time to get support from your GP and Reps.

[norbert]

from the Attendance Procedure document in downloads: http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 36&t=11808" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

8. STAFF ON SICK LEAVE
Where an employee is off sick and cannot attend for interview at any of the formal stages, he/she will be given the opportunity to put forward his/her case in writing, within 7 days, and would be free to enlist support from the relevant union representative for that location or a friend from the same location in drafting his/her case for submission. If the opportunity is declined, the case would be processed in the normal way.

A return to work discussion will take place but employees will not be required to disclose information of a personal or sensitive nature if they choose not to do so.

Absences due to sickness are assumed to be genuine.

However, with regard to ATOS and not talking to them, I would say this is a dodgy step. ATOS and your GP will have no connection with each other and will operate independently of each other. Whatever ATOS says it won't affect your GPs opinion and the opposite is the same. It ain't fair by any shot, but my advice would be to always accept any referral or contact by ATOS as it shows you are willing to get the situation regarding your sickness addressed. If you subsequently disagree with their assessment then its time to get support from your GP and Reps.

RM would say they must be satisfied that it is genuine and necessary - in the past all absences were regarded as genuine so people could be tripped up - now the goal posts have been moved yet again and there's no room for grey areas - must be a lot of pressure from on high - problem is; are RM acting reasonably with their duty of care ?

ATOS / RM work on the basis that you've a "good" doctor and to remove the barriers and they'd say it's all agreed with the CWU - they are certainly not going by the spirit of the agreement - maybe the CWU missed a trick there ? - - it's at the very edge legally , usually it's a perverse interpretation by middle and senior management - so staff have to show good faith to have any chance of proving RM are acting in bad faith ?

Apparently a sick certificate isn't worth the paper it's written on as long as the employer has someone of equivalent rank to judge upon - though the GP 's statement is admissible in court - too many grey areas ?

Members could always report the ATOS Doctor or Nurse to the General Medical Council / Nursing and Midwifery Council and there's plenty of ambulance chasing solicitors looking for misdiagnosis claims - interesting ?

[NumptyBumpty]

As long as you are providing doctor's notes then they have to pay you statutory sick pay but they don't have to pay you company sick pay if they feel you are not co-operating. By not agreeing to go to Atos then that is deemed as not co-operating.

[wolfie citizen smith]

TBT is right on this. I was on long term sick and was offered Section 8 of the Sick Absence Procedure, I gladly took advantage of this, however I was given a Stage Warning for "Not Attending The Interview" So watch out, good luck and be well