Thanks for all your support.
Update!
I started the IVF meds and almost straight away I began to get nausea, headaches and my blood sugar was really erratic.I went into work on the Monday (day 4 on meds) and struggled all day.I went to see my GP first thing Tues and he signed me off work for 2 weeks and put on my sick note IVF as reason.My GP was lovely and reassured me the break from work would help me cope with the treatment.I am now in day 8 and my latest scan showed there are mature eggs in both my ovaries so things look like they are going in he right direction!
My school have emailed me the new sickness and absence policy today (could be coincident) and after reading it I'm now I'm worrying that I won't get paid for my time off and may have a stage 1 back to work meeting due to my absence.I was also off work for 2 and half weeks with stress of teaching and medical issues in March this year.Before this my attendance has always been excellent and I have worked at the same school for 12 years.
What are my rights as a diabetic employee? I know diabetes is classed as disability but both my absences have not stated on the GP sick notes that they are diabetes related.Although I feel if I didn't have the additional stress of keeping my blood sugars stable I may have coped better with things this year and maybe not needed as much time off.
Has anyone else been in a similar position?
Thanks for reading x
Little My - Fingers crossed for your IVF cycle. As you say, it looks like you are doing fine a the moment.
Clearly the wording of sickness and absence policy (SAP) is important, but also what was actually written on any asick notes you have had.
Curiously enough, I helped a family member work through an SAP over the last couple of years (yes, it took that long!), when she ended up on a Stage 2, following a bit of an unfortunate cluster of events.
She is also covered under the Disibility Act, following on from aggresive cancer treatment which lefther with modest physical restrictions, but also a very inefficient immune system ( she is on both steroids and daily prophylactic antibiotics for life).
Where we had breakthroughs were:
Thoroughly understanding in the SAP.
Finding out that when she crossed her 5 years in remission, her protection under the DA had just been removed; irrespective of the fact that the impacts of her cancer were the issue, not the recovery from her treatment. (Took 18 months and three Consultants to have the HA agreed to reinstate it.)
Ensuring that the wording of every sicknote is clearly differentiated. to point out those were the condition is impacted by her weak immune system.
That doesn't mean she is immune from any other iterations of SAP coming back into play, it just ensures that relevant absences are recognised and not counted in the totting up process.
Personally, I think both the absences you cite you'll have to take on the chin, but I do think a chat with your GP is in order, to talk about them. He or she may take a different view on the underlying reasons for your absence, but altering historic sicknotes is likely a challenge.
That you have been sent the SAP doesn;t necessarily mean your Head will trigger it. There is usually some discretion in these things, but bearing in mind you are likely to work with other young women of child-bearing age, he may feel for consistency (and potential precedents) he has not choice.
But, for now, whilst you're off ensure you get to grips with the policy, and ideally speak to your Doc. It could be worthwhile you share the relevant sections with the Doc.
Of course, it's a tricky one, but the hard-nosed would say that you are volunteering for IVF, therefore you're likely walking into this with your eyes open. That said, I do understand the desire for a child and how that can really become a priority.
Good luck with it all. I hope it all works out well for you.