Hey guys, UK here, so I've been given a written warning for absenteism (7.5 days absense since summer last year). 4 of those days were due to pain from a dental emergency, 1 was a complication due to a loss in the family and two were just actual sickness.
Honestly, I didn't think it was great attendence but I didn't see it as a “problem”.
My workplace ammended our contracts last month to include a system of monitering absense called the Bradford Factor (or Bradford Score). Long story short it punishes frequency rather then quantity. So there are people with more days absent then me with a lower score because their days off were in blocks where mine were individual days.
Right fine whatever. I don't agree with the system but they can choose whatever they want. The part that irks me though is that they introduced this to our contracts last month and every day I had absent was before this date.
So I'm being retroactively punished by a new system?
Also they took issue with me “not asking” for days off but “telling them” I'm not going to be in. I didn't know I needed permission to self certify but there you go. It was never rude either, with at least 2 hours notice, just “Hey, I'm not going to be in today because X”.
It feels like they're trying to make a point then it being a genuine problem. Can you introduce a new policy to a contract and then retroactively punish people for it? I'm curious what people know/think. I'm at work today so replies may be infrequent.