DO I HAVE A CASE FOR GRIEVANCE?

[Theghost]

Hi,i have worked for royal mail for 14 years.
My sick has never been the best,currently on a stage 2 warning.
I was sick last week,this was not going to trigger the stage 3 warning.
I injured my ankle playing football,When i rang in before my duty explaining i was not fit for work,i asked for light duties,this was refused,even though some people in our office are granted them.
I went sick.2 days into the sick i recieved a letter from my manager asking me to attend a meeting as my sick may be unauthourised and an interview is neccesarry to determine whether i am to be conduct coded.
I have been in a meeting with my union rep and manager yesterday,My manager has pointed out that this does not trigger a warning,But i have had the same week off sick for the last 3 Years.
2 years ago irratable bowel syndrome,visit to doctors and drugs prescribed.
1 year ago i pulled my back flagging in my garden.
This year i injure my ankle playing football and asked if i could attend on light duties and am told no.
I never knew i had this same week off for the last 3 years,and tried to explain as to what it is,which is purely coincidental.
So now i am back in work,MY manager had a fact finding interview and told me there was the possibility of my pay being stopped and the absence being put down as unauthourised.Today he has told me he wants to keep this "In house" and not stop my pay,but give me a warning which will be on my record for 2 years.
I dont want to accept a warning,I feel that he will be after me for any small thing,Not wearing a hi vis,or cycling without helmet etc etc.
Am i being reated unfairly?
Please any advice would be much appreciated.
Can he give me a warning for this?
Can my pay be stopped?
Im not sleeping because of this,my wife is looking for a new job as she is being finished beginning of may,i have a 7 year old son a mortgage,Im sick to death of how im being treated,I dont feel its fair.
Please any advice/opinions would be much appreciated,I would like to know should i accept? Or should i put a grievance in and fight this?
Thanks for reading.

[fmrPOSTIE]

Why should you get a serious warning (2yrs) for a genuine illness? Consult your rep. After all you've done the right thing by asking for light duties!

[norbert]

Why should you get a serious warning (2yrs) for a genuine illness? Consult your rep. After all you've done the right thing by asking for light duties!

no wonder he wants it " kept in house " , sounds if he's been " advised " from much higher up . RM as per usual MAY have twisted things using possibly vague & obscure grounds stating that you are " suspiciously " unlucky - it could backfire on them outside the PO as they may be seen as too judgmental and that manager knows it .

What RM tend to try on is the " negligence " number , somebody is trying to be too clever by half ? - there was one case in The Sun when the Area manager sacked someone by letter as he'd had too much time off for Sunday League Football Injuries & RM stated in the paper that it just wasn't good enough .

The AM had judged that he wasn't taking his job seriously enough .

Bang a grievance or worse in as they're hoping you'll go away quietly

[dvbuk55]

Some years ago I worked for an electricity supply company who did indeed refuse to pay someone for being injured whilst playing football and unable to attend work. The union did defend the case but the company stated that the player should have been insured against injury and that any wages paid should have been recoverable through the insurance. The case that the level of football was not covered by insurance was held that the company should not then be expected to support an individuals hobby - the wages were witheld and the case was upheld. In fairness the chap was always off with some sort of sporting injury and I think the company had had enough.

[wolfie citizen smith]

first of all I would like to commend your honesty brother by stating to the manager your unfortunate injury was a sporting one. However self certification for 7 days is fine as accidents happen, its a way of life. Are businesses now telling us that once we finish work we have to go home and wrap ourselves up in cotten wool as not to make us vonerable to injury as any injury outside the business will be deemed as unautherised abscence, I think not.
That aside this manager can have a grievance put against them for there suggestion, however taking a 2 year serious warning seems very purdantic and would suggest that you do not take up there offer as it has already been stated that this will not trigger a stage 3 which was said infront of your rep.
Just re-ashore your manager that this was a one off and it will not happen again (at least for another 13 months)

[michris]

and what has yr rep said to all this c??p

[norbert]

first of all I would like to commend your honesty brother by stating to the manager your unfortunate injury was a sporting one. However self certification for 7 days is fine as accidents happen, its a way of life. Are businesses now telling us that once we finish work we have to go home and wrap ourselves up in cotten wool as not to make us vonerable to injury as any injury outside the business will be deemed as unautherised abscence, I think not.
That aside this manager can have a grievance put against them for there suggestion, however taking a 2 year serious warning seems very purdantic and would suggest that you do not take up there offer as it has already been stated that this will not trigger a stage 3 which was said infront of your rep.
Just re-ashore your manager that this was a one off and it will not happen again (at least for another 13 months)

the laughable thing is that there is plenty of professional skivvers & claimers that get away with murder and take the p*** with time off for road accidents . It's not hard to work the whiplash injury number , an " unfortunate " shunt can soon be arranged with an old banger & a " sympathetic good " doctor .

Let's just say some of these people ( everyone knows who they are ) were not that upset about them . If there's any PC issues , RM dare not say boo to a goose to them . Full pay for six months and a job on the side , a nice holiday , if anyone complained RM would twist things and say those " accident prone " people were being harassed .

" Sunday League Sid " would get sacked anywhere , though most companies would handle it better and not turn everything into a 3 part melodrama all over the papers and internet .

