To be annoyed about work non-adjustment

[strugglinglife]

I work within lots of different schools as an external counsellor. In my old job, I used to have appointments in the morning then go home to do any reports, admin, resources etc (as long as we got everything done it didn’t matter where we were).

In my current job we have to stay in school all day as part of the service agreement. I recently have had really bad back problems and was even signed off work for a week. I think due to sitting on small chairs and small desks.
I’ve asked my boss for possible home admin time to accommodate for my back problems as the chairs and desks are terrible at school and some are kids size too. I’ve asked this a number of times but they say I have to stay in school and the only thing I can do is ask school if they can provide a better chair/desk.

Am I wrong in thinking as long as I get the work done, I don’t see the problem? My back is burning every single day and I’d still get all my work done.

If they need you in school, they need you in school. Focus less on fighting to be at home and instead pursue a sensible chair to sit on

I agree they need me at school for my sessions. But my old job were very understanding that it didn’t make a difference whether I did my admin in a small cupboard sized room in a school or in my home office.

Agree that you should focus on a sensible chair but why do they need/want you to be in school? Can they articulate that?

If the agreement is that you need to be on site then the reasonable adjustment would be that they provide a proper chair and desk for you to do the work. Push for that and if they are unable to provide that then say in that case I need to go home to wfh for the noncontact part of the job. However are you required to be onsite if the school has advertised to students that they can access a counsellor on certain days?

If they need you in school that's one thing. Expecting you to use inappropriate chairs & desks is another.

Does your employer arrange access to occupational health?
They can assess you and tell your employer what reasonable adjustments need to be made.
See them if you can and have it all on the record.
Not helping an employee is bad enough, but making them work in conditions that will clearly exacerbate a medical issue is negligent.

They're failing in their obligations under the display screen equipment regulations, which is causing your back problems, or making them worse.

www.hse.gov.uk/msd/dse/

Talk to whoever is responsible for your health and safety.

Oh and it’s your employer who should arrange for the reasonable adjustment to be made, they can’t wash their hands if it and tell you to sort it with the schools.

How are you actually employed OP? Agency, LEA?

Did the school or your boss give any practical reasons why you need to do your admin on school premises?

Surely you have a H&S case to put forward with regards to lack of appropriate desk/seating.

Most of my career has been office based and there's always a thorough check through of seating/desk/computer height etc for all newcomers as I thought that that was a legal requirement.

Be more assertive about your desk space at school if you are prevented from using your home office. Tell them it's a legal requirement because I'm sure it is.

I think a better chair is a good alternative

Ask to be referred to your employer's occupational health team.

I have often struggled with a bad back when I have started a new job and the chair hasn’t been right for me. I ask for an assessment and order a new chair, I don’t demand to work at home because I know another company allows it. What your old school did is not relevant, this school wants you in.

Your boss has suggested that you request a new chair, this seems an entirely appropriate response. I would put the order in and if your request for a new chair is turned down, then I think you have good grounds for complaint.

Agree the reasonable response here is to get an appropriate desk and chair. It really doesn’t matter if prevjous jobs let you work from home. This one is office based.

Op if you do as has been suggested and focus on their legal responsibility to provide you with safe working conditions, ie an appropriate chair that does not exacerbate a medical condition, you may find that as you work in so many different locations that this is not practical for them to provide. In the end they may agree to you working from home for admin/report writing. However as others have said you need to hold them accountable for the provisIon of an appreciate working environment. They cannot just palm you off and say you need to ask the school for a chair. They are your employer, not the school so it is their responsibility to provide a solution. They may come up with a different solution to you working from home but I struggle to see what an easy, non expensive alternative would be given that you work in different schools. If they do come up with an alternative acceptable alternative in the schools which does not make your back worse, you will of course need to stay there as they require.

You might not see the problem but it seems as though your employer has an agreement with schools for you to be there all day so therefore you working from home world break that agreement, no? Surely better equipment is a far better long term solution

Have you asked for a proper desk/chair to work at in school ?

If it really is just about your back then a specially ordered and properly set up chair should sort it, shouldn't it?

It was a nice perk that you could WFH in your old job, You can request it, sure, but don't expect or demand from every job. What's behind it I don't know, maybe they need a certain number of adults on site while the kids are in and you count towards that, maybe they want you there while they're paying you so you can help if a child has a crisis. Maybe there's just a blanket policy about members of staff WFH during the school day - have you checked their various written policies? Point is they are within their rights to say you need to work on site.

You’re not in your old job though, are you? If they won’t let you WFH then you need to find a workaround within the school premises whether it’s a chair, desk or OT referral as many people have suggested.

They've offered you an adjustment. Try the adjustment offered. If it doesn't work then persuade the WFH.

Ask for a referral to occupational health. Your manager will need to refer you. They will assess and write a report with recommendations.

A school is part of local authority / county council usually. They have major policies about this. The least they can do is ensure you have supportive chair and require a trained person does a workstation (WSE) equipment assessment.

Your underlying health complaint is that you have chronic back problem that is being exacerbated by poor work equipment. Ie You can't sit on the tiny chairs (and they shouldn't expect disabled people to! )

You don’t need to work from home, you need a new chair. If the service contract says you are on site then you have to be on site. Your office equipment shouldn’t give you back pain though - this is a Health and Safety issue. Focus on the chair / desk and not on wfh.

There's a H&S duty on your employer to provide you with a suitable work area. Now who's responsible will depend on the contractual relationship between your employer and the school. In reality, it's probably not even been considered. So you need to take this up with your employer for them to raise with the school(s) you work with.

You need to flag this up constructively with you employer.

• Following your employers instruction, you are staying on the school premises to complete your admin and write-up tasks following morning sessions.

• No suitable adult work area is provided for you to do your admin. The chairs and table available are child-sized and are aggravating a pre-existing back condition.

• They (your employer) must improve the working arrangements to make sure you are provided with suitable work environment.

• If they (your employer) does not do this within 28 days, you will have no option but to file a formal grievance for failure to comply with their duties under Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

I was getting constant back pain from sitting at my desk for up to 12 hours a day. I changed to standing at my desk and the improving my back is remarkable.

Sitting all the time isn’t good for us.

Ask your work for a standing desk.

I manage a team of staff who seem to work in a similar role to you in school. Our partnership agreement with schools doesn't state when staff have to be in, but it does stipulate a suitable work space. When my team come to me with similar issues, I arrange an OH assessment and put into place recommendations where I can.