Advice on a work situation

[rosa24]

Last year my husband had an extended period off work due to mental health issues brought on by work related stress. Through his sessions with a counsellor, it has come to light that DH is autistic. I have always had my suspicions that he could be but assumed that because he slipped through the net at school, there wasn't much point in pursuing a diagnosis now he's an adult. Anyway, he has had it confirmed that he is autistic and occupational health have said that he is capable of fulfilling his role but with some reasonable adjustments in place to help alleviate some of the triggers which affect his mental health.

His manager has received the report and his first suggestion is that DH takes a demotion to a position which is less stressful but will also mean a loss in salary and potential for advancement in the future. DH is back at work now, was doing well and positive after his meeting with OH but this suggestion has knocked him back and I think has made him feel like now he has this diagnosis, they just want to throw him on the scrap heap. No mention has been made at all about the adjustments that could be made.

Prior to his absence, there were never any concerns about his work or his ability to do the job. The work related stress was a direct consequence of the pressure he was under due to being understaffed and I think inadequately supported.

Can DH be forced to take this demotion and loss of salary? OH were clear that he is fit and able to carry out his duties. He joined a union while he was off ill but you have to be a member for a certain amount of months before you can ask for advice. The organisation he works for is world renowned and I'm actually shocked that upon receiving his diagnosis, management's first thought is to demote him. They have to put something in place to support him, surely?

I'm so upset on his behalf, he's a good man who works hard and deserves much better than this. I don't know where to turn for advice so I thought I'd start here, if anyone can help at all please?

Thank you for reading

I’m sure someone better qualified than me will come along but recently diagnosed neurodivergent and (ironically!) was an employment support worker for people with disabilities for a while.

If I’ve read your post correctly, occupational health said that he can do his current role with reasonable adjustments but that his manager is suggesting he change role so that seems completely contradictory? Has he gone back to HR or to occ health to clarify? Hoping it’s swiftly resolved, sounds like a stress he could do without.

Thank you for responding Rainbowninja - you've summarised it perfectly. With reasonable adjustments there's no reason why DH can't do his current role but his manager hasn't even discussed what adjustments could be made, he's gone straight in with suggesting DH step down a grade to a role with less responsibility and a lower salary. I've told DH to go back to occ health and I think I'm going to contact Acas for some advice. I worry that DH is still feeling a little vulnerable and that he might get railroaded into making a decision he's not happy with. If he wants to take the role at a lower grade, I'd support him with this of course but he doesn't want to and it seems unfair that he's being pushed out just because they might have to make bit of effort to support him!

Also the manager says this idea has come from HR! To me it feels discriminatory. Had he gone back from his time off ill without a diagnosis of autism, he would most probably have had the usual back to work meeting then have been left to struggle until it possibly all became too much again. I'm getting quite angry with his managers, they have a duty of care to their employees, surely?!

@rosa24 Did OH not suggest what reasonable adjustments are appropriate?? If they did, HR and his line manager should be following the advice given. If they didn't, he needs to ask OH to make recommendations for reasonable adjustments and then the business can decide if they can accommodate these. If they can't, then looking at other roles makes sense but it sounds like they've skipped this step?

As it stands, I'd be preparing to start asking why he's being discriminated against because of a disability.

OH did make a number of suggestions for reasonable adjustments, all pretty simple things to put into place such as finding him a quieter area to work in (I think currently they are all in one big room with multiple desks so it's quite busy) and providing him with notes from meetings for him to digest after the meeting (I would have thought taking minutes would be standard practice but it seems they don't always). This is what I remember off the top of my head, amongst others but from what I recall, there wasn't anything ground breaking which would cost money to put into place. It sounds like they basically want the guy who was covering his role while he was absent to carry on with the role and DH step down and work under this guy.

I wondered if there might be an ulterior motive? It all puts your husband in a very vulnerable position having recently returned to work and being newly diagnosed with a disability. It all needs clarification because those don’t sound like adjustments that would conflict with a business need and he shouldn’t be pushed into accepting the lower position. Especially as it sounds like the work related stress he experienced had as much to do with the working environment as it did his autism.

His autism may not affect him this way but in some situations a person with autism may be confused about what is expected of them and go along with a suggestion despite it not being in their best interests so they have to be careful about how all of this is communicated to him.

I am newly diagnosed autistic to by the way so feeling aggrieved on your DH’s behalf!

That feels like a textbook case of discrimination - they didn't refuse the accommodations, but put forward a solution where they don't need to and put him in a position where he doesn't feel he has a choice.

Worse, that's a rung on the ladder to constructive dismissal, which is depressingly common for autistic people...and, of course, they know that a vulnerable person in that position is orders of magnitude less likely to seek the actual support they need to combat this.

Honestly, it sounds like he needs to get some legal advice from somebody experienced in workplace disputes to prevent it getting that far...and, unfortunately, managing that is likely to fall on you if he's in a fragile state and the union isn't going to help.

It’s ok for them to offer him a different job but he doesn’t have to accept. OH has said he can do his existing job with reasonable adjustments. So he needs to refuse their offer and say no, he wants to keep his job and have xyz adjustments. They are absolutely trying to discriminate here and he needs to put his foot down and say no.