The protected status of being pregnant...aka being off sick as much as you like

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@Vexr - don't reply to all those multi quotes... they'll just grow exponentially, trust me! ;)

It's just too tempting :p

Much stuff

Well it seems to me you're a do-gooder towing the party line of turning a blind-eye to anything in case it could be construed as antagonistic to someone of protected status, collateral damage and everyone else at the same level in the organisation to be disregarded.

Things have evolved in the company I'm working for, and much to the credit of the lady at the centre of my concerns when making this thread, she's only had 1 day off sick in the last 2 weeks, which is phenomenal attendance compared with her previous record.

I could refer to my own record of 1 day off sick in the last year due to a non-fault car accident, or mention other stellar previous colleagues who rightfully bragged about not having a sick day in 6-10 years, but of course that's a hate crime.

As it stands, massive mismanagement has prevailed over other issues (including this one), and I'll almost certainly be handing in my notice and returning to the NHS very soon. I'd like to see the virtue signallers twist that as me being evil and in the wrong, going from a FTSE 250 company to the NHS.

But yeah, I've given my all and had more than enough. I have a few more phone calls to make to secure the transition, but I can't help but reckon I'll be wary of such HR-ish issues in the future (even though that has little to do with the positions I've held).
 
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Well it seems to me you're a do-gooder towing the party line of turning a blind-eye to anything in case it could be construed as antagonistic to someone of protected status, collateral damage and everyone else at the same level in the organisation to be disregarded.
Not at all.
If I was, I'd simply say, "Tough **** They're protected and there's **** all you can do about it, so shut your bitching mouth, man up and get the **** on with it".

But instead, having had a measure of experience with pregnant women and knowing what some of them can be like, what I am saying is that there are often many elements to this you may be unaware of, and that with only mere suspicion rather than any actual proof that she's BSing, you seem quite desperate to chuck her under a bus... It comes across more like jealousy of either her condition and/or the leniency afforded her in order to accommodate her sicknesses.
Hell, you clearly know **** all about what being pregnant might actually be like and you've just gone round other women asking how many days they had off sick. Try reading before you start pulling triggers.

Things have evolved in the company I'm working for, and much to the credit of the lady at the centre of my concerns when making this thread, she's only had 1 day off sick in the last 2 weeks, which is phenomenal attendance compared with her previous record.
So?
You still have suspicions, right, so why start giving her credit? She's pregnant and you have to pick up the slack because she can't be around. Get rid of her. How DARE she get pregnant and have it make her sick..... If you're going to be a **** and take a draconian Victorian approach to this, why not just kick her in the belly, abort the child and then force her back to work? It's not like you have the option of getting pregnant and taking time off work too, right?

I could refer to my own record of 1 day off sick in the last year due to a non-fault car accident, or mention other stellar previous colleagues who rightfully bragged about not having a sick day in 6-10 years, but of course that's a hate crime.
It's not a hate crime, it's just being a dick.
Some people get more sick than others. I've not had a sick day in almost 15 years either, but I'm not bitching about it when others with weaker consititutions suffer with their flus and their colds and whatever... Just because you don't understand this doesn't make you a better human.

As it stands, massive mismanagement has prevailed over other issues (including this one), and I'll almost certainly be handing in my notice and returning to the NHS very soon. I'd like to see the virtue signallers twist that as me being evil and in the wrong, going from a FTSE 250 company to the NHS.
So a colleague is suffering, and you've decided it's all about you having to slum it down in public health services... Great. Be sure to put that on your CV, yeh?

But yeah, I've given my all and had more than enough. I have a few more phone calls to make to secure the transition, but I can't help but reckon I'll be wary of such HR-ish issues in the future (even though that has little to do with the positions I've held).
Sorry, what positions are these?
Are you supposed to be someone special, or something? Are you a physicist, neurosurgeon, test-pilot, and 80s rock musician, by any chance? Can I join your Blue Blaze Irregulars? :D
 
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Not at all.

But instead, having had a measure of experience with pregnant women and knowing what some of them can be like, what I am saying is that there are often many elements to this you may be unaware of, and that with only mere suspicion rather than any actual proof that she's BSing, you seem quite desperate to chuck her under a bus... It comes across more like jealousy of either her condition and/or the leniency afforded her in order to accommodate her sicknesses.
Hell, you clearly know **** all about what being pregnant might actually be like and you've just gone round other women asking how many days they had off sick. Try reading before you start pulling triggers.

So what you're saying is under absolutely no circumstances can a pregnant woman possibly be malingering to get out of work because she's has a get out of jail free card. Apparently you think women are too ignorant to recognise their protected status and their isn't a single woman out there capable of thinking '"well sod work today, I'm going to pretend to be ill, and there's nothing anyone can say or do about it because I've got a bun in the oven. And afterall, don't I deserve this?"

So?
You still have suspicions, right, so why start giving her credit? She's pregnant and you have to pick up the slack because she can't be around. Get rid of her. How DARE she get pregnant and have it make her sick..... If you're going to be a **** and take a draconian Victorian approach to this, why not just kick her in the belly, abort the child and then force her back to work? It's not like you have the option of getting pregnant and taking time off work too, right?

