If a member of staff has to have time off ie go sick, due to an injury picked up at work, ie a back injury, can they be put on an MFA (manage for attendance) stage?
What's your union rep said?If a member of staff has to have time off ie go sick, due to an injury picked up at work, ie a back injury, can they be put on an MFA (manage for attendance) stage?
Unfortunately some managers don't seem to care for the discretion part of the process and see it as black and white.
I know someone who was once rather sick, came back for one shift before realizing it was too soon, so went off again.
His reward for making an effort to return to work was an MFA stage as he'd then had two instances of sickness within 13 weeks.
What's your union rep said?
I’ve known a driver involved in a fatality being put on stage one due to time off after the incident
So anything is possible but it probably depends on the company and how strong the union is there
We once had a driver suffering cancer who the company wanted to MFA. His manager refused to issue it and it was quickly dropped.
I once heard our ASLEF rep say that not a single driver had been MFA’d under his watch over 15 years.
Of course also in interests of employee in these circumstances to present a copy of letter from hospital before there is any question of are they taking the mick and taking sickies, rather than actually illWe once had a driver suffering cancer who the company wanted to MFA. His manager refused to issue it and it was quickly dropped.
Sensible of the manager concerned, not to mention the right thing to do in terms of human decency.
As noted above some do seem to see it as a box ticking exercise and don’t exercise any discretion, even when there’s no evidence of patterns of absence etc. The risk of that approach is people coming back before they’ve recovered, and having incidents because they’re too unwell to be at work.
Of course also in interests of employee in these circumstances to present a copy of letter from hospital before there is any question of are they taking the mick and taking sickies, rather than actually ill
The managers will have people higher up, expecting them to be be decent to employees whilst not letting slackers get free ride, so always a balance.
The issue comes where there’s no interest at all in being decent, and everyone who triggers is automatically put on a stage. This also leads to employees thinking that, if they need to take a day off they might as well take four off, as it’ll count for the same in terms of the absence policy; may as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb!
Unfortunately some managers don't seem to care for the discretion part of the process and see it as black and white.
I know someone who was once rather sick, came back for one shift before realizing it was too soon, so went off again.
His reward for making an effort to return to work was an MFA stage as he'd then had two instances of sickness within 13 weeks.
The issue comes where there’s no interest at all in being decent, and everyone who triggers is automatically put on a stage. This also leads to employees thinking that, if they need to take a day off they might as well take four off, as it’ll count for the same in terms of the absence policy; may as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb!
If a member of staff has to have time off ie go sick, due to an injury picked up at work, ie a back injury, can they be put on an MFA (manage for attendance) stage?
We once had a driver suffering cancer who the company wanted to MFA. His manager refused to issue it and it was quickly dropped.
I once heard our ASLEF rep say that not a single driver had been MFA’d under his watch over 15 years.
The manager should have classed it as one absence as it was related to the other absence and just a day in between. I don’t think the manager would have got very far with that one if unions etc got involved.Unfortunately some managers don't seem to care for the discretion part of the process and see it as black and white.
I know someone who was once rather sick, came back for one shift before realizing it was too soon, so went off again.
His reward for making an effort to return to work was an MFA stage as he'd then had two instances of sickness within 13 weeks.
What's your union rep said?
Your TOC should have a clear attendance policy. That should highlight if you can be staged.
But the issues can arise with discretion. Manager A will stick to the letter of the law by saying the trigger point has been reached and initiate the procedure whilst Manager B will apply discretion and not put the driver on MFA.
The issue is that not everyone knows why this happens. When that is understood, it changes your perspective.
If a member of staff has to have time off ie go sick, due to an injury picked up at work, ie a back injury, can they be put on an MFA (manage for attendance) stage?
As noted above some do seem to see it as a box ticking exercise, and don’t exercise any discretion, even when there’s no evidence of patterns of absence etc. The risk of that approach is people coming back before they’ve recovered, and having incidents because they’re too unwell to be at work.
Hospital letters don’t always mean anything in the case of managers unwilling to exercise discretion. I ended up getting a stage for having surgery, despite telling them as soon as I’d received a date, providing the paperwork, and said manager reassuring me they envisaged no issues with my attendance. Seemed to be a case of once bitten, twice shy.Of course also in interests of employee in these circumstances to present a copy of letter from hospital before there is any question of are they taking the mick and taking sickies, rather than actually ill
This happens because humans are not robots and have different interpretations of events. To remove the discretionary element would mean that MFA gets applied to the letter which many would see as unfair.
Have you ever considered that not applying discretion may be deliberate and actually done to help ?
Certainly isn't with my manager lolHave you ever considered that not applying discretion may be deliberate and actually done to help ?