Disclosing absence reason to employer

[Not_near_it]

Hello all,

Can anyone tell me if a person must disclose a reason for absence to their direct manager?

If a doctor certifies a person as unfit for work, can the reason be kept confidential between direct manager and other more senior managers.
Does anyone know if an employee can deal with HR and disclose the information to them only?

Thanks.

 

[Leper]

1. Have a look at your contract. Discuss with HR if there is a HR.
2. Are you Private or Public Sector?

Public Sector:- If you wish no line manager is entitled to know any information regarding illness/sickness. Also, you are entitled to have your doctor send a doctor-to-doctor report to the Public Sector doctor.

Private Sector:- I don't know of your entitlement on the issue.

 

[Not_near_it]

Thanks for the reply. I work in the private sector.

 

[elcato]

It's purely a HR issue first if you have a HR dept.

 

[thedaddyman]

It may depend on your companies sick policy. Most companies won't accept a cert from a doctor saying someone was "sick". (I've seen a cert from a doctor with this on it in the past). If you have a HR dept, it's quite possible that they will accept a cert from you without going through your line manager but they may need to give your line manager some indication as to what is wrong to allow him to manage you effectively. As a line manager I've had situations in the past where for example I've had someone off with stress related issues, I did not see her certs or a report from the company doctor but was told it was non-work related stress and that was all I was told

 

[ppmeath]

Hello all,

Can anyone tell me if a person must disclose a reason for absence to their direct manager?

If a doctor certifies a person as unfit for work, can the reason be kept confidential between direct manager and other more senior managers.
Does anyone know if an employee can deal with HR and disclose the information to them only?

Thanks.

[broken link removed]

"4.9 Can my employer demand that my sick certificates set out the nature of my illness?


In general, no. Under the Data Protection Acts, medical data is defined as sensitive data. An employer has a legitimate interest in knowing how long an employee is likely to be absent from work. S/he also has a legitimate interest in knowing whether an employee, following an accident or illness, is capable of doing particular types of work. Requiring employees to produce standard individual doctor's certificates to cover absences due to illness does not therefore present any data protection issues. But an employer would not normally have a legitimate interest in knowing the precise nature of an illness and would therefore be at risk of breaching the Acts if s/he sought such information Even the consent of the employee may not allow the disclosure of such information to an employer as there is a doubt as to whether such consent could be considered to be freely given in such circumstances. "