Advice needed urgently please

[Idliketoteachtheworldtosing1]

Good evening mumsnet

We are in an awful situation and I'm so worried that my partner is going to lose his job.
A bit of backstory, he has been working constantly throughout all of this and visiting lots of different depots in the south east to set up social distancing and making sure that the staff are aware of the new guidelines.
He is diabetic and has been struggling to get his sugar levels under control, last week he became very poorly so the doc signed him off until they could get his levels under control again. They did blood tests and it turns out that he has no vitamin D in his body so that coupled with his diabetes it was no wonder he was feeling ill.
He then receives an email from his manager inviting him for a meeting to discuss his underperformance (he kept her up to date with what the docs were saying), so you can imagine the stress we are under now, even though he doesn't even have a warning on his record and he was going all over the south east to ensure that the depots were following the correct guidelines.
He had a Coronavirus test last Thursday and we got the result Saturday and it's positive, so he has that to add to everything else now.
Thanks for sticking with me so far I know it's long winded, so my question is surely after having proof of all that is wrong she can't get rid of him? He's such a hard worker and it was only over the last month that his performance hasn't been great but he kept saying that he wasn't feeling very well but was met with complete unconcern. Surely she would look awful trying to get rid of someone who is so unwell, which he has proof of everything that is wrong.

Thanks for reading x

Well he currently can't attend a meeting so he needs to make his manager aware of that. How long has he worked at the company for?

Have they defined his under performance?

When did he receive the email? What were the details of his underperformance, over what period?

Yes firstly how long as he been employed with current company?

I would reply to the email saying I was unaware there were any performance issues so that it was on record.

Then confirm that he can't attend due to C19 and provide doctors note.

I'd also get a doctor's note confirming his current illness (diabetes and vit d) for when he is able to attend the meeting.

If he's been signed off and work are trying to contact him for a disaplinary, that's harassment. It happened to a friend of mine and she ended up taking employers to court and winning. Not to mention that he obviously wasn't given sufficient protection against COVID in the workplace. I'd be shitting myself if I were his manager.

What is his company policy on disiplinaries? He needs to find out. Is he a member of a union? Can he approach them for support?

If he has diabetes he is protected under disability legislation. As far as I’m aware any medical condition puts him under that protection. Given his “underperformance” may have been related to that they cannot fire him without jumping through a lot of hoops.

Even if he didn’t have a medical issue he is still protected under employment law. He can’t be dismissed without warning and a chance to redeem himself (without even addressing whether he needs to- as it sounds like this is an over-the-top reaction from the company), unless he has committed “gross negligence” which I highly doubt.

If he can get a letter from his GP outlining his medical issues and the fact they were highly likely to have contributed to any underperformance then he should be on very very safe ground.

Hope he’s okay. What a horrible time for you

As far as I’m aware any medical condition puts him under that protection.

No, that any disability gives him this protection. It's likely in this case he is covered though. Has he called ACAS for advice? Is he in a union?

Employees don’t have any rights until they have worked for a company for 2 years and can be dismissed without reason unless they are dismissed due to protected characteristics of which disability is one of them. So, if the underperformance can be tied to his diabetes then the company need to tread very carefully. Acas can offer sound advice. If your husband isn’t in a union check your household insurance to see if you have legal indemnity. In cases like these they can often support you.

If he can get a letter from his GP outlining his medical issues and the fact they were highly likely to have contributed to any underperformance then he should be on very very safe ground.

Please don't do this. Please take actual advice before you do anything. You can be found not able to do the job and let go even with a disability. You will give his employer more ammo if you do this.

He is only protected (with the exception of the equalities act which kicks in day one) for unfair dismissal if he has been there more than 2 years.

Please please be careful and get this moved to the employment boards or you'll get a lot of downright dangerous advice from every tom, dick and harry. Of which I am one!

1. How long has he worked for that employer?

1. Is the ‘underperformance’ related to sickness absence or actual quality of work? We need details.

1. What policies are in place at work? He needs a copy of their disciplinary policy.

1. Has he been issued a formal invitation (a letter with details and potential outcomes) or is this something more ‘informal’?

I’m a union rep btw.

