I want to leave a contract early

[jamesbrown]

OK, I tried to clarify that in the following sentence...

Fair enough. I am sure you know the difference, but there seems to be a lot of confusion about what substitution entails (as well as what it means to have the "right"), so worth clarifying. Anyway, I agree that substitution isn't relevant for the OP who is an umbrella employee. A sick note should be absolutely fine.

[RuddyNorah]

Well the person I had lined up to replace me has changed their mind, so that's one advantage gone.

I submitted an e-consult request for a medical note and the auto-response was that the GP should be able to respond by Thursday.

The only other thing in my favour is that if they keep me to the 4 week notice period and I suffer a back injury they could conceivably feel some responsibility, and they might want to avoid that possibility.

However, my manager has only one thing on his wall, a poster that says "It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission" .. so I'm not expecting him to be especially lenient.

[Protagoras]

I don't think that OP should have let this reach the point where injury has arisen (evidenced by the need for medication).

Considering the manual handling required ...
- was a risk assessment done and was the risk not identified?
- was manual handling training provided?
- what mitigations were put in place to address the risk and why were they not effective?

I read this as being about a H&S issue which should already have been raised with Brolly and Client and which now requires action.

[Snooky]

Well the person I had lined up to replace me has changed their mind, so that's one advantage gone.

I submitted an e-consult request for a medical note and the auto-response was that the GP should be able to respond by Thursday.

The only other thing in my favour is that if they keep me to the 4 week notice period and I suffer a back injury they could conceivably feel some responsibility, and they might want to avoid that possibility.

However, my manager has only one thing on his wall, a poster that says "It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission" .. so I'm not expecting him to be especially lenient.

If you have a back injury you should probably call in sick and self-certify for the first 5 days, until you can produce a doctor's note. Do not continue to do work which worsens your injury, whatever your client says. Personally I'd also ask the client to record the injury in their accident book (and get a confirmation that it's been done). That may concentrate their minds a little. (see https://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/reportable-incidents.htm, it sounds like you have suffered over 3 days incapacitation).

You could also be helpful to your client by letting them know you're unlikely to be able to continue in the role while injured, as long as it continues to involve the aggravating factor (the lifting), and that the injury may take more than 4 weeks to resolve so it may be in their best interests to find a replacement ASAP.

[edison]

I can think of several clients I've worked for that included a manual handling e-learning course/training and/or occupational health type assessment as part of my onboarding even when it wasn't really part of any JD.

Whatever you do, make sure you don't aggravate any injury, it could easily incapacitate you for a while.

[RuddyNorah]

All went well, I sent the agency a note from my doctor, and I mentioned that there hadn't been any health and safety training or any indication of the size and weight of the printers. The agent contacted the client and 20 mins later my contract was terminated with immediate effect.

Ironically, later that same day the project was put on hold for a month as there hadn't been enough planning, so I could have just walked away anyway!

Thanks all for your advice, much appreciated.