Threatened to be sacked over being signed off

[Paintboxprop]

Good evening all

I am a vehicle paint technician and have been for the last 17 years.

Since lockdown number 1 the body shop has failed to maintain the ovens and in April I became unwell requiring oxygen in hospital due to my lungs, coughing up strange coloured sputum and out of breathe.

I was signed off for 6 weeks and then went back for 2 weeks where my symptoms became severe enough to need the hospital again, and was signed off for a further 5 weeks.

My respiratory consultant said I could only go back to work if certain specialist equipment was purchased and the ovens were repaired.

The ovens have been repaired but my specialist equipment has not been ordered due to work saying they’ve lost the trade brochure.

Im due back to work this week but I don’t know what to do as if I get signed off again he will fire me (huge U.K. car company by the way)

aibu to refuse to go back

See your union rep if you have time ne or a solicitor. This is potentially an industrial accident and an H&S breach. You shouldn’t be expected to work in such conditions. Your employer should try and find you a different job or make reasonable adjustments so you can carry out your role safely. Get informed not ill

It’s ridiculous to say they’ve lost the brochure. They need to get another one as a priority, rather than shrug their shoulders. Like others have said - it’ll be on the Internet.

I agree, go through HR, it’s above your manager. I would put a grievance in because they have failed to make reasonable adjustments and are blasé in their attitude towards them. They need to take it seriously - if this is likely to last 12 months or longer, and has a severe impact on your day to day activities then the equality act could apply and they could be seen to be discriminating on the grounds of disability.

I hope you do name and shame them eventually so I can make sure I never ever give my money to this company x

This is weird, a watched a video about this only yesterday that popped up on my feed. This is what the law says, obviously, I am not a lawyer so please check this out with ACAS.

The Employment Rights Act says that it will be unlawful to subject an employee to a detriment, or to dismiss them, for refusing to work in circumstances where they reasonably believe they are facing a serious and imminent danger or where they take appropriate steps to protect themselves or others.

Section 44 of the Act states that a worker has the right not to be subjected to any detriment where they leave work, or refuse to return to work, in circumstances where the worker reasonably believes there to be ‘serious and imminent’ danger, which they could not reasonably avoid. The law is amended from 31 May 2021, so that all workers, and not just employees as previously, have the right to bring a claim under this section. This will mean that many freelancers, zero hours contract workers and others on atypical contracts will have this legal protection.

They’ve lost the trade brochure? What a fucking stupid excuse. I'm embarrassed
for them that they thought it was OK to say that.
I'd go to HR. And talk to a solicitor.

Start documenting everything. Every. Single. Thing.

Join a union.

Have HR said anything? Remember though, that they are there to protect the company, not necessarily you. Ask if Health & safety have investigated

It would be important to know how easily it is to get this 'trade brochure' they seem to be lacking. In fact could you take in a copy for them?

You might want to speak to a lawyer if they actually caused your health condition with faulty equipment and report the business to your local council for breach of health and safety regulations.

Madness that they think it is OK to operate in this manner...

ACAS are very helpful. But honestly I'd change jobs if you can

YANBU.

I didn't enjoy working for a firm that literally had a toilet and that was it - no kitchen in work place just a cranky sink that I presume covered drinking water in these days, really!!! Am I glad I do not work there today.

This was my solicitor relations job. She told some horror stories about the things clients had suffered at the hands of bad employers. Get the ball rolling.

Do you have colleagues doing the same role, if so have they suffered ill effects? If the the answers are yes you have colleagues doing the same job but they are fine you are in a different position to if you are all ill or you are the sole person using this equipment. Whether the equipment is a reasonable adjustment is down to cost and if it's now required because the fault has been fixed. It sounds to me that you have a good case for industrial injury if you weren't on full pay especially. I'm not a lawyer but have had to deal with industrial injury for less than this which resulted in compensation, they didn't leave the job it was settled out of court

Similar happened to a friend of mine who was a bus driver. There was one particular bus on the route she drove that had a faulty seat which affected her back badly, others not so much - the seat was reported daily for many weeks by multiple drivers. The seat being at fault was confirmed by the consultant as the cause of her problems. After weeks off, they said they would sack her. She got on to the union, and suddenly the employer found her an alternative desk job for her recovery period plus got the broken seat fixed.

They WILL try it on in the hope you will crumble & give in, but if you have an industrial injury caused by your employer's health and safety failures then you have an extremely good case to sue them. My friend found even the threat of legal action by the union brought an immediate result.

Please speak to your union and ask them to refer you to solicitors to make a claim for industrial disease (and possibly unfair dismissal).

If you don't have a union see whether you have family legal protection with your home contents insurance or whether you have any legal expenses cover with your bank account or any membership organisations and approach them for a referral.

If not just give the likes of Thompsons or Irwin Mitchell a call. They can talk you through funding options.

Your employer is breaking the law, even before they threaten to sack you for being off sick. You are likely to be entitled to compensation for industrial illness, but that would require engaging a solictor, which most people can't afford to do (and employers know it). Probably worth contacting the Health & safety Executive: www.hse.gov.uk/contact/concerns.htm.

They lost the brochure... if only there was some other way that they could magically look up the information, or find the phone number of the company....

OP, as so many PP have said, ask your union/join it, ring ACAS.

They can't sack you for being ill. Well they can obviously, but not legally.

Keep a record of all communication, and make sure that you send in all doctors notes re being signed off. Keep proof of the fact that they haven't ordered the equipment.

HSE take a very dim view on employers who don't protect their employees adequately, so they could face a huge fine if they aren't doing things properly.
So if they do sack you, then report them as others have suggested above.

HSE

You shouldn't have to, but could you track down the brochure / equipment spec and send?