emotional distress and sick leave

eva23

good afternoon everyone,

I've been suffering of depression and panic attacks and anxiety during the years, obviously i had better times and worst times, meantime I started therapy on videocalls with a doc back home (italy). Last year has been quiet challenging as I decided to work as agency chef and had almost zero shifts after christmas and I struggled to survive and pay rent. I so then was pushed to go back and find a permanet job and found a family owned restaurant trough a recruitment agency. Everything sounded too perfect, and then found out lots things were untold, they were lots of lies etc. I started to get mentally worse, couldn't get close to the restaurant and felling panick attacks and felt impossible to keep walking and get it to perfom my duties. I've called sick and been to GP who prescribed pills for anxiety and suggested me time off but also specified that by being still on probation I was probably not gonna get paid. This was back in April. Things just got worse and worse now and I'm back in this tunnel where I dont see the light, completely broken, mentally drained and phisically tired. The person who harrassed me just got to m brain and I now convinced myself I can't do anything good. I tried to talk with him many times, I reached to the owner and to the GM but nothing. This morning this person started to "push my bottons" straight as I started to work and I couldn't help but leave the place. I have an appointment again today at 5pm with GP to talk about it, but I'd like to know if I can ask for sick pay now? They sent me an email saying that because of me leaving during my shift and what I said, they take it as a verbal resignation. But I dont think is fair I had to leave this way and became sick because of them and asked for help and got ignored. I'd like to specify that I found out I have ADHD and supposed to start new therapy with a specialist, and also that my workplace doesn't have HR department, and that unfortunately I'm not the first victim of this person, everyone knows whats going on but too scared to get involved and lose thier jobs too.

eva23

P.S. my contract also mentions on the voice "sick leaves" that is on their discretion if I'd get paid or not, and the person who's my "manager" he's the person who harrassed me

eva23

Rachel_Scope

Hi @eva23 and welcome to the community. I'm sorry you're struggling so much with work. I looked on the ACAS website and found this:

An employee or worker is eligible for statutory sick pay if they:

• have been off sick for at least 4 days in a row – this includes non-working days
• earn on average at least £123 a week, before tax
• have told their employer they're sick within any deadline the employer has set or within 7 days

If an employee is eligible, they are entitled to statutory sick pay for the days they would have worked, except for the first 3. These 3 days are called 'waiting days'.

Agency, casual and zero-hours workers are also entitled to statutory sick pay if they meet the eligibility criteria.

Do you have a contract that explains their sickness policy? I also can't find anything that says you can not get sick pay during probation, so you should be entitled to it if you meet the criteria listed above.

Don't let them make you feel like you can't do anything good. You can, they are just trying to belittle you. How did it go with your GP?

We're also sending you over a quick email with some resources, so please look out for it.