To think I have effectively been dismissed?

[Autumnwindinthewillows]

I worked at an office less than 5 mins walk from a major transport hub. The firm then moved to an office with no easily accessible public transport but the arrangement at the time (or so i thought) was that staff with cars would pick me up from the old office. With staff changes this is no longer happening and I cannot get to work without an hour long journey on public transport plus a 1.5 mile walk which is not feasible.

The bosses have basically reneged on the deal and said it is my problem so it would seem i am out of a job. Can I claim constructive dismissal?

With hindsight you should have seen that the lifts were unsustainable and started your jobsearch at that point.

Obviously hindsight is a marvelous thing we could all benefit from at times though.

@SnuggyBuggy

You could easily see it before it happened. You don't need hindsight for this.

We all know people take time off sick, people go on holiday, cars break down, people change jobs, people will make plans before/after work... And also, people just don't want to be invonceneiced. It's really quite obvious, and was obvious before.

I think the boss in this situation was also pretty daft.

At least now I know where I stand

This is such a weird way to phrase it. The problem was back when the office moved and neither you not your management or HR addressed the impact on you properly. The problem isn't colleagues now refusing to ferry you around. Stop blaming them. Surely you must have known that was unsustainable?!

five different people any of whom would pop out from work to pick me up

I thought you were being picked up by people driving past the station on their way to work! I didn't realise you were asking people already in work to leave what they were doing, go down to get their car, drive a mile and a half, pick you up, drive a mile and a half back to work then resume their days work.

not my idea of "popping out" I might do that as a one off favour but to be expected to do it every few days is another matter.

I cannot get to work without an hour long journey on public transport plus a 1.5 mile walk

It's gone from a 10 minute commute to 1.5 hours. Adding 3 hours to my working day

staff with cars would pick me up from the old office

So I now have to get two buses which already takes much longer than the tram plus the timings between them mean a 20 min wait for the 2nd

I am missing something. Getting to your old office takes ten minutes on the tram? Is that right? You just now have to find a way to travel the 1.5 miles from the old office to the new one. Why are you currently taking two buses? What happened to the tram?

Also as you are saying that staff were expected to leave work to drive out to collect you during work time the comments pp have made about your colleagues’ requiring enhanced insurance are spot on. You seem to expect other people to pay for their cars, petrol and insurance to enable you to get to work while at the same time not wanting any commuting costs yourself.

Fucking hell, you were expecting them to stop work and come and collect you? Every day? No wonder they have collectively refused to do this any longer. Your employers were unreasonable in expecting this of them in the first place - what a way to poison the relationships between staff members. Even if you were the loveliest person in the world, an arrangement like this would immediately transfer you to the status of Office Burden, with everyone fighting not to be the one to have to get you, and their perception of you worsening with time...

Did you answer the question about possibly learning to drive?

Wow can't believe the level of entitlement here Op and no acceptance of responsibility to get yourself to work!

If your disability is that bad, you shouldn't be working.

Yet another disabilist employment thread. Well done mumsnet.

Op you need to chase access to work, they will potentially be able to sort taxis etc.

And it wasn't the same person but 5 different people any if whom would pop out from work to pick me up. With turnover that changed but it brought it to a head when one refused allegedly on behalf of him and one other.

Look, I can see how in a nice friendly team people didn't mind - say they knew how difficult it was for you to travel and in the spirit of friendliness, long-term colleagues were quite happy to take turns to pop out and get you. It's an odd set-up but I can sort of see how that worked for a while.

But perfectly fine for a new member of staff so say WTF? and refuse to do it. Because frankly it is a bit weird, and it's highly unprofessional.

Why are you focusing so much on your colleagues and not on management?

Unless driving is part of your job there are insurance issues that your manager should have considered. I would find it pretty disruptive to have to interrupt my work and get my coat and keys and drive to fetch a colleague.

OP I'm sorry you are having difficulty, but it sounds as though you've been either very entitled, or very naive.

I feel for the 2 drivers who've had to "refuse" to give more lifts. Work should not have put them in that position.

I used to live in a weird part of London, it was just shy of 2 miles to the tube stop and the traffic meant walking was quicker than the bus.
Then 30 mins on the tube then another half mile walk.

That really doesn’t sound that bad at all.

@GhostSauce op has already said her disability prevents her driving.

I'm not saying the OP's expectation of a lift is reasonable, by the way.

Just that I appreciate the obstacles.

Unfortunately it looks like alternative employment is the solution in this case.

Yet another disabilist employment thread. Well done mumsnet.

No it isn't and i say that as someone with a lifelimiting disability.

You didn’t say “that job” you said “shouldn’t be working”.

No, it isn’t the employees responsibility to get her to work, but there is support and (thankfully) legislation to help. Comments like “what’s wrong with your legs” are really unhelpful when posters have absolutely no idea about her personal situation.

And yes, I’m one of those CFs who expects reasonable adjustments from my employer. In this case OP should have realised that the arrangement wouldn’t work long term, of course.

But her employer should have taken her concerns seriously and helped her apply for support sooner rather than however many months down the line.

You sound very entitled and niave tbh.

It’s unreasonable to expect people to leave their work to come and pick you up. No wonder they say no.
The impact on their work could mean they fall behind, not to mention feeling that the employer ( and you) is treating them as an unpaid taxi.

Sorry but you do sound entitled if you expect this to continue. Worse still, you’re making it sound as if your work mates are wrong and uncooperative.

As I said before, take responsibility for yourself. Learn to drive or change jobs. Try the working from home suggestion but don’t be surprised if they say no.

Op has already said driving is not an option.

@PigletWasPoohsFriend I think the disablist comment was due to a now deleted post saying along the lines of "if you're that disabled you shouldn't work" which is actually disablist.

And yes, I’m one of those CFs who expects reasonable adjustments from my employer

This isn't a reasonable adjustment though. Firstly, the employer wasn't even doing any adjusting, the other colleagues were!

So that leaves working at home, which might not be feasible, depending on job. Or employer has to provide a taxi each day, which might not be sustainable economically, particularly if this is a small employer.