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Swine flu disciplinary

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My wife had a week of work with swine flu, She followed the government guidelines about not going into work to take the tami-flu and to return to work after she completed the cause of tami-flu,

 

Today she was told that she will now face disciplinary action for sickness, she had 2 days of in June and now this, What else was she supposed to do go into work and give it 200+ people while sleeping at her desk all day,

 

i am wondering legally where she stands ? does anybody here know

Edited by sheffDJ

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My wife had a week of work with swine flu, She followed the government guidelines about not going into work to take the tami-flu and to return to work after she completed the cause of tami-flu,

 

Today she was told that she will now face disciplinary action for sickness, she had 2 days of in June and now this, What else was she supposed to do go into work and give it 200+ people while sleeping at her desk all day,

 

i am wondering legally where she stands ? does anybody here know

 

Legaly I suspect she hasnt got a leg to stand on as firms seem to be treating thier staff like crap over this business. Its starting to look, with all the incidents occuring of people being disciplined and even sacked for taking time off because of swine flu that the governments advice should be ignored and go in despite the chance of infecting more people.

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She can have 5 days with a stat sick note.. She could do with seeing a union rep. I work for council and they are trying to do same to me. 1st week i had stat sick note and then doctor signed me off for another week and half. When i was told that i was going in to stage one for management and capability at work i was totaly shocked. Feel same as you should have come into work and given it everyone. I spoke to my union rep and he laughed and said they dont have a leg to stand on and told me not to worry. If its a large company then you can kinda fight back but if its a small company you dont really have a chance.

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Unfortunately many companies are taking the same stance. I believe this is mainly due to the many people calling in sick just for a day off work.

 

Keep a note on any days off sick and any reciepts for medicines or doctors appointments made prior to the disciplinary action. Should the action go further then you may need to seek legal advice. Ask your wife to send a letter explaining the reasons for absence and keep a copy for future referance.

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Unfortunately many companies are taking the same stance. I believe this is mainly due to the many people calling in sick just for a day off work.

 

 

If the company is doing things properly, then despite someone like the OP's wife having to face a disciplinary hearing there shouldn't be any action taken against her. This sort of policy was brought in to deal with the sort of workshy people who have a day off every few weeks with "a cold," or "sickness and diarrhoea" when everyone in the office knows perfectly well they just an excuse to take time off. Similarly, the type who believe they're "entitled" to four weeks' sick leave per year, and will plan out when they're going to take it.

 

In order to avoid being accused of favouritism/discrimination, a company must decide to hold disciplinary hearings for any employee taking more than X days' sick leave in a given period; but a sensible company would not take action against the ones who they know will be legitimate. (A sensible company should know which of its employees are swinging the lead in the first place.)

 

My mother faced such a disciplinary hearing after time off work with a suspected heart attack (!) but the management, off-record, made it clear to her even in advance that it was purely a policy measure and there less than no chance of her facing any action.

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That sounds very unfair.I guess lots of employers are going to have to review their policies in the forthcoming flu season.Good luck; seems you're not alone...

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my daughter works for superdrug, they did the same to her if you already had time off previous and it adds up to over a certain amount of days they discipline you. She never got out of bed for four days but hey, maybe she should have gone in to work!! i think thats an employers theory..

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At my company they have a policy (nationally) that if you are prescribed Tamiful you are not allowed on the premises until you've finished the treatment. Bearing in mind, therefore, that their policy prevents people from coming to work, could they take action against someone who didn't?

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yeah i know what your saying they have the same policy but still deemed it fit to take the action!!

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There's a lot of hysteria going on here! The employer would be wide-open to legal action under these circumstances. There will clearly be indisputable documentary evidence of her having the flu, and being prescribed Tamiflu, against which no defence could be mounted. The payout for unfair dismissal, which is the worst case scenario, would be pretty good I would have thought!

 

I think that legal action should be taken against anyone ignorant enough to go to work with swine flu just to make a point about their working conditions by infecting others though!

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Agree with Uscope....any employer stupid enough to discipline anyone for this are leaving themselves wide open to employment law. I am no expert BUT I have taken two employers to court and won both times when they were in breach of employment laws. This was despite them both saying ''take me to court, YOU are wrong''. Employers play a bullying game and assume you will not stand up to them when really a little research on the internet and you can find the truth and put them in a whole lot of trouble. They may not like you arguing your valid case and look for other 'valid' reasons to discipline/sack you...but this is for you to weigh up. Ultimately they HAVE to follow procedure . Good luck, Steve

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i bet the unions have been busy lately!ive told my daughter to join cos employers walk all over the young uns

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