[Confidential] My employer has 'suspended' me due to illness
 

The following is a posting from an anonymous Revscene member

I work for a large multi national company.

In the past year, due to a sleep disorder, I've called in sick many times, probably at least once a week. I would be up sometimes 24-36hrs straight and still go to work but would under perform at work.

The company policy is that so long as I provide a doctors note, I can take as many days of as needed, which I have. Another procedure taken is, someone from the attendance dept. would call to determine whens the earliest I would return. Often times I wouldn't answer the call because I either passed out or my ring tone was off.

This led to them taking away all my shifts until I provide yet another doctors note showing when I can come back. I provided this note over 2 weeks ago and til this day I haven't been rescheduled to come back to work. I have been in contact with the person who is suppose to follow-up with me, all that was said was I will be contacted when the issue is resolved, the last time I spoke with this person was over a week ago. Since then, whenever I've called, my calls go unanswered and I haven't received a call back for the voice mails I left.

I was wondering if this practice is at all legal? What should I do from here? I've thought about getting a lawyer but I am currently under financial strain due to lack of work and worried that I don't even have a case. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Go to the labour board. They'll be your best friend in a situation like this.

ask yourself, you run a company, you have many employees, and one of them had no consistency and missed work often... that is an employee i would quickly replace, or be put into a position that was not very important..

lets face it, there are things out there to help you sleep, i was on melatonin for a while, it aids a sleep pattern, worked wonders, and also, doctors notes are not hard to get... go in, pay whatever it costs for a note and tell him you cant sleep... as the employer i wouldnt put up with it... as goes for legality i have no idea

I have mixed feeling about this post. I've been on both sides of it, when my dad went down due to a heart attack I had what felt like the weight of the world thrown on me. I had to run his company and put on a lot of hats I had never worn before. I couldn't sleep at all, even sleeping pills barely worked.

I've also been the employer where I've had unreliable employees. Call me callous or whatnot but life goes on even when we're not able to do the job. If I had an employee that wasn't coming to work I'd replace him. I would find a way I could get rid of him for good without repercussions when he/she did come back to work.

I feel for your medical issues but at the end of the day if you can't do the job they'll find someone who can. It sucks, it's somewhat heartless but lots of people face it at some point and time. You might have some recourse depending on how they are cutting your shifts if they didn't do it by the book.

I would do what was suggested above and contact labour relations, see if there is anything that can be done. If not work on getting better and then finding a new job. Medical EI or disability might be available if you are not able to work.

Can't agree more with everyone above.

Lawyers shouldn't be necessary as you'll probably lose. (Multi-national company probably has DEEP pockets if you want to try this route of stiff-arming them) Yet the labour relations board will go after them through the books.

There are lots of ways to get sleep at night. I personally have insomnia where my brain just won't stop going.. After reading about all the whack-ass side effects that are possible with pills, I choose to go the "recreational/herbal" route. I still get some nights where it doesn't help and I only sleep 0-3 hours, but most of the time I get my solid 6-7 hours.

Having trouble sleeping? Smoke weed.

(serious)

Best sleeping aid better than the useless sleeping pill bullshit

go get a doctors note and hand it in. do whatever it is your company requires. at the end, if something does go sour, at least you and them have records of you doing what is required so that you will have an advantage. if you were to miss a step, they can trample all over you just for it and that would be it.

the question is, have you done anything in attempts to correct your "sleep disorder".

- psychologist

- sleep therapist

- naturopath

- herbal aids

etc.

Interesting situation, as I had a rough few months last year where I couldn't sleep properly.

But like posted above, a lawyer will do more harm than good here.

3 things that helped me sleep were red wine, sex, and melatonin.
You can get melatonin anywhere they sell vitamins.

Some of my friends who work nightshifts drink Nyquil to get to sleep even if they aren't sick, but I'd rather go with the stuff that's made with the purpose to help you sleep.

If none of this helps, you may need a sleep therapist.

Well we had a guy like that at work. He would call in sick at least once a week, leaves early. Claims he is sick, constantly coughing and making a mess at his desk. He had doctor's note too.
But he is always under perfomrning, lazy, doens't seem to want to work. Basically he got a lot of complain. Last week he was away for 3 days straight. This week came in and basially got let go in the spot.

Do I feel bad for him? A bit but he knew he was in trouble.

Now in your case I would take some sleeping pills, maybe exercise till you pass out...... Hey I have back pain every now and then but never call in sick coz I can still show up.

In your case I would try to talk to the HR person and promise you won't take any days off. I am sorry but is the reality compnay wants a relible person who can work. In case due to his absence we were short staff and compnay have to pay other people to do Over time to cover his shift. Sorry I feel bad for you but at this point you should really try to make it to work.

LRB
 

LRB is for unionized worksites ONLY!

The following is a reply from the anonymous original poster

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Just an update, they sent me an email today advising me that I can go back to work next week. I'm quite upset over how long it's taken though, it's evident to me that it was within the powers of the person who handled my case to allow me back to work after I submitted that second doctors note but intentionally made me wait nearly 3 weeks. I will be in contact with the labor board as I am unionized.

Thanks again

I feel for the employer.

First and foremost, you need to get right. Your health should always come first, and since this seems to be an ongoing issue for you, I think you need to figure some shit out.

See if you can take a medical leave. A few weeks or even months, where you should be able to collect EI, disability or something. My Aunt had to do this, so this way you can get your sleeping issues figured out. Where you go see everyone your family Dr says you should. Therapists, naturopath, the works.

That way, when (hopefully) you have everything figured out, both you AND your employer will be better off.

Good luck, and I hope it works out.

I pretty much agree with everything posted here.

As an employer, I wouldn't want someone unreliable working for me. I would do everything within my power to, legally, get rid of you. The best thing you could do for me is to quit.

As Spoon Fed said, see if you can go on medical leave to get yourself sorted out. It's the best thing for your health and if they can't get rid of you, for your employer.

If you like the job try and get yourself sorted out.

It's rough looking for work out there.

I want to point out that I think 3 weeks is reasonable for a company of your size to get you back into shifts.

at least for me, our company's work schedule is always made 3 weeks in advance. so for me, I would know my day offs 3 weeks in advance. For any new employee coming in to our company, he will always appear on the schedule after the 3 weeks. The schedule writer will write the new employee in right away, but at best all he can do is the 4th week into "employment"

not sure how your company functions, but for me at least, I think 3 weeks is still considered reasonable.

Kinda sounds harsh that your employers would hand you this type of discipline.

But I don't know more about your situation, so I was just assuming. An Employee's health and well being should be a top priority for a company and should have good EAP's, and wellness programs.

But ultimately, it's your willingness to dedicate your self to "feel better." Just don't go overboard with the meds

nobody wants someone unreliable working for them...hell I haven't been working since October due to my health, but that's the nice thing with being in a union. union brothers look out for other union brothers. I have HR calling me every 2 weeks seeing if I can come back or if theres a small job I can do until im ready to do my normal job...even my foremen tell HR to fuck off and leave me alone.

the susp. is harsh and I don't think it was deserved and you should def. look into the LRB. but if you really cant sleep, try some zzzquil?