hospital appointments

Post by **thehappyones** » 18 Mar 2015, 14:24

So don't know if this is new or old but here in Glasgow you now have to pay back time if you have a hospital app.outwith your duty time,

any clarification guys n gals ??

rehabron · Post by **rehabron** » 18 Mar 2015, 15:26

thehappyones wrote:So don't know if this is new or old but here in Glasgow you now have to pay back time if you have a hospital app.outwith your duty time,

any clarification guys n gals ??

It would depend on the circumstances of your hospital appointment for instance if the appointment was with a specialist consultant regarding a pre-op examinant and these guys consult within certain times over and above their other duties then applying for other time off (Special Leave) should be paid with no clawback.
If the hospital appointment was for a check up or after care where there consulting times are flexible then this you would be able to arrange outwith your duty hours and if unable would probably mean using your annual leave entitlement or giving the time off back.

Post by **POSTMAN** » 18 Mar 2015, 20:59

Medical appointments:
Employees should be encouraged to try and arrange medical appointments outside of
working hours, but sometimes, this is not possible. When an employee needs time off to attend an appointment that
has been scheduled during working hours, there is a legal requirement to facilitate time off. You might do this by
arranging for them to make the time up, swap shifts with a colleague or offer paid time off...

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 36&t=68435" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Throgg · Post by **Throgg** » 18 Mar 2015, 21:45

It would depend on the circumstances of your hospital appointment for instance if the appointment was with a specialist consultant regarding a pre-op examinant and these guys consult within certain times over and above their other duties then applying for other time off (Special Leave) should be paid with no clawback

Can you provide some Royal Mail or Government documentation that backs this up please?

rehabron · Post by **rehabron** » 19 Mar 2015, 07:01

Throgg wrote:
It would depend on the circumstances of your hospital appointment for instance if the appointment was with a specialist consultant regarding a pre-op examinant and these guys consult within certain times over and above their other duties then applying for other time off (Special Leave) should be paid with no clawback
Can you provide some Royal Mail or Government documentation that backs this up please?

My reply was in relation to the posting from " thehappyones" concerning the paying back of time for hospital appointments at a particular RM location and as you will no doubt be aware time off paid or unpaid, colleague duty swop or taken from annual leave entitlement is at the discretion of the manager so what system one office operates may not be standard. There is no hard and fast rule for time off in RM and the law only protects ante-natal care, disabled and escorting child to hospital. Have generally found that if the hospital appointment is with a specialist consultant whose surgery is within restricted hours and an isolated occasion then line manager has accommodated the time off without recourse. But if the hospital appointment was a visit to the out patients department who have more flexible visiting times then this would have to be made outwith duty time or if unable a duty swop would be the next step or time taken from annual leave entitlement as per the RM booklet on other time off.

Throgg · Post by **Throgg** » 19 Mar 2015, 08:53

Thanks Rehabron. I see a specialist once every 6 months, he only consults mornings and it seems to vary with each manager what the correct procedure is, some pay, some don't and others remove lieu days. I was just wondering if there was any documentation that would give a hard and fast rule.

postypie · Post by **postypie** » 19 Mar 2015, 12:43

POSTMAN wrote:Medical appointments:
Employees should be encouraged to try and arrange medical appointments outside of
working hours, but sometimes, this is not possible. When an employee needs time off to attend an appointment that
has been scheduled during working hours, there is a legal requirement to facilitate time off. You might do this by
arranging for them to make the time up, swap shifts with a colleague or offer paid time off...

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 36&t=68435" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have several coming up in relation to my cancer treatment/care and nearly all of them are morning appointments due to the fact they only offer am appointments at the clinic/hospital I am at for cancer patients so where would I stand?

Post by **POSTMAN** » 19 Mar 2015, 20:38

Regular medical treatment and hospital appointments:
Where regular treatment or hospital appointments are occurring the employee should try and get appointments outside work hours and Royal Mail should help by arranging changes to working hours wherever possible. Managers should treat requests for additional time off with sympathy bearing in mind that a stoppage of pay may add to the stress of having to attend hospital for treatment or for hospital appointments. Individuals involved in hospital treatment or those attending a hospital appointment should provide confirmation of from their Doctor or the hospital, and absences should not count towards attendance procedure.

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 6&p=390710" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Again depends on how your screws are whether you would get Special Leave with pay.

Tman · Post by **Tman** » 20 Mar 2015, 15:17

Do we all work for RM?
I/we put in a request for the time off giving reason date and time, cover is arranged if applicable, then you go. End of. No loss of leave, money, lieu days or anything else.
It's been this way for decades.

Post by **POSTMAN** » 20 Mar 2015, 20:08

Tman wrote:Do we all work for RM?
I/we put in a request for the time off giving reason date and time, cover is arranged if applicable, then you go. End of. No loss of leave, money, lieu days or anything else.
It's been this way for decades.

You have a completely different job than the rest of us.

Tman · Post by **Tman** » 20 Mar 2015, 21:14

Used to have a completely different union (NCU) too, who negotiated many good T&Cs. We had a 37.5 hour week and nine day fortnights back in the 1970s.
Still, as the CWU chose to remind me today (with some pointless bit of expensive paper through the post) it's the 20th anniversary of that particular marriage made in Hell....

ian2958 · Post by **ian2958** » 05 Jul 2016, 22:17

I have had an appointment for a pre op assessment. My manager has told me I will have take it unpaid.
This is in spite of having a lot of holiday days accrued over the past 4-5 years. What is the RM policy on this.

Post by **POSTMAN** » 06 Jul 2016, 00:14

ian2958 wrote:I have had an appointment for a pre op assessment. My manager has told me I will have take it unpaid.
This is in spite of having a lot of holiday days accrued over the past 4-5 years. What is the RM policy on this.

No reason why you can't take it as AL, your manager is being an arse, get your rep on the case...

Medical appointments: Employees should be encouraged to try and arrange medical appointments outside of
working hours, but sometimes, this is not possible. When an employee needs time off to attend an appointment that
has been scheduled during working hours, there is a legal requirement to facilitate time off. You might do this by
arranging for them to make the time up, swap shifts with a colleague or offer paid time off.

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 36&t=68435" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The above is from the managers support booklet!

ROYALMAILCHAT