Redundancy

[Melmumsy]

Hey

I could do with some advice please?

In a redundancy situation, if an employee has a serious mental health issue what can they claim to be a reasonable adjustment? also what can they do to ensure that they are not "accidentally" discriminated against?

The stress is affecting their mental health, which they are claiming will put them at a disadvantage compared to others in the selection process.

Thanks!!

It depends on the nature of the condition and the nature of the post.

Does the employer in question have an occupational health adviser?

Hey

They have bipolar. They had a nervous breakdown in reaction to a redundancy in the past. The nature of work is office based, administrative work.

There has been quite a bit of "office politics" in past, which is why this employee wants to make sure they are not discriminated against. But how can they do this?

Not sure about occupational health advisor. What can they do in this type of situation?

Who are you in this scenario Melmumsy? Are you the employee or employer or someone else? It would help to know.

Is it a change of role that the person is requiring an adjustment to, or are they having to compete in interviews and want a change to the redundancy selection procedure to reduce that stress?

Hey flowery

I'm the employee's friend and trying to see what the options are. I don't want her to have another breakdown so am trying to see what reasonable ways it can be avoided. She is struggling and needs serious help.

It's a redundancy situation and she has to compete in interviews. Her appraisals seem to have been fine so don't think her ability to do the job is a problem. She feels that she doesn't stand a chance in the interviews because her illness is made worse under very stressful conditions, like redundancy.

She also feels that they might think she's not suitable as she isn't part of the cliquey group at work, which she thinks is mainly down to her being viewed as 'different' because most of them know about her disability, and I guess there can be a bit of stigma about mental health. I think this is speculation though, but it is playing up in her mind.

Any ideas about what a reasonable adjustment could be suggested to her employer?

My ex had bipolar and I had an employee who we supported through a bipolar breakdown (he was eventually deemed unfit to work via the dwp process which was sad because he was great at his job).

I think she should seek a statement from her psychologist/psychiatrist which makes recommendations on reasonable adjustments to the process which she can then disclose to her employer. If the employer isnt fully aware of the condition they cant be expected to understand or know what they need to do. Her medical/psych team will know her history and the kinds of stresses which exacerbate her condition.

Good luck it isn't a nice condition to live with I hope she will be ok.

Hmmm interesting one. It may be that no reasonable adjustment needs to be made. It depends on what the redundancy situation is. If it is closing a whole department, restructuring or creating new jobs that's quite different to needing to reduce the workforce by 40% of whatever.

It may be that the employer decides a desktop analysis of every employee's performance is the fairest way to make a selection. They might use previous appraisals, attendence information, key performance indicators or other measures. Most of these would be fine to use in all instances, including your friend's situation because reasonable adjustment would already have been made to allow her to do her job. However, the only metric that would need an adjustment to make it fair would be the attendence one, in the same way pregnancy related sickness is excluded from the calculation to avoid claims of maternity related discrimination, it may be appropriate to exclude sickness directly relating to disability from the calculation too.

If the employer then decided to use some sort of selection process that involved employees completing application forms or attending interviews it may be decided that your friend should be given additional support from a counsellor or similar - but it would really depend on what her doctors advise and with occupational health support (if they have an OH provider or department). I don't think this would be seen as a reasonable adjustment to comply with disability discrimination but probably more a health and safety measure of supporting an employee's welfare through a difficult time.

It may also be that the organisation decides to use the most old fashioned of processes LIFO. Last In, First Out. In which case there's absolutely nothing she can do but wait and no reasonable adjustment needed.

Thanks. Will make those suggestions.

She said they are just reducing numbers. Everyone is reapplying for their jobs. She doesnt have any adjustments in place for her job at the moment and does her job fine. Maybe the stress levels for the job will increase after they have reduced numbers, I don't know. Would they have to take that into account when they are deciding whether she can stay on?

Hmm I would have thought that in a situation where there is an employee that has a substantial disadvantage compared to everyone else due to a disability (a mental health issue like bipolar), where they are also at high risk of a breakdown (which can do serious long term damage) as a result of the work situation they are in, it would require some kind of reasonable adjustment? Especially if it involves competitive interviews? Interviews can sometimes be quite subjective.

I don't think that she will be able to do as well as she should in the interviews because of the effect the whole redundancy situation is having on her mental health. I can see how she will come across quite badly in interview, which is not really fair, as it's because of the effect her illness will have on her, and not a real reflection of her ability to do her job. Tricky, I know.

I don't know what a reasonable adjustment in this situation would be though? Is there a list of examples of what a reasonable adjustment can be?

The trouble with a "list" is that bipolar is on a spectrum and there are
Lots of different types.. Some people can't work at all, some get rapid cycles, some get mania, some get hypomania etc. I really think she needs to speak to her professional team about the specifics of her particular condition.