Agree with Flax on this one. Knew a girl who went off sick with stress(!) because someone pulled her up over abusing the internet and the office phone. She was a kind of bully by nature and had tried to bully other people in the office. I think what happened was that they all decided together enough was enough and stood their ground. She took this as "woe is me, norbody likes me". She decided she had enough of work and kept getting certified off, even though there was nothing wrong with her.
Employer had to end up paying her off! This was a Solicitors office and they thought their best option was offer her a settlement to leave.
She had a doctor on side who would certify anything.
Brendan Burgess
Founder
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I seem to remember a piece in an Irish newspaper recently where the journalist went around to various doctors claiming to be sick when she wasn't.
She got plenty of sick certs.
Brendan
She got plenty of sick certs.
Brendan
G
Guest106
Guest
Those who invoke medical interevention for no good reason in order to prolong sickness leave are just pests. They are hugely damaging to staff morale and are impressionable to younger workers who may have such leanings. These 'sick' individuals are not slow to counsel those who will listen to them and will try to enlist support for their position as a morale booster for themselves.
They can be very difficult to deal with as many a company manager has found out. These malingerers invariably demand that absolutely every 'i' is dotted and 't' crossed by management when dealing with them and can go litigious at the blink of an eye.
In one scenario that I know of, a certain office worker had two claims pending against the company for injuries at work (one was for falling off a toilet seat !) while her husband who worked for a state entity had three claims in a ten year period against the state. Glad to say he collected only once but she collected on both occasions.
Genuine sickness cases I have no difficulty with and feel that most people have little difficulty in discerning the phonies. Drawing on considerable knowledge and some experience in this field, I am firmly of the view that the genuinely sick do not try to challenge or obstruct management when a meeting is sought and are all too willing to respond honestly and openly.
Ducking and diving is the raison d'etre of wasters.
They can be very difficult to deal with as many a company manager has found out. These malingerers invariably demand that absolutely every 'i' is dotted and 't' crossed by management when dealing with them and can go litigious at the blink of an eye.
In one scenario that I know of, a certain office worker had two claims pending against the company for injuries at work (one was for falling off a toilet seat !) while her husband who worked for a state entity had three claims in a ten year period against the state. Glad to say he collected only once but she collected on both occasions.
Genuine sickness cases I have no difficulty with and feel that most people have little difficulty in discerning the phonies. Drawing on considerable knowledge and some experience in this field, I am firmly of the view that the genuinely sick do not try to challenge or obstruct management when a meeting is sought and are all too willing to respond honestly and openly.
Ducking and diving is the raison d'etre of wasters.
Complainer
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If there is an endemic problem with doctors giving out unnecessary sick certs, then surely there must be some way of addressing it. The large/medium employers could easily track the certs to find the culprit doctors, and complain to the medical council or elsewhere if necessary.
G
Ghodadaba
Guest
Why didn't the doctor who owned the practice just give the man a cert?
I know quite a few people who have received sick certs from docs as a result of 'stress' when I know that they are just ****ed off with work etc. However, I think the point is that docs don't just hand out certs to anybody and everybody but if somebody explains that they are stressed or depressed it is very hard to prove otherwise and if a doctor was to refuse a cert he/she might aggravate that persons condition if indeed it is genuine. Mental complaints/stress disorders/depression are hard to diagnose and hard to quantify so most docs probably err on the side of caution.
Some do.
Good idea but I can't see it working; they would just close ranks.
J
jake burns
Guest
seems like people have gone off the topic, this person has said that they have genuine med probs and that the doc reckons work stress is adding to it, most right thinking employers would want to help their employee but this doesn't look like a case of caring, I don't think your under an obligation to face all this when your sick but if you have to have a decent union official with you, try have a meeting with hr first to explain your worries as regards harassment etc this will make it harder for them to axe you, best of luck don't be afraid to get in touch directly with union hq thats what you pay them for
BoscoTalking
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Your ignorance of work related stress is sad in this day and age.
Complainer
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Having watched the recent Whistleblower drama on TV, I can only say 'Shame on the entire profession' if there would be any closing of ranks around a matter so (in the overall scheme of things) trivial'
alaskaonline
Registered User
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I haven't met a doctor who just gives out sick certs but do believe there are some out there.
Either way the company has the right to send any employee (who calls in sick) to a company doctor if they have doubts about the honesty factor and if you are severally stressed in work and this is the reason why you're out of it, then the company doctor will be able to confirm this but they look much more critically at you than a normal jo so doctor would
OP could recommend this to her employer i.e. to be send to a company doctor for confirmation to show that she is honest and fully co-operates. It's in the interest of both parties.
Either way the company has the right to send any employee (who calls in sick) to a company doctor if they have doubts about the honesty factor and if you are severally stressed in work and this is the reason why you're out of it, then the company doctor will be able to confirm this but they look much more critically at you than a normal jo so doctor would
OP could recommend this to her employer i.e. to be send to a company doctor for confirmation to show that she is honest and fully co-operates. It's in the interest of both parties.
I agree. I could say alot more but I don't think Brendan would be too happy.
In the cases of mental illness/stress/depression there is no way to prove that a doctor gave out the cert in error i.e you cannot prove or disprove stress or depression - so maybe a lot of doctors don't waste time trying to! . Even if the person is caught by their employers out and about in the pub or shopping or something- they could just say that they were having a good day or needed a drink etc etc
Yeah - TV dramatisations based on the facts of extreme cases but including a lot of dramatic license are a good way to make balanced judgements on such issues alright...
R
rmelly
Guest
What has one got to do with the other?