Employer healthcare referral

[XFDreamer]

I've been refereed to a healthcare company after a period of sickness at work. This is purely procedure and I am happy to attend anything the company ask me to do.

Where I am a little unsure is regarding the appointment they have yet to send me. It's possible it may be just a telephone appointment but it's also possible I may have to attend an appointment in person.

I am expecting the appointment to be made in company time but I may be expected to attend in my own time for which I would expect to be paid.

My question regards my car insurance. If I have to go to a surgery for the appointment and I'm being paid by the company am I on company business? My policy covers me for SD & P and commuting to one address for work. I never use my car on company business and therefore have not covered myself for it.

Will my insurance cover me to drive to the appointment?

[XFDreamer]

Cheers Bert

Just made the call and I wouldn't be covered on my policy.

I guess they'll have to hire me a car or call a cab.

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Mandat said:

If you are going to a doctor's appointment because of your illness, then the usual SD&P provisions of your cover should suffice, surely?

You're not making a business trip therefore class 1 should not be required in the usual way.

I'm not going to a doctors appointment because of my illness though. I am fit and well now.

The company require me to attend an appointment to make sure I'm not taking the piss. (I'm not and have proper medical certificates from my own doctor to prove it)

It's the same as the company asking me to attend a meeting at another company depot and expecting me to provide my own transport. My insurance policy doesn't cover me as confirmed by them earlier.

I will not be changing my policy to include business cover regardless of any cost to me. If they require me to go then they will have to get me there.

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Vaud said:

Take this the right way but you come across as having a massive chip on your shoulder.

Man up.. :-)

Class 1 would probably cost you nothing. Given it's your job (potentially) at stake, even if it is £20 admin fee, pay it and look at the big picture... lest you cut off your nose to spite the face.

Principles are super, right up to the point you don't have an income... save them for the big issues in life.

Vaud, I didn't mean it to come across that way.

I have to be honest and say I'm not really interested in attending this meeting. It's fairly pointless, they can't sack me for being off sick with a genuine illness and its because I've triggered a stage in the company sickness policy which has to be followed up.

I think maybe the company ought to "man up" and provide me with the means to attend the appointment they so badly need me to go to.

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Jasandjules said:

Um, do you want the bad news? Look up "capability dismissal".

In this case however the logic of the process escapes me - you are no longer ill?

Exactly, I am no longer ill so what a doctor's appointment is going to prove is beyond me.

I am very much capable of doing my job although I wasn't at the time mainly because the medication I was taking which advised against driving or operating machinery.

Hard to do when you're a HGV driver.

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bhstewie said:

What's the context?

10 minutes drive, 2 hours? 20 minute appointment or 3 hour full medical?

I've no idea. As I said in the original post it may be just a telephone appointment.

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Bill said:

They could sack you (or at least make life awkward) for not attending a meeting mandated by their policy, no?

Nowhere in this thread have I said I won't attend the appointment.

If I'm required to follow the correct policy then I will.

However if I'm required to conform to policy then is it unreasonable to expect my employer to as well?

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eccles said:

I've had very similar situations over the years. In my job we have to have medicals for things like working in confined spaces or working in an aircraft when it's pressurised on the ground. The company used to make appointments at the local Nuffield Hospital and expected up to make our own way there. A few drove themselves but most declined as we wouldn't have been covered by our insurance. Company then provided a mini bus.
Perhaps more similar to your current situation is that we also have regular occy health screening. Should anything crop up, we get asked to attend a follow up appointment at the occy health companies regional office about 25 miles away to see their doctor.
My current boss couldn't get his head around the fact that I was attending at the companies request, and it wasn't just a regular doctors appointment. When I pointed out my car insurance wouldn't cover me, he just said don't mention why you're travelling if anything happens!
I ended up getting put on the companies insurance, and taking one of their vehicles, but I know several other lads in work who've taken their own cars and didn't realise about the insurance issue.
Since the union got involved there's now a procedure to follow should you get any appointments off site.

Why should an employee have to pay up to go on company business?

Thanks Eccles, someone who see's my point of view.

What if the worst was to happen and I drove to an appointment and I was involved in an accident or the car caught fire or got stolen?

