Hired a disabled woman in lockdown who I now have to fire

[Whatnextteletext]

During the first lockdown I hired a physically disabled woman into an entry level role on my team. She’s in her mid 30’s but it’s her first job because pre-pandemic, she couldn’t work out of the home due to her disability and work from home opportunities were few and far between. She is a wheelchair user who lives with a full time carer who takes care of he personal needs (this is relevant to why she couldn’t work out of home) and prior to lockdown, she lived on her disability payments alone which from the sound of it was very hard going.

I hired her into an entry level web development role with on the job training and it turns out she’s wicked smart and a phenomenally fast learner. I’ve put her through some web development training and within 18 months she’s now a pretty decent developer and by far the most competent of the cohort I hired along side her. She’s also lovely and we get on really well.

Anyway, when I hired her, my company were committed to WFH and hybrid working long term. Now however, they’ve backtracked and everyone is back in the office 3 days a week mandated.

Today I had an email from the senior team asking why this employee hadn’t been back to the office so I explained that she’ll be working from home forever given the circumstances (that they’re very aware of!) and the reply I got was that she’s no longer suitable for the role now that the expectation is work from the office and I needed to let her go.

I hit the roof and went straight to HR who are looking into this now, but I’d like to know from here what is likely to happen??

If they come back and say she’s got to go and I have to fire her I’m handing my notice in on the spot, that’s a given. How likely is that though? Surely it’s discrimination?

It’s also really stupid. It costs a fortune to train new developers properly and I’ve invested a huge amount of my time into her. It’s a complete candidates market at the moment too - developer roles are everywhere, it’s really hard to find ones with the right training and she’s good enough that with a bit of off the record support she could freelance fairly easily.

Her contract doesn’t specify a place of work or working model and there is no reason on earth she couldn’t perform the role perfectly adequately from home. We all did for 2 years.

Does anyone know where we stand legally on this one? She’ll have 2 years service in June.

@Neverreturntoathread

Pretty sure she could sue and win for

• unfair dismissal
• disability discrimination

Could claim for lost future earnings etc.

Especially if as you say she is wicked smart. The company would be insane to fire her in the circumstances you describe.

Surely your username should be @Neverreadthefullthread

That's fantastic it has all been resolved. Well done OP for questioning authority and sticking up for her.

So glad your HR have a couple of brain cells (isn't always the case, sadly!).

God preserve us all from hobby job directors who've ended up there due to family money!! (And there are oh, so many of them about...I can't believe how many people on this thread apparently haven't ever encountered them...)

You sound like a great boss, the world needs more like you.

OP you sound amazing - not everyone would fight so hard. Well done you and to your colleague who also sounds like she’s smashing it

Youe are brilliant @Whatnextteletext. The world needs more people like you.

I’ll preface this by saying I’ve got a disabled relative (used to be a headmaster) and two disabled friends, one from birth and one after a stroke. The latter has been treated appallingly by her work so much so that she almost thinks that they’re employing her as a charity case (that’s what her boss is saying anyway). She’s so under confident after her stroke plus being bullied before and after it that she can’t move on or wants to stay to “teach them a lesson in treating people badly!”

Anyhow, you’re an amazing boss, your colleague is an amazing employee and you’ve put the shits up your company by ensuring they comply with her working arrangements etc. Well done you! We need more bosses like you!

@Sbbhnfc

So glad your HR have a couple of brain cells (isn't always the case, sadly!).

God preserve us all from hobby job directors who've ended up there due to family money!! (And there are oh, so many of them about...I can't believe how many people on this thread apparently haven't ever encountered them...)

You sound like a great boss, the world needs more like you.

@Sbbhnfc oh I’ve encountered hobby job directors who are where they are due to family money.

They’re honestly the worst of the worst on the whole because they have this self inflated ego which comes with family business stuff, they believe they’re entitled to be there on that alone and not merit. Some try harder than others but most are firmly on the side of “family” and tradition. Ugh

Woo hoo!

