Whooaa Sue
Point 2 - since when was anybody on thin ice for questioning a doctor, NO apologies to anyone from
this profession but they are not gods, do get things wrong, evident in this case and it does not
take another doctor to point this out to them.
Med 3's are opinions and no more than that, anyone can question someones opinion, particularly in
this case as the GP if it is the same one who previously one week before declared him fit to work is
now behaving in a less than ethical manner and the phrase "fraudulent claim" springs to mind as does
aiding and abetting. HR or Line management could happily question the GP regarding this med 3, it
does not have to be the domain of the OH practitioner.
You might wish to get a OHP opinion but it should not be because you feel you cannot question
someones opinion, rather that in this case you do not trust that persons opinion as you have very
good reason to question the ethics and morals of it.
Cheers
Pete
>>> Sue Morley <[log in to unmask]> 15/02/2007 10:41 >>>
Difficult situation.
Few thoughts. 1) What does the companies S/A policy say. 2) Refer to an OHP with MFOM. They can
question a GP cert where as OHA's are on thinner ice. 3) Get personnel/HR seek the advice of an
employment lawyer, he is after all effectively holding the company to ransom unless medical opinion
(MFOM) supports his ill health claims.4) It is bizarre for a GP to sign fit one week only to change
his mind the next, did he perhaps see a different GP in the practice? 4) Does the company have a
flexible working/family friendly policy etc that would cover his request for a sabbatical. 5) In my
experience GP's reports can be notorious for what they don't say (sorry all those GP's out there) in
cases like this. 6) the company does not have to accommodate long term sickness absence if this is
what it turns into, especially in the light of the denied request. Hence the need for employment
legal advice.
My gut feeling is get a medical opinion from a MFOM it will be worth it in the long run and then
hand back to personnel as it then becomes a management issue.
Sue
_____
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Harrison-Stone,
SueSent: 15 February 2007 09:27To: [log in to unmask]: [OCC-HEALTH] Sickness absence
Dear All
One of our engineers requested 6mths sabbatical to get married, do up his house ready for his new
wife AND to set up his own central heating business. He said that if his business failed he would
still have a job to return to after the 6mths. He is well known for running his business from work
booking appts etc for out of work time. Half the factory seems to use his services. He was
disciplined for using company time to arrange appts but that was a year ago so from the point of
moving to the second stage of disciplining that has now lapsed.
His sabbatical request was not granted. A week later he went off sick with work related stress.
At a meeting he said he felt undervalued, tired and had abdominal pain. He also said he didn't like
his Dept. manager but in practise he reported into a line manager and rarely had any dealings with
the Dept. manager. He said that he had said to the L/M a week before he went off sick that he was
stressed but the L/M has no record of that and in fact says the chap had asked for more work!
He then sent in another request for sabbatical leave based this time on his stress would take
4-6mths to recover from as he was so ill. He is not on any treatment for anything. He has been
offered a change of job too. I wrote to his GP with the grudging permission of the employee. I
asked the usual question of the GP but also expressing concern that if he was so ill should he have
treatment, did the GP know about the two requests for sabbaticals and the request for more work and
that he did not report into the manager he allegedly had problems with. I also said we would offer
him a different job and a RTW programme. GP signed him back to work! Great! No! The day before he
was due back to work he went to the GP with stress, abdominal pain and now hypertension result
signed off sick for 2wks on beta blockers. GP says he is stressed. No matter what time of day we
call this man is never at home. Should have been back today but now is signed off sick again
because he had a 'reaction to his medication. Gp's letter did not acknowledge any of my concerns
including whether the tiredness could be due to the fact he works f/t here then does out off work
job repairing central heating. His wedding is now three wks away and he has 4wks holiday
provisionally booked as A/L for that. As he is so well known in the factory all the workforce are
looking to see how long he can stay away!
Any suggestions please?
Sorry about the length of the email!
Sue
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For Occupational Health jobs, go to http://OHJobs.drmaze.net
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