Kick her in the belly to abort the child? What kind of twisted idiot are you to project that idea on to anyone?

It's not a hate crime, it's just being a dick.
Some people get more sick than others. I've not had a sick day in almost 15 years either, but I'm not bitching about it when others with weaker consititutions suffer with their flus and their colds and whatever... Just because you don't understand this doesn't make you a better human.

For some reason you strike me as someone who hasn't even worked in 15 years. Possibly you're a silver-haired 'woke' manchild pretending to have what you think are the Gen-Z/millennial values of virtuosity.

So a colleague is suffering, and you've decided it's all about you having to slum it down in public health services... Great. Be sure to put that on your CV, yeh?

Funny you say that, as before she got pregnant the common complaint about her was that actually "everything isn't about her". Personally I don't think I have this problem. And I don't consider myself to be slumming it going back to the NHS - the jobs are almost equivalent pay-wise - in fact the NHS would come out in front for pay per hour given the unpaid extra time I've been working in this role.

The problem I had with the NHS is that I was a private contractor, which was cracked down on and I found myself jumping ship too regularly for my liking with no job security, which was causing all sorts of havoc.

Sorry, what positions are these?
Are you supposed to be someone special, or something? Are you a physicist, neurosurgeon, test-pilot, and 80s rock musician, by any chance? Can I join your Blue Blaze Irregulars? :D

No, nothing special, and as you're banging on about the 80s and 'Blue Blaze Irregulars', which I assume is some sort of anachronism, it lends credence to my above post about you being a silver-haired social justice warrior who should really know better.
 
Soldato
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Theres a guy at my work whos been off for 7 days since last Thursday. He is a serial offender and must have had a almost 20 sick days off since Janaury. He recently got promoted and i said to one of the managers that i was shocked he got promoted given his record.

Apparently they can’t use that against him, ok fair enough. If it was me making the decision i wouldn’t hire him at all and make up an excuse to reject him.
 
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So what you're saying is under absolutely no circumstances can a pregnant woman possibly be malingering to get out of work because she's has a get out of jail free card.
Are you asking me, or telling me what I'm saying?
I could have sworn I was telling you that you need evidence, not suspicion....

Apparently you think women are too ignorant to recognise their protected status
Where the **** have I said anything even remotely resembling that??!!

and their isn't a single woman out there capable of thinking '"well sod work today, I'm going to pretend to be ill, and there's nothing anyone can say or do about it because I've got a bun in the oven. And afterall, don't I deserve this?"
OK, now it just sounds like you're projecting your own assumptions. Stop reading womens' magazines for ammunition and worry about your own life...

Kick her in the belly to abort the child? What kind of twisted idiot are you to project that idea on to anyone?
Well, it just sounded like the sort of thing you were wishing were a viable option to you, y'know...
I mean, if you're going to require action based on nothing more substantial than your own ignorance and assumptions, then why not go the whole hog?

For some reason you strike me as someone who hasn't even worked in 15 years.
Given the very minimal degree of insight you've exhibited thus far, I'd say your reasoning needs a lot more development.

Possibly you're a silver-haired 'woke' manchild pretending to have what you think are the Gen-Z/millennial values of virtuosity.
Extremely unlikely, since I rarely use any of those terms myself and really have no care for whatever those generations may or may not value. I am governed by my own, not theirs.

Funny you say that, as before she got pregnant the common complaint about her was that actually "everything isn't about her".
Oh, deflection now? Good idea, but too late and too trite. Your skills at psychoanalysing complete strangers are really off and it shows in the tactics you select to try against them.

Personally I don't think I have this problem.
Thinking does not make it so.
This whole thread is all about you, your unfounded feelings and your search for validation from others, rather than your entertaining of any possibility that you just might perhaps be in the wrong... Even when someone steps in to ask if you're sure you have everything right, you're vehemently railing against that - To me, that's a clear sign you're just up your own arse.

The problem I had with the NHS is that I was a private contractor, which was cracked down on and I found myself jumping ship too regularly for my liking with no job security, which was causing all sorts of havoc.
So no problem, but a problem, but it's not a big deal, but it's such a big deal that you're untouchable by virture signallers... So highly qualified virtually no-one else in the world to do your job, yet readily employed by the NHS with only a couple of phonecalls... Yeah, OK.
Sounds like a janitor, to me!!

No, nothing special, and as you're banging on about the 80s and 'Blue Blaze Irregulars', which I assume is some sort of anachronism, it lends credence to my above post about you being a silver-haired social justice warrior who should really know better.
Assume away, you're wrong on every count. The point still stands, Buck, as does the joke at your expense.

But since the reference is lost on you and your ignorant assumptions are what got your panties all twisted up in the first place, let me put it another way - Shut up you whining, self-important, self-entitled ******* **** and get on with your ******* life.
 
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Some of the posts in this thread are ridiculous. At the end of the day as an employee in this instance you either take it up with management or leave it at that. It is not your job to verify if someone is taking legit periods of sickness let alone a woman who is pregnant.

