Workplace adaptation

[stitchmaker85]

Posting for traffic: long story short I have a doctors note saying I need to be provided with a chair for work (job can be done sitting just the same as standing)

I made them aware of this Friday midday.

This morning I've been told I have to give them time to sort it but no timeframe at all.

Aibu to wonder if there's a timeframe on how long they can take to provide this?

If I go home they won't pay me

If it’s a specialist piece of ergonomic equipment rather than just “a chair” then I’d say as long as it would reasonably take them to liaise with correct department, raise a purchase order, order the chair, chair to be delivered - so around a week, depending on the size and structure of the company.

Do you have an OH team you can speak with?

It took a month plus to have workplace assessment, source and order the chair and get it delivered

No it doesn't have to be specialist. Anything to sit on will do

What kind of job do you do? Assuming there are no specific requirements for the chair (not just for you but also for your work area and the kind of job you do - e.g. it might need to be tall enough to allow you to reach certain places?) then I'd say it would take no longer than 2 days to get one, even if someone just went down to the nearest Argos or similar.

If they need to work out what kind of chair would be best and find a specific one, maybe a week at most?

@stitchmaker85

Posting for traffic: long story short I have a doctors note saying I need to be provided with a chair for work (job can be done sitting just the same as standing)

I made them aware of this Friday midday.

This morning I've been told I have to give them time to sort it but no timeframe at all.

Aibu to wonder if there's a timeframe on how long they can take to provide this?

If I go home they won't pay me

Did it never occur to you to say ‘And how quickly do you think you could sort this out?’

That should be sorted out immediately! Took my employer about four months to sort mine out - but I had to have a special one and they were quibbling over the cost of it. But if all you need is a big standard chair, they should be able to sort that out with no issue.

Dunno how a rogue ‘big’ entered the sentence there!!

It should be pretty much immediate unless this is some very weird workplace without any chairs in it. Could you not just find a spare chair and take it to where you work? Or get a colleague to carry it if you're unable?

Just to be clear on assumptions being made here, a doctors note saying you should have a chair at work has no legal bearings whatsoever. A note from me would be just as useful. If you have a disability in legal terms, then your employer must look to provide reasonable adjustments. There is a big difference. So, do you have a disability as defined in the Equality Act?

OP, what is your job?

Are you in the UK? Have you been assessed by Occupational Health or Access to Work?

At my place of work, all adjustments are recommended by Occupational Health; you'd ask for an assessment by them after seeing your own G.P./specialist.

If your workplace doesn't have chairs at all and everyone works standing up, I would think an assessment would need to investigate any potential impact on your colleagues/those working close to you; your chair could provide a tripping hazzard to them.

Occupational Health should also assess you for the type of chair, i.e. how many positions it needs, headrest or not, armrests or not, on castors or not etc. The wrong chair could be worse for your condition than no chair.

The chair I use took six weeks to be sourced and delivered. They got me a second so I can work from home.

In your position, I'd definitely ask for support from Occupational Health.

It’s going to depend on your circumstances, a letter from the doctor that just says you need to sit might not be very helpful.

If you’re currently standing and the only need is to sit then a standard office chair might be suitable - but it also depends on the nature of the work.
As a minimum there are considerations of chair adjustment (which every ‘office’ chair should cover), and taking into account the ‘workstation’ - can you sit properly and reach all you need to work on

In one of my old jobs my staff handled occupational health requests. 99% of the needs were from off the shelf chairs, with differing heights and ranges of adjustability, but we needed the specifications for each individual and the suppliers would pick from 2 or 3 models and change some of the optional parts. The contract also allowed for a bespoke chair but I cannot remember ever needing to rely on that.

If you only need a chair to be bought, then it’s the buying and delivery time.
But based on a doctors letter an employer will usually require some form of occupational health referral otherwise they might provide you with an unsuitable chair and make your situation worse.

I'm in the uk. Of course I asked for a timescale: my manager said she didn't know.
I don't work near anyone else so it wouldn't cause a hazard, we are all spaced out due to COVID, and other people have chairs that have doctors notes.

Any chance you could bring a chair with you...?

If it’s retail do they have chairs in the back you can use? If not they need to order one.

it depends on the way that they procure furniture and some companies are struggling to meet delivery dates with fewer drivers so if it has to be ordered in it can be delayed. As others have said your employer has to make "reasonable adjustments" but a doctors note is a recommendation only. If others have been given chairs it would seem that this is an adjustment your employer is happy to make so it will probably just be the time it takes to go through the procurement procedure and be delivered, possibly a couple of weeks????