AIBU to consider legal action after dismissal for long-term sickness?

Please refer all this back to your Union asap. They will be the best ones to advise you and will take Legal action if company have acted illegally. This is what you pay your Union fees for. You don’t need to go to a solicitor.

What was the 'thought about the knife' and how much time were you spending on your OCD after returning?

What has been misunderstood?

I'm having a hard time following this.

Sorry so hypothetical scenario: person A says to management I keep having thoughts about stabbing person B. Management do nothing and A stabs B... replace management with police and think again.

Or person A is a driver and tells managers that they have tunnel vision. Person A crashes into a bus queue killing 2 people....

The op is unfortunately unfit for work if the job requires her to be there 9-5 and her OCD means she cannot be there 9-5. The company are within their rights to sack her. They only have to make "reasonable" adjustments to employ her. Having someone unable to do the hours required is a valid reason.

It’s not illegal to sack someone with a disability. There are rules that need to be followed but it’s not illegal at all.

It's not illegal to fire someone with a disability

the documents they have issued explicitly uses the wording that you have been dismissed due to “long term sick leave”?

and your ocd… are the thoughts regarding harm to yourself or others?

I don't have advice about work, but sending love. I also have OCD, and I've had periods off work due to it. I get thoughts about being a serial killer, what if I harm my toddler, what if there's a body in my car, etc, that kind of thing. The difference between OCD and psychosis is you are fully aware of these thoughts, KNOW they are not real/that you don't want to do it, but they're there and distressing, and the OCD makes you feel like the worst person in the world, because a 'normal' person couldn't possibly have those thoughts.

Harm OCD is not remotely the same as someone with something like a paranoid psychosis who has genuine thoughts to harm others. Luckily I'm a MH nurse so my team just get it (my OCD got bad through pregnancy, but I'm doing very well now and have been doing for almost a year!). OP hasn't been so lucky.

OP, you'll find another job. Unfortunately, mental health remains stigmatized. Genuinely, next time, disclose you have OCD, but don't explain what thoughts you have. It's actually no one's business, but also, people don't understand.

If occy health deemed you unfit for work, I'm not sure you'd have a legal case. Wishing you well in your recovery.

I fully understand what you are saying, and I genuinely do empathise. But you need to be honest with yourself, if you aren’t able to work due to your mental health then you are medically unfit and their ill health dismissal is correct. They can’t keep a position open for you indefinitely and you can’t give any answers as to when you can return. Your energy is better spent working on your health and getting to a position where you feel capable of working again.
If that is now, then you can certainly appeal their decision and seek a new occupational health report and any supporting evidence that you are medically fit for work. But getting yourself caught up in stressful and potentially long and expensive legal action (especially if you don’t have a strong case) I’d argue is counterproductive to improving your mental health.

Its hard to say without knowing all the legalities but im sure you're employer has looked into what he can legally do? The union will help you discover if hes breaking the law or not, from what you have said though it seems like he is in within his rights to let you go.

If there is no end in sight to your current health issues, do you understand why your employer might be reaching the end of the road on how they may be able to support you?

How long had you been working for them for?

On the letter you receive outlining your dismissal - it will explicitly state the reason for your dismissal.

Are you saying the reason they have said is “long term sick leave”? Those words?

The thing is, it's not a moral judgement nor is it about what's best for you as an individual, ultimately. I really feel for you - it's so sad that you're in this position due to your mental health which, as you say, you can't help. Of course you would never choose this. But ultimately dismissal on capability grounds is a pretty cold calculation of whether or not you can do the job.

Come off it, OP. You’ve been off for months on end. OC consider you unfit for work. You should accept this and concentrate on your health and recovery.

They have done the right thing. They need to fill your post and it must be immensely frustrating.

That’s not the case though is it?

you’re suggesting they’ve labelled OP as dangerous to other colleagues just because she has OCd. That’s discrimination.

you can sack someone with a disability because can’t perform the job, and evidence shows they won’t be able to in a reasonable time frame.

you can’t sack someone with a disability because you have made discriminatory assumptions about their disability, and decided on that basis they can’t work for you

the poster I was responding to suggested the latter was why she had been sacked.

Disability or not, you still have to be able to do the job you were hired to do. It doesn't sound like you have much of a case here.

Definitely speak to your union as they will provide legal support.
Maybe look into claiming ESA and PIP in case things don’t go your way. That would cushion the financial blow.

Just a heads up op as a close friend is pursuing a similar (although different timeframe) type of case - no ‘free half hour’ with solicitor available - he had to pay £900 to get an assessment which just laid out the law and what needed to be proved to meet it. Acas are overwhelmed and it’s weeks to get support for early conciliation. The helpline is hit and miss.

Yep.

Sounds entirely reasonable.

First step.

Call ACAS and get facts, because what you are getting here is a lot of confusion.

That's all you can do right now.

If your employer has followed employment law and taken every necessary step then they may not have a case to answer, but until you know the facts and have spoken to ACAS then there is no way forward anyway.

Spend this weekend documenting a timeline. Gather dates and evidence so that when you speak to Acas Monday, you will be able to give them a clear outline of the facts.

OP, your lawyers will be best placed to advise you, but it will be a long, stressful and costly process. Employment tribunals don’t normally award costs and the waiting time for a hearing is likely to be at least a year. You might of course start proceedings and be able to settle in the meantime.

from what you’ve said it sounds like a complex case, but you’ve been off for an extended time, you have expressed thoughts of harming your colleagues, you are on heavy duty medication, you have said that your OCD is still taking up a lot of your day.

they have an obligation to make reasonable adjustments, but hoping you don’t hurt your colleagues is not a reasonable adjustment, allowing you to be largely unproductive is not reasonable.

i hope you get better soon, it sounds very difficult.

Doctor writes a note when unfit for work so I simply wonder if they would write that OP is fit to return to work - yes based on what she tells them. (Rather than any report is "wrong")

OP make sure you find out how long you have to appeal. I think it might be very short so find out ASAP.

They’ve made the decision with absolutely the best information available to them at the time. They’ve had you referred to occupational health, who have said you aren’t fit for work, so what can they do? Keeping you working despite what occupational health have said would be wrong and put them at risk later if your health declines.

If the report had said fit for work with some adjustments and a clear timeline you’d be in a different position right now.

By all means check with ACAS and your union, but it doesn’t sound like you have a particularly strong case on first glance unless there’s anything pertinent you’ve missed out. At the end of the day they need someone to do the job and you have been unable to do so for 7 months with no end in sight.