Some people are heartless!!!

Sorry i need to vent. I was wondering if anyone has had problems with their boss giving them time off for IVF as sick leave?? After an argument with my boss about her even giving it to me as sick leave she has now said that if i do take it as sick leave the DR needs to state its for IVF on the certificate!!! which im pretty sure i know is not right because its confidential. It dosnt matter because my work colleagues know about it but its not the point i feel im being treated unfairly. Also has anyone taken stress leave? and does it come under sick leave or annual leave??

I had some huge amounts of time off work for IVF. The medical certificates usually just said "unfit for work" or if they were trying to be a bit more informative they said something along the lines of "undergoing extensive medical testing and hospitalisation". I had OHSS twice and spent a week in hospital with it at one stage and over a month off work due to that cycle and nobody ever quibbled about the medical certificates I handed over.

Also in the midst of resigning from said place of employment due to ongoing medical issues and I've had about three weeks off work now and the medical certificates simply say that I'm unfit for work from XX date to YY date and no reason given. I believe they don't have to give a reason at all, and just declare you as unfit.

Are you a member of a union that may be able to help you out?

BW

Is it in your contract that you need to state the illness/treatment on the certificate?

Maybe you could ask your FS what they think about it and are you within your rights to not have it written on the certificate?

Here is some information from the Smart Occupation Health & Safety website outlaying questions and answers about sick leave, it may help out a bit more.
http://www.smartohs.com.au/site/files/ul/data_text30/899973.pdf"]http://www.smartohs.com.au/site/files/ul/data_text30/899973.pdf

For my company its no longer called sick leave but personal leave which means that it can be used for any personal reason such as kid is sick, stress leave altohough it does state in our policy that we are expected to be able to produce a doc cert on request if we take more than 2 consecutive days off or if we take a Monday or Friday off after a long weekend.

Not sure if this is just for our company or not though.

oneday86
What an awful boss your poor thing. You are correct - Your doctor does NOT have to state anything other than unfit for work. Tell your doc the situation and I am sure without a second thought they will help you with this.
If you are stressed, depressed etc and therefore unable to work this is SICK leave not annual leave which is an entirely different entitlement. To cover you from your stupid boss, just make sure you get a doctors cerftificate for any leave you have. If you have any Q's just PM me as I have worked in HR and although things change from state to state, basically if you cover your leave by ensuring you give your work as much notice as possible for any leave, and get a docs certificate where appropriate which means you are doing the right thing on your side, then your work should simply pay you the hours (or days) that you are taking leave as sick pay.
Take Care - and again if you need any info or have any Q's just PM me
xxx

Thanks ladies for your advice, my boss hasn't been supporting of our IVF journey from the start, i dont know what her problem is but im getting pretty fed up with her attitude towards me, as if IVf isnt hard enough to go through without your boss making it even harder. Im feeling if this round (our 3rd cycle) fails i might need to take a break from work, i have several weeks of sick leave up my sleeve and am hoping that this will cover me if i do need stress leave. Thanks so much again for all your comments xx



ME 23 & DH 25