Posted By Karen Todd Hi there, Sorry I'm not that much help, but I know that when my husband was a civil servant, he received a warning for his sickness absence. He had been off for 2 weeks in 2 years (1 week each year) and both times his absence had been certified by a doctor. They decided to give him a warning months after his second period of absence, so we reckoned that his absence was really nothing to do with getting a warning at all, but it was the only thing they could use to get at him. Anyway, he asked a solicitor about it, but I don't think he had any comeback. I think he did appeal the warning and lost. They said that they weren't saying he wasn't sick, but that the level of absence was unacceptable. Ridiculous. If it was 1 day here, there and everywhere I could understand it, but it was 2 isolated periods, both certified by a doctor. If everyone in the civil service had a week (5 days) off sick each year, this would reduce sickness absence in the civil service by 50% as the average sickness absence is 10 days per person. Karen

Posted By Raymond Rapp Kym I may be able to enlighten you being a former H&S and TU Rep. Does your company have an Attendance at Work Policy? If yes, then work related accidents should be covered in it. If not, do you have any TU representation where you may seek advice? Otherwise I would guess that your only redress is to argue your case purely on moral grounds. I must be honest I am not sure of the legal implications but I suspect there is nothing that states an industrial injury may not be counted as normal sickness. The concept is similar to sick pay, which is paid at the discretion of the company (other than statutory sick pay). So unless it is written in the company policy or there is a similar precedent within the company there is unlikely to be any legal grounds for your case. Best of luck. Ray