Posted By Paul Leadbetter Jack Go Home! Paul

Posted By Tabs Go home, the visit to Occ Health will be less stressful than staying at your post. So what if you are ill? Even H&S people are human (mostly) "Get well soon"

Posted By Darren J Fraser GO HOME Hot toddies and in bed, far better than suffering behind a desk - you will not get any thanks at the end of the day. While you are recovering, saerch for an employer that will value you for who you are and what you can give the organisation. Get well.

Posted By Mark Eastbourne GO HOME! I am not fond of employers like this. Look after yourself and your family. Go home and if you get into trouble, show your boss this thread!! (Better not.) Mark

Posted By gham Jack go home and make it worth your while stay there for a month if they regard it the same as a day G'

Posted By Nick House And when will I learn to 'preview' before 'posting'?

Posted By Stupendous Man Jack, I can't believe that you don't want to go to Occupational Health because of the hassle - isn't this the sort of attitude that many H&S professionals have to try and overcome every day in order to get their message across? Practice what you preach - go and see Occupational Health.

Posted By Michael Byrne Well with incentives and rules like these your Health wont benefit at all and can only get worse through the stress and worry you'll be under everytime you feel ill. Go home, get a new job, you control your own life and not companys with stupid rules who obviously have no respect for Health, safety or there greatest asset.....The Employee !!!!

Posted By Anthony Slinger Go self employed. The best known cure for the common cold.

Posted By jackw. Hi, thanks for the comments some more helpful than others. Whilst in this instance this relates to me I am really more concerned re the big picture with lots of people in the same boat. Point is what can be done about it other than from a personal point of finding another employer and hoping they are more sympathetic. I wonder if we could use section 2 of the 74 act. Argue that the promotion of such a culture is undermining the basis of the safe, healthy and secure workplace. But I would guess employers such as mine would argue they are not actively encouraging me/others to attend work when ill. Any thoughts.

Posted By sagalout Hello Jack, hope you are feeling better. It is clear, I think, from the responses you have recieved that most would agree that the procedures you work under do not reflect best practice, however I guess you sort of knew that anyway. To set out my starting point in this response I should say that although I have never actually worked directly for a LA or other public service organisation, I have worked alongside them and their staff in a number of situations. My one recurring perception is that there are surprising levels of stress amongst staff especially more junior staff; that the organisations rely heavily upon procedural systems because if they don't they think they will get fried in the political arena they survive in; (I think I mean a sort of trying to be fair, honest and equitable to all but somehow mucking it up for most in a day to day sense) the systems remain far more hierarchical than in many other organisations. Your concerns strenghten this perception I think. You identify what to some would seem stupid and petty systems that leave employees feeling threatened. How to move forward in such a situation, maybe this would work? Is it possible for you to raise this for discussion with the HR people, not your line boss unless they are one and same. HR are usually the keyholders for this type of policy? Discuss your personal situation of this week and your concerns, use it to check with them that the procedures is actually working as they intend, make the links to personal H&S that have been mentioned in this thread, "fellow professionals have commented ''", identify some of the specifically silly examples of the implementation of the policy that you have use the cost angle if indeed their is a cost everytime someone goes, if you do not know this, find out. I would not mention compliance to any law unless you want to lose the matter into corporate legal affairs for at least 6 months. If you can acheive this then you will have a clearer view and will have started the trail towards possibly acheiving better standards. If you can't, then you just have to line up alongside all the others waiting in the queue to see the OH team---until you find a way to change it of course!

Posted By jackw. Hi, Thanks again. I agree with a range of responese. Yes the nature of LA and the politics means structures are used almost in a blind fashion. "we must be seen to treat everyone the same. The routes of change suggested would not find much support for a range of reasons. One of the most worrying being the personalities at the head of my dept and the corporate wide HR. both are complete control freaks and allow little freedom to anyone let alone ideas. To give you an example the tried to pressure a manager into making a home visit to a worker with teminal cancer. Thankfully the manager is a strong individual and indeed had cancer herself a few years ago (thankfully ok now), and totally refused to comply. Wise enough to drop a little word in TU and elected members ears the request was withdrawn..but gives you some idea of what i would be up against. I agree too that the sick pay scheme at LA is very good for genuine illness I know when i was ill I used almost 4 months of it to recover..and i am grateful.. bad enough someone telling you you have to deal with serious illness, worse if you also have to deal with the worry of no income or a big drop in income and trying to pay the bills for a prolonged period. But i have started to complete an application form..for a university H&S officer..hmm is that out of frying pan and into the flames??? and smacks of giving up!!!!!!!!!!

Posted By DP Go home. You are not well. You are paying a price for the system being abused by so may people over the years. The NHS, my previous employer had some departments crippled by system abuse. They have to do something only thing is, as always the needy and innocent suffer.