Call that manager's bluff because these cases have a habit of getting out of hand and ending up in Industrial Tribunals . I think these managers have watched too many 70's Police programmes as that stinks , it would be laughed out of any IT but that's planet RM for you .

[Theghost]

Thank you to all who have replied.
I spoke to my regional union rep,he told me in no uncertain terms not to accept this warning,Get a grievance form and go from there,Tell my boss to do what he wants and I will fight him all the way.Basically he is calling me a liar and insinuating that my absences were not genuine.
My office union rep informed my boss that i was not going to accept this being kept "in house" and recieve this warning,and that when he puts this to me in a letter i will be returning it,not accepting it,and putting in a grievance against him.
His reply was,"Ok,Lets go down that road,all bets are off" I think he feels he was doing me a favour,Also this will be the TENTH grievance put in against this disgusting little man in the last 18 months.
His superiors seem to ignore them though,He has saved alot of money in our office and we are one of,if not THE top performing offices in the north west,I feel they are just looking at results and not how he is perfoming on personal levels with the staff.
Oh yes,I was expecting the letter first thing this morning,Or when i got back from delivery,so far..........nothing.
I would like to think he has bottled letting it go further,But that is wishfull thinking on my part methinks.I just want to get on with my job with none of these hassles,But this rat seems to enjoy confrontations,So if he wants it that way no doubt tomorrow i will hear from him,If not,I think i may have called his bluff with success,I dont fancy a long drawn out affair,But i will not let him walk all over me and have his way as he sees fit,When i feel he is totally wrong.
Update tomorrow.

[k979aaa]

Thank you to all who have replied.
I spoke to my regional union rep,he told me in no uncertain terms not to accept this warning,Get a grievance form and go from there,Tell my boss to do what he wants and I will fight him all the way.Basically he is calling me a liar and insinuating that my absences were not genuine.
My office union rep informed my boss that i was not going to accept this being kept "in house" and recieve this warning,and that when he puts this to me in a letter i will be returning it,not accepting it,and putting in a grievance against him.
His reply was,"Ok,Lets go down that road,all bets are off" I think he feels he was doing me a favour,Also this will be the TENTH grievance put in against this disgusting little man in the last 18 months.
His superiors seem to ignore them though,He has saved alot of money in our office and we are one of,if not THE top performing offices in the north west,I feel they are just looking at results and not how he is perfoming on personal levels with the staff.
Oh yes,I was expecting the letter first thing this morning,Or when i got back from delivery,so far..........nothing.
I would like to think he has bottled letting it go further,But that is wishfull thinking on my part methinks.I just want to get on with my job with none of these hassles,But this rat seems to enjoy confrontations,So if he wants it that way no doubt tomorrow i will hear from him,If not,I think i may have called his bluff with success,I dont fancy a long drawn out affair,But i will not let him walk all over me and have his way as he sees fit,When i feel he is totally wrong.
Update tomorrow.

My sympathies are with you we had a manager who done himself a mischief like yours and did not get sent down the road.

[Theghost]

Still no letter from him,nothing.Has he bottled it?

[opgpat]

A crucial part of your defence against this insinuation of lieing is that you offered to attend work. That is the bottom line, it disproves this managers little theory about the u skyving the same week off each year. A record of doctors visits for your previous absent spells would help also. You should have diary entries with the details of how u contacted work, what u said in relation to offering to come in and work and what they said back. If u offered to come in how can u be on the skyve? Totally rediculous.

[norbert]

I think ? this comes from a Manager at Heathrow DC that got slated by the CMA / AMICUS section of UNITE in the press , his " cunning plan " was to go through the data from the entry cards on the door and see if he could trip anyone up on an absence pattern . Of Course , he was loved by Senior & Middle Management bean counters as he'd saved money . RM may have had some people bang to rights but it's not the 70's anymore and everybody is guilty .

Where RM go wrong with the " all absences are genuine , unless we can trip people up " is that they can't go on the bounds of probabilities one minute , then everything is black and white , the next , this is the worst of the playground mentality - " they're all vagabonds and thieves , as little as possible for as much as possible " of the old RM and the underhand , 80's / 90's spivvy culture of :lfo & :cfo as RM is neither one thing or the other .

That "manager" is going on summary justice , unfortunately outside Planet RM there has to be natural justice as it's basically " if we'd got a tightened up RMAP with the dispute in 2007 , we'd have got rid of you , so ! " .

The warning is purely to keep Senior and Middle Manager's impressed and happy , it's appalling as guilt is implied even they know it would be chucked out of any Tribunal but RM have always regarded themselves as above the law in the past and operate at the legal limit at best now .

Also with a warning , people will be looking for you , any little thing will do , "the bets are off " means he knows he's fireproof , RM will be as defensive and obstructive as possible to protect him for doing his superiors dirty work .

His & RM's Achilles heel is arrogance , the Union will have to be smart enough to nail him & RM , it is possible , just be one or two steps ahead as previously suggested by others & it's like poker , never , ever show your hand .
To be fair there's staff of the same mindset too , due to nepotism , favoritism , over zealous political correctness and corruption as we all know . Their time will come though