Thank you so much for your responses.
She has got the ump because he was supposed to be covering for someone who was taking annual leave and obviously because of this he couldn't. He informed her Saturday that he now has Coronavirus, my home test should be coming in the next day or two.
His underperformance relates to him missing things in emails, forgetting to cc everyone in said emails etc, he assured me that there is nothing major that could constitute gross negligence.
He was being a typical man and trying to keep going as long as possible because all he will receive is statutory sick pay. He's been with the company two years.
It's awful, he's so poorly, I'm worried about complications due to his diabetes.
So we have the docs note about his uncontrolled diabetes, no vitamin D in his body (told her the name of the drug he has been given for this) and the reference number for the Coronavirus test and the email informing us of the result.
The amount of pages she has sent to him, printed out emails and highlighting what she perceives as wrong, it seems like very petty things that she's picked up on, she said she is going to ring him tomorrow to see how he is. He was put at risk you are right because at the time he was gong to all those depots social distancing wasn't in place and also if there were any problems anywhere she sent him to try and rectify them. It does say on the letter that if he doesn't attend tomorrow then they can go ahead with the hearing without him but again given the situation surely she can't go ahead without him.
Just to give you some idea of how good and hard a worker he is he got the depot through an extremely complex audit and gained them an accreditation that they have never held before.

Best thing he can do right now is join the union if there is one at his place of work (and it sounds like they are possibly a large organisation so I'd hope they have one) and if he isn't already a member.
Then arrange to meet a rep asap (phone or online obviously)for some advice specific to his circumstances.
Good luck

So they put him at risk by keeping him at work even though he was a very obvious high risk with diabetes and now they want him to come in for an interview / talk when he has been diagnosed with C19 and he is the one being irresponsible. I would call their bluff and say yeah sure, let's have a chat but just so you know, I have been diagnosed with C19 so are you sure you want me to come in and meet you. See how they react to that.

I hope he is ok eventually

Contact ACAS.

When was the invite to the meeting dated? Was it when he was already signed off sick?

Poor man! I hope he gets better soon op. Where are HR in all of this?

I would email and state he cannot attend due to testing positive for Covid 19. If they go ahead without him take them to employment tribunal for unfair dismissal.

Regardless of his illness, someone could be sacked yes...
however, with 'underperformance' and assuming he's had no verbal or written warnings about it, then it would be very frowned upon at a tribunal to sack someone.

Underperformance should be discussed with ways to try and address the issue and for him to explain other factors that the company might not be aware of.

Of course, some unscrupulous employers will often cite underperformance, but they still need to go through a reasonable process and give the employee and opportunity to improve.

So, I would not expect him to lose his job.
It's unfortunate his illness coincides with this issue, as many poor managers will just roll their eyes and treat this as another indication of problematic employees, but not all do this. Some are good managers with a genuine desire to fix a problem.

Document everything. Stay calm. Listen to what the company has to say, be honest with yourself (himself) if some areas of performance are genuinely weak, but also look for consistency across the company in terms of expectation from all employees.

Keep up his spirits, and tell him to try and approach it as a bit of a team talk, rather than a list of his faults.

Good luck!

If he's been signed off and work are trying to contact him for a disaplinary, that's harassment. It happened to a friend of mine and she ended up taking employers to court and winning.

Something similar happened to me many years ago. I was in a union and we took the employer to the cleaners for disability discrimination. They settled out of court for ten grand.

The manager cannot cite under-performance without a paper trail to cover herself. She would need to show that she has:-

Highlighted the issues in a discussion with the subordinate and documented the interview in writing

Opened a plan of action for further training/review or whatever measures are laid down in the company policy

If she has failed to do either of these and is attempting to conflate disciplinery issues with ill health/disability then she is up S creek without a paddle.

Contact ACAS urgently.

They are allowed to discuss a disciplinary while you are off sick, or ask you to send in a written submission, but normally wait until you return to carry out the meeting. They dont have to wait indefinitely though.

As far as the OP suggests, we dont know if it's a disciplinary. Regardless a company is allowed to contact you whilst off sick.

Constructive dismissal is more complex, but there is no evidence of trying to create such a situation.

The manager cannot cite under-performance without a paper trail to cover herself

Yes they can.
This may well be an informal conversation, or direct to a first formal conversation about it. This is perfectly normal.
That is the point at which they will any concerns from their side, and a chance for the employee to respond.

It is at this first meeting where they will discuss the plan of action... if any.
Any mitigating factors, such as illness, or consistency with other targets of other employees will be looked at... but right now nobody knows what the precise issues are, so it's too early to start jumping the gun