Fab result! You exemplify the sort of manager that genuinely makes a company a better place. They are very lucky to have you and I’d imagine that you’ll be soon be snapped up to fly even higher with another organisation (who will hopefully not have a senior leadership team staffed by such numpties).

Brilliant, well done!

👏👏👏👏👏

THANK YOU on her behalf. You did a fantastic job :)

Brilliantly handled, OP.

Well done you for standing up for her rights.

Great outcome. Thank you on behalf of those with disabilities for fighting for them!

Fantastic result OP. Well done.

Working from home would be an entirely reasonable adjustment for her disability unless the company can show some reason why it can't be done remotely which given she's done it successfully for nearly two years I doubt they can.

Very likely to be disability discrimination if they fire her for this and her length of service is not relevant to bring a claim. Hopefully your HR team will tell them not to go down this path. I am a HR professional. I would tell them a) it's unethical and crazy as she's talent and b) it's discrimination so not happening.

Looks like I should have RTFT :)

What a fantastic line manager you are. It's nice to hear on here as normally we mostly hear about the rubbish ones!

Just read the full thread. Fantastic outcome. Badassery indeed.

OP just wanted to jump on and say you are amazing 🤩

Thank you OP @Whatnextteletext

When I was a manager in a very large organisation, I tried very hard to always advocate on my teams behalf. It means such a lot. There are too many selfish people out there!

I hope your team member continues to produce excellent work, you smash this project and, when it complete, the two of you go on to be an award winning team together!

@Whatnextteletext

During the first lockdown I hired a physically disabled woman into an entry level role on my team. She’s in her mid 30’s but it’s her first job because pre-pandemic, she couldn’t work out of the home due to her disability and work from home opportunities were few and far between. She is a wheelchair user who lives with a full time carer who takes care of he personal needs (this is relevant to why she couldn’t work out of home) and prior to lockdown, she lived on her disability payments alone which from the sound of it was very hard going.

I hired her into an entry level web development role with on the job training and it turns out she’s wicked smart and a phenomenally fast learner. I’ve put her through some web development training and within 18 months she’s now a pretty decent developer and by far the most competent of the cohort I hired along side her. She’s also lovely and we get on really well.

Anyway, when I hired her, my company were committed to WFH and hybrid working long term. Now however, they’ve backtracked and everyone is back in the office 3 days a week mandated.

Today I had an email from the senior team asking why this employee hadn’t been back to the office so I explained that she’ll be working from home forever given the circumstances (that they’re very aware of!) and the reply I got was that she’s no longer suitable for the role now that the expectation is work from the office and I needed to let her go.

I hit the roof and went straight to HR who are looking into this now, but I’d like to know from here what is likely to happen??

If they come back and say she’s got to go and I have to fire her I’m handing my notice in on the spot, that’s a given. How likely is that though? Surely it’s discrimination?

It’s also really stupid. It costs a fortune to train new developers properly and I’ve invested a huge amount of my time into her. It’s a complete candidates market at the moment too - developer roles are everywhere, it’s really hard to find ones with the right training and she’s good enough that with a bit of off the record support she could freelance fairly easily.

Her contract doesn’t specify a place of work or working model and there is no reason on earth she couldn’t perform the role perfectly adequately from home. We all did for 2 years.

Does anyone know where we stand legally on this one? She’ll have 2 years service in June.

You are 100% correct - it is stupid.

I’ve led teams and always given opportunities to individuals from diverse, disabled and unusual backgrounds that i know others are wary of.

What i’ve been rewarded with, is some of the most loyal employees a company could wish for.

Leave - and take her with you to your next role.

I've nothing of value to comment other than to say how wonderful you are

Well done OP - great outcome!
I hope if I ever need it my managers advocate for me like that.
On the fence on telling her- would you boost her confidence if she knew you'd battled that hard for her??

Well done OP, great stuff.

Good outcome. Though it sounds like your employer doesn't deserve either of you.