I'm not the chairman of ICI, I'm a jumped up truck driver with a bit of responsibility, that's all.

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Jasandjules said:

Have you asked them what their doctor intends to investigate?

Has your own GP certified you are now fit to work?

I'm still waiting to be contacted.

My last certificate expired and I had no reason to get another one as I was well again.

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Granfondo said:

99 times out of 100 the worst bit about having a buisiness is the employees!

Yup! Want to explain how a business would be one without it's employees?

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Vaud said:

Our company spends a lot of it's time and investment automating to get rid of many employees.

The trucks won't drive themselves............yet.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to find properly qualified, experienced HGV drivers?

Where I live they need us more than we need them (fortunately).

Edited because I misread Vaud's post.

Edited by XFDreamer on Wednesday 13th January 20:34

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Jasandjules said:

I suspect they want a Fit to Work note i.e. a note from your doctor stating that you are now fit to return to work. They might want this for their insurance, especially when you are a driver.

In which case they wouldn't of let me return to work for the last 3 weeks.

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Busa mav said:

If I were an employer and was stuck with somebody with the attitude of the OP I would be doing everything I could to find a way to get rid of him.

OP, you really don't deserve to be employed .

Get real! I do my job well and to my full ability. I always meet my requirements and targets and frequently get praised by my managers.

I only asked a question about car insurance.

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eccles said:

Busa mav said:

If I were an employer and was stuck with somebody with the attitude of the OP I would be doing everything I could to find a way to get rid of him.

OP, you really don't deserve to be employed .

What a strange attitude!

That's what I thought. He's either the perfect employee or he's a scrounger.

Who cares?

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Granfondo said:

XFDreamer said:

Granfondo said:

99 times out of 100 the worst bit about having a buisiness is the employees!

Yup! Want to explain how a business would be one without it's employees?

less stressed!

To be honest I sympathise.

Although I need a HGV and CPC to do my job I'm in a supervisory position and sometimes I wonder how some of the drivers I come across find their way home.

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55palfers said:

Regards the insurance aspect.

You are not travelling to do any work surely. It's just a medical appointment arranged by your employer.

If they were sending you for some free physio following a back injury, would you have a problem attending that?

I agree.

But this is something the company have told me this is something that has to be done and according to my insurance company I will not be covered.

I have no problem attending but I won't break the law.

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surveyor_101 said:

No I have to say having someone in long term sick is a pain for many employers. It's distrupitive for other staff and getting temp people is never ideal. If an employer has stuck by you and asked for you to attend a medical appointment, turn round and say you want paying seems a strange attitude to me. I would be cooperating as this appointment may offer some help, if not it will confirm want you have said.

I have not been long term sick. I had 2 weeks off before Christmas. But because I have been sick twice before for a week at a time in the previous 18 months it's triggered a process in my companies sickness policy which means referral to an occupational health company.

I'm more than happy to attend.

I'm happy to attend in company time and I'm happy to have a telephone appointment. If I'm expected to attend in my own time then I could be in breach of European tacho rules that state during my rest periods I must be able to freely dispose of my own time. Attending a company appointment could be viewed as a breach of that.

And I wouldn't be insured to drive my car to any appointment unless it took place at my work place.

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surveyor_101 said:

Your car is insured for sd and p, you don't need class 1 or 2 to visit an occupational therapist.

With respect, according to my insurance company I would not be covered to attend. Their words not mine. Why should I take any chances? I'm sure they wouldn't change their mind because some bloke on an internet forum said I was covered.

As I've said, many, many times I'm happy to do whatever the company requires of me. I've nothing to hide. My sickness record over 10 years of employment stands up with anyone else's.

But why should I chance breaking the law when many other options are available to my employers?

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Vaud said:

That was roughly my take. A level of pragmatism is needed, even if they technically should be covering it.

Technicalities can make the difference between a clean licence and one with 6 points and an insurance endorsement on it.

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egor110 said:

Do you work for a company that delivers stuff and has a large fleet of red vehicles?

Sounds very much like there sickness policy.

No.

But it sounds like we've copied their sickness policy.