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Appointments and Employers

M

Mrdoosey

Active Member
Messages
26
Location
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi Wonder if anyone can shed some light on this, I have regular appointments with the DN and before I used to take annual leave so I can have them (I live in Birmingham and work in Leicester) because my employer doesnt allow for our hours to be changed, am I "entitled" to anything to help with having time off for appointments at all?

Thanks

Ant


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Have you discussed this with your boss?
If he knows your problems, he might be able to work around the problem.
Most health practices have out of hours appointments, see if you can get your appointments then.
Do not go to your appointments.
 
Sorry, that should have read do not miss your appointments.
 
You are entitled to the time off for appts but your boss doesn't have to pay you, although many do. How often are they ?

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That's a lot of appts really. Are you struggling with control or fairly recently diagnosed ? I would guess the avg is about twice a year. Could you possibly have a telephone appt with nurse or possibly email communication which would mean less time away from work ? This would at least show your employer you are trying to ensure your condition has as little impact as possible on your work.

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I think you should check the Disabilities Act as they cannot stop you going or penalize you in any way, and you should get the nurse to make your appointments so you lose the least money if they decide to get funny with you. Do you have a Union? Mine were amazing in helping me sort this sort of problem out.
 
I'm not sure how other companies work but for me, because it is an ongoing medical issue, I just take the time and still get paid for it. I do try and make appointments as late in the day as possible to avoid too much disruption at work.

I think speaking to your boss is probably the first port of call. Maybe you can work out something between you that causes as little disruption as possible.
 
As mo1905 has stated you are entitled to the time off for appointments but, your firm are not under any obligation to pay you for time missed.

t1
Diagnosed 14/02/2013
44 years old
basal/bolus
 
Under the Disabilities Discrimination Act Diabetes is classed as a disability and your employer has to allow you time for appointments for the condition and also any sick days taken due to diabetes related illness shouldn't count towards sick triggers if your company has them.
 
LIDO40 said:
Under the Disabilities Discrimination Act Diabetes is classed as a disability and your employer has to allow you time for appointments for the condition and also any sick days taken due to diabetes related illness shouldn't count towards sick triggers if your company has them.
Click to expand...
Sick days are still counted towards my company's trigger although in consultation with your HR dept you may get the figure adjusted slightly. There is no set rule for this.

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mo1905 said:
Sick days are still counted towards my company's trigger although in consultation with your HR dept you may get the figure adjusted slightly. There is no set rule for this.

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Click to expand...

I wish they did have a set rule for this! My company allows 5 DAYS (not 5 periods of illness) in total in a year before you get sacked (and even if you have proof of serious illness for every single one of them, that doesn't make a difference) so it's like one bad case of flu with diabetes (assuming it puts you in hospital for nearly a week which is easily a possibility) and you lose your job just like that! It's so depressing :(
I've had days where I've been in hospital begging them to discharge me so I can go to work and manage it myself whilst I'm there (and done exactly that, several times too!) so luckily have managed no days off in over a year, but it was a very serious risk that could've landed me back in hospital far worse off than I was...
 
If you are sacked for having days off due to a disability you can sue for disability discrimination, employers have to show that they have considered changes etc, so 5 days wouldn't cut it . Only way round for employer is if co yo used employment would be dangerous.
Even though lots of people don't know it or like it diabetes is a disability
 
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