Can my daughter request reasonable adjustments for new catering duties?

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My adult daughter (adopted as a baby) has foetal alcohol syndrome. She works as a cleaner in a hospital but also does tea/coffee runs and hands out meals. She has been told that going forward she may be asked to do catering as well. This is in her contract but she has never been asked to do it before. This is more than she is capable of as it involves timings, fridge and oven temperatures and various procedures and checks. She's told us if they make her do it she will quit. She's 24 but acts much younger. We know that she is covered to some extent by the Disability Discrimination Act. Can she take her paperwork in and ask them to make reasonable adjustments ie. Not make her do this aspect of the role or can she be fired? The other aspect of this is she isn't able to ask this herself, we would have to do it for/with her.

Perhaps you could support her in writing a letter // emailto explain this, that she could give to her manager. I feel like an employer like the NHS would be understanding of this situation.

Does the employer have an occupational health dept? This may be something they can help with.

From my understanding they/she could request an adjustment but it depends if the employer is able to accommodate it or not. If they say they cannot accommodate it and she decides this is unfair and loses her job because of it, she could try a tribunal. But it all depends on on whether they were being ‘reasonable’ and what their justification would be for saying no.

I think first try to get the adjustment, see what they say. If it’s no then speak to acas.

It seems strange that they’re suddenly changing her role from cleaner to catering… those are unrelated skills.

Is she in a union?

Unrelated but neither require a formal qualification so in some workplaces they are seen as interchangeable.

She's not in a union yet but I'm going to ask to join. The role title is Facilities Technician. She got the role temporarily in 2020 when they needed extra staff during COVID. We were delighted as cleaning is def her strong point. She is obsessive about it and we were wondering what she would do long term. She struggles with a lot of things and her skills are limited. It was just cleaning at first. When the job became permanent she started doing tea/coffee runs which she finds hard. Any forced interaction with the general public is very stressful. Then they added handing out evening meals. 'Catering' was always on the job description but never enforced. The reason its been mentioned is due to being short staffed and she works afternoons until 6.30. Kitchen staff however work until 7.30pm. Not sure how that will work. I've asked to her to get her managers email (they arent based at her hospital), and we will write to her.

OH can make suggestions about what adjustments are required for her to continue her job and given her job does include catering as in her contract, they can comment about that. However, if she is not able to do it, then OH may find her not fit to continue her job. If the business need is for her to do catering, cleaning, handing out meals and coffees, then that is her job and if she cant do one bit of that, then it falls under incapability I would have thought

However, there may be scope to swap with someone else who likes the catering bit, but doesnt like the cleaning bit (that would be someone like me) and surely some swapping about must be possible.

This is more than she is capable of as it involves timings, fridge and oven temperatures and various procedures and checks

That's cooks' job. Our hospital has catering assistants which are those who distribute food, make sure meals are correct for dietary reqs etc. Do they mean they would move her from cleaning to that only since she is already doing bits of it on occasion? They cannot just plop someone into kitchen and make them cook. Even if they do not need RAs. Iirc from job ads they want qualifications for cooks

Looks like she isn’t fit for the full remit of her job. She’ll either be fit with adjustments or go down the incapability route

If she says she can’t do it at all even with adjustments and they say it’s an essential part of the job they can get rid of her on capability grounds. It’s not considered a reasonable adjustment to just say she can’t do it.

Some employers might say they will make an adjustment so she doesn’t have to do that part of the role but they don’t have to. But if she’s good at cleaning they may not want to lose her. Could she do it if they gave her some sort of laminated infographic to follow?

I do think, (not just on this forum but also where I work) some people just think that adjustments can be made which means that someone doesnt have to do the bit of the job that they cant do. Thats not what reasonable adjustments are.

Is she employed directly by the hospital or is it outsourced to a contractor? Just wondering who her employer is.

Removing an entire aspect of the job wouldn’t be considered a reasonable adjustment.

RAs are changes that an employer will make to allow someone to do the job to the same standard as someone without the RA eg additional equipment, training, support, etc.

She would be better off trying to think if there is anything that could practically allow her to do the catering aspect, rather than working out ways to avoid it completely

This is really tricky. As catering is part of the job description, her manager could go down the capability route if your DS is unable to do the role they are employed to do.
However, the manager needs to make sure the employee has been given adequate training and support as part of the process.
Did your daughter have an Occupational health assessment before being given the role? This could have identified additional support or adjustments that they need.
If they didn't have an assessment it would be a good idea to ask for an Occupational health assessment now. The manager probably needs to make a referral, I don't know if you would be able to attend as a parent.
If your daughter agrees, I would contact the manager to discuss the situation and your concerns / daughters worries. Make it clear that changing their role is making them anxious and they are worried they won't be able to do the new role and are saying they will quit. Ask them to complete a stress assessment.
Think about what would help. Do they need to observe the new parts of the role, and have more training than others may need. Do they need to work directly with someone to learn. Are there parts of the role you could practice with them at home.
If they are good at their job, a good manager won't want to lose them and will find a way to make this work. But they can't do this unless they know the issue.
Do, get your daughter to join a union, Unison is one option. Although there is a monthly fee, in situations like your daughter is experiencing, a union can be really helpful.
ACAS is a free employment service who offer workplace advise.

Please support her with joining a union ASAP - this is vital!

Why doesn’t she just get a job as a cleaner somewhere?

I was thinking that! Maybe in a school, because then that avoids the people contact part she finds hard, as it mostly happens after school is finished for the day.

That is exactely what I thought. They normally have a 'cook' in there. Meals are cooked from frozen and plated up by the cook and runners deliver the food while its still hot. There's no way she could do that for the entire ward.

She is now a permanent member of NHS staff. Previously zero hours temporary NHS staff. She has always worked 30 hours a week.

We have thought about that but we can't find any cleaning jobs that offer 30+ hours a week. Schools, offices, pubs (which she did whilst at college) offer around 2 hours a day.

I sympathise. My son (disabled)also works in NHS (admin) which has been cut by 40% and still being cut further as they move over to Palantir AI systems.

They have been told they all need to reapply for their jobs. Although he is reliable capable and diligent he isn’t likely to outcompete the people re -applying for the same handful of jobs that will be left.

I hope that they can find a way for it to work.

AI will affect everyone but it’s really going to hammer the disabled.

She is going to 'look into' Unison. She is adamant she doesnt want to join....translate...she doesn't understand what a union is and doesnt want to. Doesnt want to have to try to fill paperwork/online application in and pay for it. But she is going to ask for managers email address. We are hoping that they will find a different solution. It appears someone who does it 2 or 3 times a week is moving to a different department in the hospital and they are struggling to fill the position. These off the cuff remarks...you might have to fill in...cause so much anxiety and upset. Life is going to be very difficult if she leaves. The clinical psychologist who did the assessment and diagnosis said it was imperative she continued to work for her social and mental wellbeing.
Hope your son manages to find a way through. At least cleaners, at the moment, aren't affected by AI. I understand how hard it is to find work when we have kids who are different.

Can or does she claim PIP for her disabilities? That could top up her wage somewhat, or claim UC?

Yes. That seems very odd. We have completely separate teams. I can’t see how our domestics would have time to do the cleaning and then the food as well. Or even make drinks.