At the end of the day as far as you know she has given in all the required documentation.
If the company has a history of managing maternity and sick leave poorly leading to teams disintegrating from the pressure then i suggest that you look at getting a new job if nothing can be improved.

Like a few people have said in this post every person is different and some of the things you have listed as reasons are literally just hearsay because how the **** do you actually know if she is genuinely ill or not.
 
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That was interesting read mid gen. How are they more productive than us, I know when I play hearts of iron 4 they have better production and can make tanks a lot quicker?

Higher productivity = Higher economic output for each hour worked.

From my experience I would say that is largely down to

1) employers in skilled industries accommodating the needs of parents by offering part time work, even in senior roles.

2) Working conditions, tenants rights, employment rights being such that workers are more comfortable, happier, less stressed, and more productive as a result.

Oh and despite the Germans being big drinkers, they don't have the same British culture of going out on the smash in the week and turning up in a hungover mess.
 
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Higher productivity = Higher economic output for each hour worked.

From my experience I would say that is largely down to

1) employers in skilled industries accommodating the needs of parents by offering part time work, even in senior roles.

2) Working conditions, tenants rights, employment rights being such that workers are more comfortable, happier, less stressed, and more productive as a result.

Oh and despite the Germans being big drinkers, they don't have the same British culture of going out on the smash in the week and turning up in a hungover mess.


Londoners are at least as productive as Germans (probably thanks to the city) - in fact if you looked at the city alone then even more so... and there is certainly a drinking culture there.

There aren't any special workers rights given to Londoners/parents in London etc.. that the rest of the UK doesn't have.

Most productive are in the UK though is/was Slough IIRC.

It isn't like there is anything particularly special about a German per se that makes them a better worker - but if you're not too academic over there then trade school and a reasonable well paid skilled role is perhaps more likely than say call centre worker up north in the UK etc...
 
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Oh and despite the Germans being big drinkers, they don't have the same British culture of going out on the smash in the week and turning up in a hungover mess.
That's strange, when I lived and worked there for 5 years, there were 'after work parties' and happy hours most evenings and plenty of hangovers in the morning. All sorted out with a nice and perfectly acceptable weissbier breakfast. :D

What part of Germany probably makes a different though, where are you talking about?
 
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That's strange, when I lived and worked there for 5 years, there were 'after work parties' and happy hours most evenings and plenty of hangovers in the morning. All sorted out with a nice and perfectly acceptable weissbier breakfast. :D

What part of Germany probably makes a different though, where are you talking about?

NRW..a world away from Bavaria, quite Dutch in many respects. Doesn't surprise me at all if all southerners do is get drunk :E
 
Soldato
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The team I'm in is experiencing a massive issue with an employee who is off sick around about 33%-40% of the time. Very rarely will she be well enough to work a full week. She's now in her second trimester.

Pregnancy can significantly and adversely affect the person.

You have an absolute duty of care to adjust the workload and environment to remove stress.

Whether you or your colleagues believe her reasons or not.
 
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Realise this thread is quite old, but just to weigh in as the partner of someone who suffers from hyperemesis gravidarum, "morning sickness" doesn't even come close to describing it.

At its worst, my GF will be sick every 5-10 minutes 24/7 - literally every time she has a sip of water or nibble of a biscuit, it will come straight back up. We unfortunately had to terminate at 12 weeks earlier this year, as, after being hospitalised for rehydration ~15 times, and trying every single possible medication available, she started showing signs of early kidney and liver failure, with no indication that there was any chance of the sickness letting up.

Not saying the girl in the OP is necessarily in the same situation, but to dismiss her inability to work as just "morning sickness" may not be entirely fair...
 
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Realise this thread is quite old, but just to weigh in as the partner of someone who suffers from hyperemesis gravidarum, "morning sickness" doesn't even come close to describing it.

At its worst, my GF will be sick every 5-10 minutes 24/7 - literally every time she has a sip of water or nibble of a biscuit, it will come straight back up. We unfortunately had to terminate at 12 weeks earlier this year, as, after being hospitalised for rehydration ~15 times, and trying every single possible medication available, she started showing signs of early kidney and liver failure, with no indication that there was any chance of the sickness letting up.

Not saying the girl in the OP is necessarily in the same situation, but to dismiss her inability to work as just "morning sickness" may not be entirely fair...

I appreciate your POV. Sounds like your Mrs's entered a far more dire situation than anything that I encountered in the job I was in when I made this thread.
I now work back in the NHS. The culture and every individual about it is now compatible with how I work. I'll carry the sickness abuse from my former employer with me for a long time.
 
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Lol, this post is shocking! Every pregnancy is different, As long as she is getting signed off who cares - Unless your her GP you can't be certain what she's going through.
Secondly, The fact you brush off Depressions/Anxiety from a female colleague shows you've clearly not experienced this/Don't consider it an illness.
 
Soldato
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Lol, this post is shocking! Every pregnancy is different, As long as she is getting signed off who cares - Unless your her GP you can't be certain what she's going through.
Secondly, The fact you brush off Depressions/Anxiety from a female colleague shows you've clearly not experienced this/Don't consider it an illness.

this.
 
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