Dad been sacked whilst recovering from cancer

[DidIMissSomething]

My dad has been diagnosed with cancer and has had a major operation which is hopefully curative. This has meant an extended absence from work - about 6 months in all - today he has been sacked, without warning. He was expecting to return to work in about three weeks time. His job was driving and dvla guidelines would have prevented him from an earlier return because of the pain he was experiencing. He has worked for this employer for about 40 years. He was so looking forward to returning to his pre-cancer life - I can't believe they've done this to him . Any advice on next steps - I can't believe that this is ok!

Has he had any warnings? And is he properly employed, not a contractor etc? If the answers those questions are no and yes respectively then I'm sure he'd have a good case and he needs to see a lawyer asap

(NB I'm not a lawyer)

Firstly sorry to hear about your dad, I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

If he has been absent for 6 months I presume he would have had sickness meetings with his employer? What was the outcome of those?

Cancer is normally a protected characteristic and most companies would adjust their sickness policy for cancer and manage it accordingly alongside recommendations from occupational health.

He may have a case for unfair dismissal if he was an employee; and for disability discrimination. Needs to see a lawyer asap as time limits apply. Try the CAB first. Also if he has house insurance, he may have legal cover included.

Ooh - thanks @singlenotsingle - the home insurance tip is a good one! He's properly employed, has had all of the appropriate sick notes and meetings as requested. His employer requested a meeting days after a hospital discharge from a major op whilst he was still bedbound but his gp called and took care of that one for him. I thought the disability discrimination looked like the most likely however he's never formally requested specific adjustments - but then he didn't think he needed to. Equally they've been aware of his diagnosis and not offered any. They've not given any warning that he could be dismissed. He's such a lovely fella - doesn't deserve this at all

Does his Macmillan service have a Citizens Advice Bureau attached? They are excellent at dealing with cancer patients who need advice navigating various issues relating to their illness - they may be able to help if your dad isn't in a union (if he is, that is his first point of contact). As a union rep myself I am shocked that this has happened, it's very cold. DH has terminal lung cancer and has been off sick for 8 months from his job, he is waiting for them to dismiss him on capability but they are actually keeping his job open for if he feels like going back some day. He doesn't get occupational sick pay though, so it isn't costing them anything to keep him on.

What was the outcome of each meeting??
They should have asked what support he needed in those meetings?
Did he have an occupational health referral?

That is awful!
Sounds direct disability discrimination - they really should have thought this through before acting!
You need to get all your paperwork together and contact ACAS to log a claim, his would be the first step before going to a solicitor and then tribunal.
Disability discrimination carries an uncapped award at tribunal.
Your poor father, I'm currently battling the same with my dad's employer, however I just want him to get the accrued holiday he is owed - they feel that you don't accrue whilst on long term sick whilst fighting cancer!

This is disability discrimination because cancer and recovering from cancer is a prescribed characteristic. He needs a good equality employment lawyer. Jasmine Loggerenberg.

Thanks everyone - lots of replies confirming my own thoughts - wanted to check my anger wasnt clouding my view! My dad is a quiet man who never liked to cause a fuss so half the battle will be getting him to stand up for himself. He is a union member - when he'd been off for a few weeks the union rep called to say he was sorry about his diagnosis (which the company had informed him of - that's a whole other issue!) He then went on to talk about likely severance pay. The company has asked him to call so I think the intent was there all along. I'm away on holiday with kids and a time difference so might not be quick to reply but thanks for all the replies so far - means a lot.

Contact the union in the first instance. They should have regional numbers to call.

My brother was having problems at work as his new manager was discriminating against him due to his disability. Once the union were involved, the regional representative rang his company, it was all put down to a ‘misunderstanding’. The company backtracked sharpish!

Hope your dad continues to recover well.

I'm so sorry for your df Op. I remember when dh was diagnosed five years ago, a colleague advised him to tell HR so he'd be protected under disability discrimination laws. I think contacting McMillan would be a good place to start but I'd also expect the union to step up and look after their member.
What a shitty and heartless way to treat someone. I wonder how they'll feel when they get affected by cancer because it's when not if.

