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4 Return to Work meeting

10 Dec, 2018 21:33

Dear all

We have an employee returning to work tomorrow after 4 weeks off sick with work related stress. She has less than 12 months service. She was paid in full for the first 10 days as per our policy and SSP for the remainder.

She says she is still not 100% and she was advised that she should be accompanied at her Return to Work meeting and wants a colleague to accompany her. She says she cannot afford to stay off work any longer.

Initially I informed her that it wouldn't be necessary (and there was no need/requirement) for her to be accompanied. But she came back time after time to say she did not feel able to attend the meeting unsupported. I said that I would be there (HR) to do this.

I said that her health and wellbeing were paramount and that if she was not fit enough to return to work she should consider this carefully.

Since she has been off, we have found many instances of work not being completed, errors, mistakes and her projects in a complete mess. Before she went off sick she had a request to leave early declined. Historically she has started late, left early and worked from home a lot - requesting a great deal of flexibility which she was afforded.

We have agreed to allow her to be accompanied tomorrow and we'll investigate why her work is causing her stress. It may be that she had problems and this is why her performance has been poor, or it may be that she is not up to her job which is stressing her out. However tomorrow we will focus on her health and wellbeing.

Her line manager will ask her how she is now feeling to which I'm sure she'll reply that she's still unwell but can't afford to stay off work any longer.

I will say that we can only deal with what we have in front of us. That she is making the decision to return to work and that we'll support her to take on her projects again and can we do anything to alleviate any stress? However, she is very well paid and has a relatively senior job so I'm not sure how much we can adjust. For a short time yes, but longer than a few weeks, not so easy.

We will also ask her to revert to her original contracted hours of 8:30 to 5:00 and work from the office so we can provide her full support and collaboration with her colleagues. I am sure this won't go down well.

Apart from the Return to Work meeting, two of her colleagues will sit with her to review the work on the accounts and the projects, I have advised them to fact find and assess the status of the projects without judgement. But apparently it's a right mess.

Does anyone have any advice, help or tips because I am concerned the meeting, albeit a routine one, may not be that easy.

I would love to hear what you all have to say and what experiences you have had which are similar.

Many thanks all.

Charlotte

202 views

Kevin Elvidge | 0 Posts

10 Dec, 2018 22:57

Hi
As the rtw meeting is apparently tomorrow, here are some very quick observations
- agree initial focus should be on health and well-being
- if the employee is not yet fully recovered, rather than insisting on any rtw being on full time 8.30-5 hours, could staggering the return, initially on a part time basis, help to alleviate the stress and speed up the return to fitness for f/t working
- also rather than imposing the support /surveillance by 2 colleagues, might it be less stressful for the employee if she was asked how the company could best support her in her return to work. Her view may align with the company proposal or it may not. Would be good to know that before finalizing the arrangement.
- OH input would probably also be helpful in these circumstances
I'm sure that once you get more insights into root causes of the problem the choice of solutions will become much clearer. Best wishes for a satisfactory outcome both for the company and the employee
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Elizabeth Divver | 0 Posts

10 Dec, 2018 23:08

Hi Charlotte

If someone is saying they are too ill too work but coming in because they can’t afford not to, you have to send them home. This isn’t medical suspension and doesn’t mean you have to pay full pay - there was another thread on this recently. You can’t allow someone to do something that any reasonable employer would predict would result in harm and allowing someone to work when they are not fit to do so is likely to make the situation worse, not better.

I think it was a sensible, pragmatic decision to allow a companion in this case.

Perhaps you could come back to us after the meeting and let us know what you have found out.
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Nina Waters | 0 Posts

11 Dec, 2018 13:22

I agree, I'd want an OH assessment here - particularly if she's saying that she is not fit to return but doing so for financial reasons. Getting clear recommendations from OH about what will enable her to return 'well' will be useful in supporting any other performance management that might have to follow - once she's back and able to address it.
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Charlotte Price | 0 Posts

11 Dec, 2018 13:55

In reply to Nina Waters:
Thank you everyone. Really great comments.
I had considered OH as an option depending on the outcome of the meeting this morning.
The doctor had spoken to the employee on the phone following the note 2 weeks ago and apparently she is fit and well. Practising mindfulness but not on any medication.
Employee stated they don't enjoy the working environment or being micromanaged.
We said we'd do what we can to minimise pinch points. Employee complained she'd had to take a call outside of hours to deal with an issue (her mistake) and when asked for the time she said it was at 5.30pm. She also said that now she packs up at 4.30pm instead of leaving at 4.30pm because she feels that people are judging her.
We'll try our best to focus on work topics and have asked her to revert to 8.30am to 5pm with an hour for lunch and no home working. She wasn't happy but accepted it.
Fingers crossed.
Thanks again everyone!
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