Can they sack him or change his job?

[inchoccyheaven]

My DH has suffered with migraines for the past 30 years. Usually brought on by tiredness, stress or worrying.

He is a hgv driver and has been with the same company for over 15 yrs. If he wake with migraine he phones in sick and usually goes back the next day. So has odd days of here and there. If he went in with a migraine and they knew they obviously wouldn't let him drive.

He has just had yet another letter from the personel ( or whatever it's called now) dept saying it looks like the frequency is increasing and his absence record is getting higher. They want to talk to him to see how they can support him and request his medical records from the docs.

They do this nearly every year and only have already done it earlier in the year. It is very frustrating for him to have to go over the same thing with them time and time again.

There is nothing he can do about the migranes, he is on night medication to try and cut down the number of migraines and takes imigran when he feels one coming on. The doc says there isn't anything else they can do for him. He goes to bed early and we try not to have a stressful life.

My Dh is worryed that they will try and change him to the afternoon shift so that if he gets a migraine in the morning he can work in the afternoon but he is usually wiped out for the day when he gets one so this wouldn't be great for him , and as I work in the evenings it would completely mess up our family set up.
He is also worried that he could get sacked for having too many days off. He probably has about 15 days a year off. I think it is because they individual days rather than say a month at a time.

Does anyone know if they can sack him or change his hours? Sorry it is so long.

Ultimately if he cannot maintain a level of attendance which is acceptable to them, he can be dismissed. 15 incidents of absence a year is a lot. They might offer a different working pattern if it is thought that it will enable better attendance (no point if it won't), but what they are asking for is standard and reasonable so I would co operate.

Has he tried changes in his diet to find the cause of them? It's a difficult situation, however it does sound like they have been fairly understanding with him, but you have to see it from their point of view and how difficult he is making it for them by having more than 1 day off every month!

I used to suffer terribly with migraines so I really do understand how debilitating they can be. If he can't get them under control he may need to look into a job where he is able to still work following the migraine easing off rather than a job where he wouldn't be able to like driving.

Mine have eased massively since changing my diet, went from around 2 a month to 1 every 6 months. I hope he gets something sorted with them.

Thanks for replying Hermione. DH has always co operated with them and never refused access to his medical records etc.

He knows it is a lot of time off but it's not something he can control and ironically will probably get more until the next interview because of worrying about it.

I think I heard migraine can come under the disability act so can they dismiss him even if it does?

DH is main earner and as you can probably tell we are scared he will lose his job.

Hi Rock chick, he knows what food triggers to avoid, it is literary down to being tired or stress that causes them :( Both of which are really difficult to avoid sometimes.

I can understand it from their point of view and can see what you are saying about finding a different type of job, although I still think he would have to have the whole day off no matter what he did so the amount of days would stay the same I guess.

Under the equality act his employer has to be willing to make reasonable adjustments to try and accommodate him, however he can still be fired on the grounds of capability if no adjustments can be reached. If they are triggered by tiredness surely later starts to shifts would prove beneficial, as it might limit the frequency of them? I understand there would be an impact on your family set-up but altering that would surely be preferable to him losing his job?

It would definitely be more preferable than him loosing his job and if that was the only option we would have work with it.

Not sure how his body would handle the change though as he has been getting up before 5am for the past 25 years and even if he has a later night ( usually goes to bed at 9pm) he still wakes up early and can't go back to sleep so the cycle of tiredness begins. :(

Thanks for your input, it is appreciated despite being not what I wanted to hear :( :)

I know I can be a bit blunt at times, but I really hope you can get something sorted

I had to drop out of college when my migraines were at their peak, as I'd missed so much time, I know it's not on the same scale as losing your job but I understand how it can turn your life upside down

Glad your migraines have eased up RockChick and you were blunt but not harsh. Thanks for the flowers :)

I'm not sure how migraines would be a disability as it's not continuous - have you got any more info on where you think it is covered by equality act?

I can tell this is worrying and I'm sorry it's causing you stress.

Hermione I have been on the migrainetrust website and it says this on it :

One main legal avenue to check out is disability discrimination. A person will be classified as disabled for the purposes of the law if that person has a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person?s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
This is judged on a case by case basis, with the determining feature normally depending on the frequency and impact of migraines on a sufferer's day to day activities. If a person suffers from a migraine attack once a year, they are unlikely to be classified as disabled for the purposes of the legislation, whereas someone with weekly attacks will be. The key issue is not the impairment but its effect.
Disability discrimination protects people against discrimination arising from their disability. This could protect a migraine sufferer who has been dismissed because they were unable to attend work regularly.

I am hoping this is a good thing for us and thanks for kind words :)

It seems he has the attacks every 3 or 4 weeks? I don't know of any cases on this, but I think that would be very borderline in terms of whether or not that meets the criteria for disability. It might do - "substantial" in the DDA means more than minor or trivial (same definition now it's the equality act). It is certainly worth making the point to the HR team and making sure your GP knows how to make this point in their report.

Home office guidelines cover fluctuating conditions, such as migraines, in their guidance on DDA.

Yes Hermione it is about every 3 or 4 weeks, and sometimes 2 in a row if really unlucky. Have got him an appointment with a different doc to see if he can suggest any different tablets etc but that's not for a couple of weeks.

He did however speak to one of the bosses at work today who said it is just procedure and he wouldn't be getting the sack so that is a relief.

Wish he didn't get so many though :(

That's good news. I would advise your DH to make a note of the conversation

Thanks hermione :)

it's worth joining the migraine association www.migraine.org.uk/ for help and support with this kind of thing.

mine arent' that often (less than one a year) but can come on suddenly and result in extreme confusion (so if i'm out and about strangers generally call an ambulance ).