Why have HR asked me this and can I say no?

[Hrrrrhr]

I started some medication recently. A side effect is drowsiness and on those occasions not driving. It’s supposed to settle over 8 weeks. I’ve therefore asked my employer whether I can work from home during this time. My job can completely be done from home and often is. I’ve been there a long time. They’re asking me if they can contact my gp and ask my gp a number of questions instead of going through occupational health as occupational health can take much longer (ie beyond the time I’m asking for to have the adjustment anyway). I’m not comfortable having direct questions sent to my gp as I’ve never heard of this before. I would prefer occupational health. Can anyone explain my rights? Thank you

Occupational health costs them money time and admin contacting your GP doesn't.

If you have nothing to hide and are asking for a huge change to your work pattern why are you bothered?

Unless you've made it up? And you can in fact drive? They aren't going to ask about anything other than the drugs you are taking.

Oh will contact your gp! Hr is just cutting out the middleman as this is a simple request. But if it's a long term medication, I suspect they need reassurance that it is a case of within 8 weeks you will be ok to drive or whether they need to put additional measures in for you.

If you ask for reasonable adjustments for medical purposes they do need some proof!

It's not clear from your OP - did you ask to work from home on days that you feel drowsy, or for the whole 8 weeks?

In the end they do need your permission - whoever contacts your GP - for them to disclose any medical information. But they have explained why they want to do it, and heavy handed or not, you can choose to comply or you can choose to have them say no to your request. That would mean that if you feel drowsy and cannot drive, then you must go off sick.

As for why they have done it, if wfh is not a normal part of your job then they may have policies and procedures to follow for extenuating circumstances to allow it. There might not be anyone there who has authority to just grant that permission without covering themselves and justifying it first. Some work places are more stringent than others for various reasons (size of organisation, management structure, nature of the business).

Contacting your GP directly might be viewed by them as a less formal/quicker route than going through OH.

Agree it's a fair concern, but for me that's not a call for HR to make. GP note as other have suggested or OH because that's literally what they're for.

HR bod here. Perfectly normal! Occupational health where I last work took months to turn a referral round. Something relatively simple, we'd go to the GP.
Yes you can say no, but that's the same as refusing to go to Occupational health. You'll look obstinate, if you want them to accommodate your request you're better to go along with the process.

Not being able to drive does not = work from home. Bus? Taxi? Lift? They clearly done want you to work from home so come to some other arrangement.

A fit note seems like the best solution

Alternatively if they want more information I would ask them to confirm to me exactly what questions they would put to the GP, and I would ask the GP to send me to response to approve before it is released. It's your health information and so it is highly sensitive, you are right to be cautious of blanket permissions.

But your HR also have a right to ensure you are only working if you are fit to work

I would assume they want to make sure that you are ok to work, rather than that you’re lying.

The ability WFH has given rise to people feeling that they shouldn’t take sick leave, when it’s actually needed.

Going through your GP may be both faster and cheaper than OH. But you can request it goes through OH. You would see the report and give permission for it to be released to your employer, it wouldn’t just be sent to them.

Its a one size fits all process.

Work need to document that they have a process, made a fair decision and that a process was followed.

So they can make a decision without OH or tell you that a decision needs OH approval or that OH need to confirm the decision was correct at the time it was made. But that OH has to be involved.

OH appointments cost £500 a pop, and they'll end up having a convo with someone who hasn't prescribed the medicine to you or knows anything about your condition.

I'd be concerned that the medicine stops you from doing the job you do or you've scoured the side effects to find one that keeps you wfh.

What was your ability to wfh prior to this? Optional? Hybrid? Not allowed?

Have you recently been asked to return to the office?

It might not be about not wanting op to work from home. It might be making sure it's sensible for her to be working at all on those days. If someone felt too drowsy to drive in my team I would probably prefer them not to work as the risk of mistakes would be too high

Loads of medication has 'may feel drowsy ' as a side effect eg antihistamine and most people just get on with life and don't request to solely work from home.
I imagine HR are questioning based on this....ie is WFH only overkill or do they need to consider this going forward.

Oh and the Gp won't release any information until you've consented. Same rules as occ health. It's really nothing to worry about. Ic health liase with GPs all the time to get info. This is just cutting out the middle man.

@IDontHateRainbows can I just say my gp will provide a fit note with suggestion I work from home? Rather than them sending questions to my gp which I feel is invasive? I know my gp would provide the note

I'd assume your company are looking to see if any other reasonable adjustments might need to be made. Unless these meds only make you drowsy in the exact time you're driving and absolutely no effect any other time?
Also wondering about duty of care.

They've explained why, this can be processed quicker if they go direct. Assume the medication can be started earlier, then if you wait for the occ health process.

It's perfectly normal and reasonable for them to check, for all re the reasons mentioned. It seems overkill for you to want to work from home when you might feel drowsy, you won't know until you wake up so it will be short notice, which may be disruptive to the work place.

Because the GP is not going to say anything without permission.

HR should send the OP the questions.
Otherwise an open permission allows HR to go fishing into the OP STI tests from 10 years ago.

And some HR people do think they have the right to do crap like that.

It’s about her driving. I assume she drives to work.
Its not about her ability to do her job.

If my workplace went down this route I’d be tempted to ask my doctor to simply sign me off for 8 weeks.

It is absolutely about a lack of trust. Well, if you don’t trust someone to do the job you pay them for, sack them.

Sometimes Occupational Health will also contact GP's (with permission) to check details or medical history. Whilst I suspect in your case OP, the motivation is likely to be about saving your employer the cost of an occupational health referral, it is something to be aware of.

If you are asking your employer to make an exception to their policy, then they need to have reasons for this, otherwise they run the risk of not treating all staff equally.

I think the suggestion upthread of asking to see the questions is a good idea. If you choose to do this, could you also ask to see a copy of the answers? That way you could be reassured that the only information being shared is with your agreement.

Do you know what they'll be asking your GP? It could be 'is Hrrrrhr taking medication which will mean she is unable to drive safely', then surely your GP will just confirm what you've told them, yes you are, job done. Not invasive at all.

Get hr to give you the questions and you facilitate it rather than them contacting the gp directly

So many meds have drowsiness listed as a possible side effect that it seems a bit over the top to request WFH just on the basis of that info.
Such a significant adjustment to working patterns would surely have to be on the basis of a note from your GP, based on their assessments of your capacity to work and travel.
Not sure what role OH generally has, but surely they can't efficiently replicate the assessment that your actual doctor has been making of your health needs.

It seems unusual for your employer to request to contact your GP themselves, though. Perhaps that is their way of dealing with the fact that you haven't yourself asked the GP to provide evidence of your need for adjustments.

Just to verify what you've said really. I've done it in previous jobs alongside occupational Health.

The bigger question is why on earth does oh take 8 weeks! That's not suitable for most people surely. I referred one of my team to oh a few weeks ago they had their appointment 48 hours later. Although our oh just write whatever the person tells them to do is pretty pointless (Optima)
I don't think the fit note will cut it, they still need to do an oh or how else do they know how your health is affecting your work and the adjustments to make?