Manager and HR want a meeting

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Bowkett66

Guest
Hi I recevied a phone call from my manager yesterday requesting a meeting at home with a HR person present. I asked the reason for this and was advised that due to being of sick for three week would need to come and have a chat to see how things are going. Fine, my manager then said that she had another issue that she wished to talk to me about, but as I was not at work she would want to talk to me about this to. Asked why HR would be present and she said policy. Asked if I could have someone present was advised yes. Contacted HR later that day as something did not seem right went through this with HR guy who told me that manager had told him that my husband would be at the meeting in our own home. Advised that there seemed to be other issues that she did not want to disclose and should I have a union rep with me. He advised that perhaps I should. My manager seems to be trying to get rid of me and I have been feeling harrased by her. My medical problems have been genuine and my doctor advised that some of the stress from work are making them worse. Any suggestions??
 
Issues like this are way to subjective to offer specific advice.
Contact your union rep and ask that they be present. Only those who have the details and the context can really be constructive.
 
Have the meeting with them but have a chat with the Union rep first (TBH, I'm not a big fan of unions but they will have more knowledge about how to deal with the meeting).

Personally I would go to the meeting with a view to say very little as you have not been advised exactly what the meeting is about. This will give you the opportunity to sit down with the rep afterwards and review the meeting & what was said and it avoids you saying anything rash. It's probably a good idea to ask your manager to put the details of the meeting in writing so there can be no misunderstandings. You can then schedule another meeting where both parties are in a position to have a frank discussion about whatever.

You never know, it may be something basic like a standard follow up on extended sick leave & a rejig of the department.
 
I would ask what the nature of the meeting is prior to agreeing. Once you have had verbal confirmation, request that it be put in writing. Then you and your union rep (if available) will know what to expect.
 
If you are on extended sick leave and have given certs for work related stress etc then the company will probably be looking for a way to terminate your employment. There are not many companies that are happy to wait indefinitely for an employee to return to work. Can't really blame them, it is a difficult situation for them as well as for you.
 
Can't really blame them, it is a difficult situation for them as well as for you.

Yeah, I don't understand why some people think their employer is a charity and should continue damaging their business while they wait on the (real or faking) sick person to return.

This is just my personal opinion, but people who go off work "sick with stress" and expect to continue on their salary and keep their job are leeches. They should just quit and find a nicer job somewhere else.
 
This is just my personal opinion, but people who go off work "sick with stress" and expect to continue on their salary and keep their job are leeches. They should just quit and find a nicer job somewhere else.
Surely that depends on their contract terms & conditions - e.g. some employers offer sick pay or salary/permanent health insurance to cover such situations as part of their remuneration/benefits packages to employees?

Your use of quotation marks around "sick with stress" could be interpreted as implying that you consider many (most?) people in that situation to be some sort of malingerers? If so then this seems like a gross generalisation.
 
Your use of quotation marks around "sick with stress" could be interpreted as implying that you consider many (most?) people in that situation to be some sort of malingerers? If so then this seems like a gross generalisation.

Yep, I'm generalising, but I wouldn't be the only person who knows people who pulled the "too stressed to work" card to get off work for months.

Of course there are real cases, but I'm yet to see one.

My point was basically, if your job is too stressful, get a different job!

Anyway, I don't want to take this too off topic.
 
My point was basically, if your job is too stressful, get a different job!
You seem to be assuming that most or all people who go sick with "stress" do so mainly or solely due to workplace (dis)stress? This also seems like a bit of a generalization. Just because you know some people who, in your subjective opinion, might have fitted the malingerer category doesn't mean that most or all others are the same. Perhaps you simply don't consider stress (and perhaps other mental health) related illnesses (as certified by a medical professional) to be "real" illnesses and you would probably not be alone there in being so blinkered unfortunately.
 
I am talking about people who blame it on workplace stress. I am not talking about someone who has had some kind of breakdown due to a death in the family or something like that.

"As certified by a medical professional" means nothing to me, as again, we all know of doctors who will give a cert for anything.
 
As do I.

If I asked a doctor for a cert he would want to examine me and see if I am ill.
 
I would request that your manager notify you, in writing, of the proposed meeting, the agenda, the attendees etc. It would seem that by having a HR representative at the meeting, there is a very specific agenda with a determined outcome. Whatever the situation, you are entitled to be made formally aware of this. What has your husband to do with your employment situation - this sounds really strange?
 
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