Friend with MS - can she be forced to go part time?

[PracticalFriend]

Hey All,

I am posting on behalf of my friend Sally (not her real name). She has been recently (Jan this year) been diagnosed with MS and it isn't hanging around

Work have be supportive up to now and have allowed her to work part time but on a full time salary but her manager came up with a crazy plan to get her back to full time hours which isn't doable and contradicts the occ health plan completely.

So my questions are:

1 - can the manager force Sally to go part time?
2 - can Sally be forced to use her sick leave to fill in the hours she can't work?

Thanks in advance,

PracticalFriend

I don't think they can force her go part time but if she is not well enough to work full time then she can be made redundant due to ill health.

Is she is not sick for half her hours then she will be in breach of contract for not going I to work. I think to be only working part time and receiving full time wages she would need a sick note from the doctor unless hr are happy with this arrangement.

I don't think the Company has any legal obligation to continue to pay somebody full time salary for part-time hours under employment law. There is the phased return to work after illness which is building up a person's hours until they reach their contracted hours. Her best bet is to get advice from a Union if she is in one. I don't think from an employer's point of view it's a 'crazy plan'. It sounds as if the employers have been sympathetic up till now. Why doesn't she contact the MS Society I'm sure there is one and get advice from them.

Took advice in a similar situation and was told that if you are only able to work part time hours then you have no entitlement to keep a full time role. Very hard to accept when newly diagnosed with a condition but I guess it makes sense really.

If she's not capable of working full time, for whatever reason; then yes, of course the company can insist she works part time.
It must be a very difficult situation for your friend, but "crazy plan" it isn't

My sister had similar issues when she had MS. It's not necessarily the same as somebody who is just off sick lots, because she is disabled and so is protected under the Equality Act. This means that they must offer reasonable adjustments to enable her to do her job. With my sister she needed part time hours when she was having a relapse but was perfectly capable of working full time when she was in a remission phase. The first few months after diagnosis was the most difficult, but as time has gone on and her treatment has mostly stabilised her condition then she's much better.

Is your friend in a union? My sister had legal advice from an employment solicitor, but ended up leaving for different reasons (to retrain in a different field which is going really well for her) but I think it's good to get specialist advice on this based on your friend's own situation.

First line should say 'when she had MS diagnosed' Obviously she still has MS!

You ask whether her manager can force her to go part time, but then imply she is already working part time and is not able to work full time anyway.

They need to make reasonable adjustments to enable her to do her job. If they can accommodate part time hours long-term and that will enable her to do her job, then they should do that.

Reasonable adjustments doesn't include paying someone for hours they are not working.

What has the OH recommended?