Yeah, for a minute there I thought the rules had changed and I didn't know.
Just because you won't get fired, doesn't mean you'll get paid and as pointed out earlier, that will be a factor for a lot of people.

a lot of firms will not question your sickness but discipline you for absence from your place of work in breach of your contract the sickness is not under dispute
(a sick note only confirms sickness but under contract absence is not covered by that sick note)
but your absence from that place of work will be and most employees can loss there employment for absence not sickness
even if that sickness caused the absence

blame the yanks as it was a US company based in the UK that used this at tribunal and won the case …

I disagree.

What are you going to do? The company is legally obligated to its contracted hours, just as the employee is. Unless the company is going to compensate him for his hours, then they can't send him home.

under the last Tory Govt Thatcher stopped sick notes indicating the amount of time off required to recover from an illness and introduced 'self' cert
this made the employee open to dismissal for absence from the work place as it was recognized with a sick note that you were sick but you decided the amount of time required to be absent from your place of work to recover from this sickness

if your employer decided that your absence level was unacceptable then they could discipline you for that absence without recourse to law as the sickness was not disputed (a doctor had issued a sick note) but your absence breached your contacted hours

a US company used this at a tribunal hearing (unfair dismissal) and won the case
you maybe ill but your contract states the hours of your employment regardless of illness …

Well I would complain my human rights are being violated but I'm from UK stock and not of Polish/Ukranian/Portugese/any other EU nationality - probably not even get to court, let alone laughed out of it...

Al

And which human right is that?

At the last round of redundancies where I used to work, it was the people with the highest number of sick days that were out the door first.

This was because they required a "demonstratively fair system" for choosing the victims. Apparently that's the law.

I had 3 days in the preceding 12 months, which was the 2nd highest in the company.

Like I said, physically eject him from the building.

Self-defence in order to prevent physical injury to myself and others.

then you may require a few days off while you present your case to a magistrate …

I smell summary dismissal...

Of course, I know you're right, there's every chance I won't get anything he's got. It's just that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that thinks that I (or more exactly, my boss) should be doing more to protect against the possible spread of whatever he's got.


Yes, that thought had occurred to me too. Although he has hinted that he was rather ill at the weekend - sickness, sh**s, that kind of thing. The more I think about it, this doesn't sound like Swine Flu's symptoms. But seeing that box of Tamiflu on his desk still has me worried he's not telling us the full story.

I'm also planning on visiting family this weekend, and the last thing I want is to unwittingly pass anything onto them (especially my 2-year old niece), though I'm feeling fine myself at the moment.

if this is the case in your instants then refraining from a family visit is a good idea especial with a young child
i have major concerns with our grand children in this respect …

Wouldn't particularly bother me. You could get it from a load of sources.

Quite. It's not like he's attacking you with a knife. You would have to prove that you were in immediate danger and even then it's sketchy.

If it wasn't for the media and Tamiflu, this would just be another case of "somebody's come into work when they should probably stay away for a couple days". Is it pleasant? No. But does it happen all the time? Yes.

Steve, it's good to see you're not panicking. I hope you remain well and enjoy your time with your family. Just remember to use tissues and clean your hands. I'm sure you'll be fine