"Off sick"-type emails

[sim667]

Interesting.

Does an employee in the UK have any right of privacy with regards to a medical condition requiring time off work, beyond it being confirmed by a medical professional that you are unfit for work?

Can you be required to disclose your condition to medical staff the company nominates? And if so, do they have any duty of patient confidentiality, (other than, perhaps, to say you are unfit for work?)

I think if requested then you have to provide details, although I dont know how that would work if a 3rd party company were the go between.....

Im sure you're legally allowed 12 days sick per year self certificated..... i.e. no doctors note, so i dont understand how having this third party company as the go between can make much difference.

I've taken 3 days of sick in the last 3 years...... 2 of them were for job interviews

I never get ill really....... ill probably just die when im 40 or something.

 

[Danalogue]

In my experiance, anything like text, email contact is not good enough. What would you think if the situation is reversed? Upset Stomach is no longer an excuse since things like diacalm. You have to ring up yourself, best thing is to say your bit "Im not going to be able to come in today, im very unwell im completely dibiiltated." Wait for answer? This answer will either be simpathetic and then say thanks hopefully see you tomorrow and hang up, or another question which will normally be a prompt for you to undo yourself such as "what do we do about x which only you can do and has to be done by tomorrow". At this point either interupt and say you have to go can they call you back in x hours which they wont. Or dont interupt, and at the end of the sentence say you wont be in, your sorry, nothing more. If you get nervous and start spouting crap about how many times your vomitted an that, they'll have you.

 

[keithy]

In my experiance, anything like text, email contact is not good enough. What would you think if the situation is reversed? Upset Stomach is no longer an excuse since things like diacalm. You have to ring up yourself, best thing is to say your bit "Im not going to be able to come in today, im very unwell im completely dibiiltated." Wait for answer? This answer will either be simpathetic and then say thanks hopefully see you tomorrow and hang up, or another question which will normally be a prompt for you to undo yourself such as "what do we do about x which only you can do and has to be done by tomorrow". At this point either interupt and say you have to go can they call you back in x hours which they wont. Or dont interupt, and at the end of the sentence say you wont be in, your sorry, nothing more. If you get nervous and start spouting crap about how many times your vomitted an that, they'll have you.

is it just me or are you over-thinking this?

 

[existentialist]

Actually yeah - and if it's a dodgy gut thing, you can be talking normally and then say 'oh god, I need to go' very dramatically. That always goes down well

Alternatively, if you're on a cordless phone, take it with you and drop small vegetables noisily into the lavatory pan. Then flush, with accompanying retching noises.

Usually, you don't need to hang up or even tell them when you'll be coming back

 

[existentialist]

I've always thought you should phone in. Yourself.

No particular reason that anyone "needs" to have someone else to do it.

e2a: I think what I mean here is that, if your illness/injury means you can't phone, then any phone call by someone else is a favour to all concerned, not a "need" for either the employer or the employee.

My Mrs phoned in to tell them I was off sick the morning I was lying in casualty at nine o'clock.

They seemed to feel this was acceptable, and thanked her for letting them know.

I think, if I worked for a place that was THAT uptight about how you let them know (let alone expecting me to phone up some medical place and give all my details to a complete stranger), I'd start looking for a new job, stat.

My mileage, other people's might vary...

 

[Cribynkle]

How do you write them?

I'm pretty much saying:



I usually put at least one more sentence in, but I can't think what. What do your off sick emails say?

Well if you want to put another sentence in I'd just put something about "I'll let you know if I think I'm also going to need to be off tomorrow"

 

[Madusa]

^^ do you realise how long ago this was?