Prolapsed vent - am I getting it right?

[Tiggy]

if you are poorlyyou can fill in a self certificate note available from you GP & it covers you for 7 days, some employers will not accept this & insist that you get a signed note from your GP.

 

This causes lots of appointments to be used up for no good reaseon, now we have swine flu tbh any other type of flu, GPs do not want you at the surgery spreading the virus, so cannot issue notes. some employers, particularly Tesco in our area, are really horrible to their staff, I have had people ring me in the last few weeks who have real flu, can bearly get out of bed who have struggled to work for fear of losing jobs or being disaplined (sp) our surgery has decided to take a stand.

 

Self cert forms will have a letter added which explains that a signed GP note in this instance is not appropriate & that if employer insists on a note to cover sickness due to swine flu or a return to work after flu it will cost the employer £15 because this is not covered by the NHS & therefore a private service. We do not wish to penalise our patients so expect the employer to pay or not put the patient through this in the first place.

 

What do you all think?

[jlo]

Sounds reasonable to me

[majorbloodnock]

I know it's not infallible, but direct.gov.uk reckons an employer is not allowed to ask for a sick note to cover the first 7 days (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Illorinjured/DG_175850)

[chickenanne]

Fine, so long as it isn't covered by the NHS.

Employers do have to have something in place to make sure people aren't skipping work when they're well, but equally tax payers shouldn't be expected to pay for companies management decisions in the form of more doctor appts.

[Tiggy]

I know it's not infallible, but direct.gov.uk reckons an employer is not allowed to ask for a sick note to cover the first 7 days (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Illorinjured/DG_175850)

 

 

try telling that to Tesco & some parts of the healthservice (who should know better)

[majorbloodnock]

I know it's not infallible, but direct.gov.uk reckons an employer is not allowed to ask for a sick note to cover the first 7 days (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Illorinjured/DG_175850)

 

 

try telling that to Tesco & some parts of the healthservice (who should know better)

 

I know what you mean. Nonetheless, their asking for one does lay them open to some pretty expensive law suits; not everyone will have the cojones to take it that far, but it doesn't take many to make it uneconomical....

[Old Speckled Hen]

Oh dear this is a difficult one. In a large organization it is easier to swing the lead as you are more invisible so that perhaps explains Tesco's stance (NOT that I am implying it's acceptable)

When I employed just a few people the period was three days.

I had one young lady who would phone in sick on Wednesday, report cheerfully she was much better on Saturday, knowing full well that I had cover for the weekend, and then phone in a three day relapse the following Monday.

The rest of the girls, having to work her hours, got so fed up with it I'm afraid we had to devise a trap to be able to dismiss her

I think Tiggy's letter is great, failing that a copy of a Tamiflu script should surely provide enough evidence.

[Egluntyne]

Am just wondering where the practice you work for would stand legally by unilaterally imposing this sanction on employers.....even though I agree with the reasons for doing it, I can't help feeling that it might have no clout.

[Happy-Mama]

i'm no expert but my understanding is that the GP surgery does not have to sign you off work before the initial 7 days are up; therefore if you insist on a Dr's line you could have to pay for it as it is not covered by the NHS, so I think it is more fair that the company pay for it instead of individuals being forced to pay.

 

I understand it must be awful for managers etc if their staff are taking advantage of the company by faking sick days, but how many people really do this, it isn't fair that the majority of staff are suffering because of a few bad eggs and they shouldnt be dragging themselves into work with swine flu and infecting other staff/customers etc.

[Tiggy]

it is difficult, I know how it feels when certain staff members are'sick' on a regular basis, it throws the whole team out, a few people take advantage all the time, but surely this is where the managers need to step in. I know that the usual culprits are garanteed to get 'flu' and with the government saying that we can all self cert for 2 weeks with flu some folks will be booking their holidays (dont get me started on that one )

 

The letter we have came off the Royal College of GPs web site so I presume lots of surgeries will be downloading it.

 

There are no prescriptions for Tamiflu, either a voucher is e-mailed to a designated chemist or you are given a code number to collect from a collection point. even so you should have a box with a printed label with your name on it. Not everyone will be treated with tamiflu, but you could still be feeling fairly rough so would need to stay away from work.