Make sure a union rep attends all meetings with your Dad.

Ring ACAS for free employment law advice.

Are you sure he's been fired? Or has he been made redundant? You don't normally get severance pay with a dismissal, unless it's just payment of notice.

He needs to talk to his union rep and I think uou need understand exactly what's happened.

I hope he makes a full recovery from his op. 💐

Sorry to hear about your dad. Has he had union representation through all of this? Sounds like his employer may have dismissed him on the grounds of incapability. There should be an appeal procedure. He should get legal advice and support via his union. Good luck to your dad.

Call ACAS!

What's has he actually been sacked for? What reason did they give?
Are you sure he was actually sacked, and not made redundant?

You can't just sack an employer out of the blue these days. There has to be a reason Sus has gross misconduct. Stealing or something. For most things employers have to give several warnings, offer improvement plans etc.

All those details needed above will help explain things - redundancy, dismissal, what warnings he got etc.
His union should be able to help.
Also no matter what compensatio he might negotiate he clearly wants another job. There is I believe a shortage of good drivers out there these days (my son drives vans) so if I were he get the union on the case but also just put in a few job applications and he might even find he gets a new job on higher pay - I am sure someone will be along to say better to sit and home and argue cannot get another job so his compensation will be higher but that will not help his mental health nor sense of self esteem so I would do both in tandem - consider what pay off he might negotiate (being off sick too much can sometimes be fair not unfair dismissal - not always though so take advice) whilst getting a new job.

He's had his contact terminated - I'm away on holiday so haven't seen paperwork. The comment about severance pay was made by his union rep weeks ago, again I don't know if he's been offered any. I said this to illustrate how little use his union rep will be to him. I think I'll call his union and take it from there. Thanks everyone - I really wanted to check that I was on the right path with regard to disability discrimination and to get it off my chest!

The termination letter will use particular words eg it might say "by reason of redundancy" or it may say it is terminated because he has been off sick so much.

You can be fairly dismissed if off sick too much sometimes - see link here - www.gov.uk/dismissal/reasons-you-can-be-dismissed which includes

"Illness

You can be dismissed if you have a persistent or long-term illness that makes it impossible for you to do your job.

Before taking any action, your employer should:

look for ways to support you - eg considering whether the job itself is making you sick and needs changing
give you reasonable time to recover from your illness

If you have a disability (which may include long-term illness), your employer has a legal duty to support disability in the workplace.

Dismissal because of a disability may be unlawful discrimination."

However they may well negotiate a pay off with him if they think he might have grounds to bring a claim.

No advice on the legal side of things but morally that totally stinks!

So sorry for your dad OP, wishing him all the best

So sorry this has happened.
Can I just add a word of warning about home insurance legal advice?
I followed my home insurers recommendation for legal advice and the firm have been absolutely hopeless.
I wish I had checked reviews before I signed up with them.
The google reviews are dreadful.
So do check.

Again.... ACAS is the best place for free advice. Google for free phone number.

If the employers have dismissed him for capability reasons (ie he is a driver who, due to his illness, is no longer able to drive) that is a potentially fair reason for dismissal. Whilst this would be indirectly discriminatory, it is possible for an employer to justify indirect discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. The employer will argue that they didn't have any choice but to fire him because he was no longer capable of doing his job and therefore any indirect discrimination is justified.

I reccomend getting legal advice as pp have suggested. If nothing else, they can check that the employer has followed the correct procedure and there is also some case law concerning when employers should move disabled employees to alternative roles rather than fire them on capability grounds which might be helpful (although last time I checked there are unfortunately not many cases in this area).

Oh and good luck

Thanks everyone - I'm away on holiday at the moment but will be back in the UK at the end of the week - I'll get to work at sorting this out then. Lots of good pointers here - should give me a good place to start.