Fay13
11-02-17, 14:42
My Dr recently prescribed me Sertraline for my anxiety which has been worse the last month or so. The side effects I got were really bad so I only took one pill before going back to the Dr. She suggested signing me off work for a couple of weeks while the side effects were bad, and I suggested she put on my fit note that I was fit to work from home, for two weeks. We are understaffed at the moment, and I didn't really think two weeks of doing nothing would be beneficial to me anyway.
I had my first day working from home yesterday, and my manager came over at lunch to set up my laptop so home working was easier. We are good friends and see each outside of work sometimes. He mentioned that he would be sending me a formal email about me working from home. This worried me and I asked him what it was, and he said he'd been told not to talk to me about it and that it had to be done in the formal way. I asked him if it was anything bad, and then I said I'd rather he hadn't told me about it as now I was worried what it was. I gave him every opportunity to reassure me and say, no, its nothing bad, just our formal process but he wouldn't. We are a small company and use an outsourced HR company and they are reading this formal email and checking everything in it is ok before he sends it to me, so I still haven't received this email and it's really worrying me.
The fact he has been told not to talk to me about it and that anything they say has to be checked by this other company is making me think that they think they'll be saying something I won't like, and therefore want to make sure they are following the rules. But it's two weeks working from home, with a Dr's note, surely there is nothing they can do??? I have had occasional one off days working from home due to anxiety before (without a fit note because it has just been one day and they've never asked for one), but have always been upfront about it and have provided them with a one-off letter from the Dr (not a formal fit note) confirming that I do have anxiety etc. I have never had any verbal or written warnings about absence before, or even an informal conversation about it.
I've worked there for over 3 and a half years, so really, I'm sure there is not anything they can do, disciplinary-wise, about me working from home for 2 weeks with a Dr's note. Does anyone have any experience being off, am I right in thinking that there isn't anything they can do (in my head I'm imagining formal warnings, being demoted from my team leader role, or worst case being fired!)?
I'm sure its just the standard procedure, its just the way my manager (who is a good friend and who I would have thought would definitely reassure me if he could) refused to reassure me that it wasn't something bad and that I didn't need to worry that has got me really worrying about it!
I had my first day working from home yesterday, and my manager came over at lunch to set up my laptop so home working was easier. We are good friends and see each outside of work sometimes. He mentioned that he would be sending me a formal email about me working from home. This worried me and I asked him what it was, and he said he'd been told not to talk to me about it and that it had to be done in the formal way. I asked him if it was anything bad, and then I said I'd rather he hadn't told me about it as now I was worried what it was. I gave him every opportunity to reassure me and say, no, its nothing bad, just our formal process but he wouldn't. We are a small company and use an outsourced HR company and they are reading this formal email and checking everything in it is ok before he sends it to me, so I still haven't received this email and it's really worrying me.
The fact he has been told not to talk to me about it and that anything they say has to be checked by this other company is making me think that they think they'll be saying something I won't like, and therefore want to make sure they are following the rules. But it's two weeks working from home, with a Dr's note, surely there is nothing they can do??? I have had occasional one off days working from home due to anxiety before (without a fit note because it has just been one day and they've never asked for one), but have always been upfront about it and have provided them with a one-off letter from the Dr (not a formal fit note) confirming that I do have anxiety etc. I have never had any verbal or written warnings about absence before, or even an informal conversation about it.
I've worked there for over 3 and a half years, so really, I'm sure there is not anything they can do, disciplinary-wise, about me working from home for 2 weeks with a Dr's note. Does anyone have any experience being off, am I right in thinking that there isn't anything they can do (in my head I'm imagining formal warnings, being demoted from my team leader role, or worst case being fired!)?
I'm sure its just the standard procedure, its just the way my manager (who is a good friend and who I would have thought would definitely reassure me if he could) refused to reassure me that it wasn't something bad and that I didn't need to worry that has got me really worrying about it!