Can anyone help answer some employment law questions?

[WetsTheVet]

On behalf of a family member who has had a terrible time recently. She has had a bone infection requiring MRIs, hospitialisations and several months of antibiotics. Then was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease approx 3 months ago which the professionals are struggling to get under control.

This has led to frequent absences from work. She has gone in as much as she can but has fallen victim to chest infections, Noro virus etc caught due to her poor immunity.

Obviously not great either for her or her colleagues. She has full documentation and sick notes for absences.

Her manager sent her a very harsh email this week due to being off with a chest infection, saying various things. Our questions are:

Can the manager threaten to change her job role? She has said she will move her from role A to role B as role B is less important. Does this not contradict her contract?

Is their anything that can be said about the tone of the email which is basically "everyone gets ill and comes to work, why can't you, if you don't come in by 11am then stay off all week" I.e accusing of malingering. Manager has full knowledge of conditions but has only just informed the next level up, who are now speaking with their employment lawyers and have issued family member with a verbal warning for absences.

Any help much appreciated

What sort of company does she work for? do they have an HR department or an occupational health department who could get involved. Has her GP made any suggestions about changes at work that could be made on her fit to work note.

Thanks for your reply. V small company but owned by a large unmbrella company. no real HR - just this one manager who has then just contacted the umbrella company this week, after about 8 months of my family member being poorly. No real changes have been mentioned, there's not much they can do expect what they are doing now to hopefully get her autoimmune disease under control (using b12 injections)

If your family member has under 2 years' employment and taking Increasing numbers of days' absence through illness, the employer might be try to make changes to force the issue, so they resign. Or they may just be trying to cover themselves due to the resource gap left by the absent employee. This is speculation on my part, not enough info to make an accurate judgement.

Basically if they have under 2 years, and provided the employer has not been made aware of any disability or medical condition that constitutes a disability* then they can let the person go without much formality.

• For example in certain cases asthma and migraine suffers can gain traction from their GP to declare it to their employer as a disability (if it is debilitating).

If the employee has over 2 years service the employer will tread more careful, due to statutory employment rights. They may suggest a move to a less demanding role, rather than thrusting a new contract in the employee's hand and state they are no longer x, they are now y. It entirely depends on whether the employer tried to make the change by mutual consent. The employee may decide it is advantageous to move to the new role (presumably no loss of salary?)

I am sorry they are unwell and hope they feel better soon with the injections. Are you in the UK? I had longterm sickness, almost a year off, and was offered early retirement at the grand old age of 40 which I obviously refused, I reduced my hours instead but carried on working another 15 years. Would they consider doing this. The GP fit to work certificate (new name for the old sicknote) specifies if any changes or adaptations should be considered to help the patient return to work. ACAS have a good website you could look at.

Sorry just to be clear, it sounds like the employer is trying to bring the matter to a head by being unpleasant and threatening re job change, when ideally they ought to be collaborative. But if your family member is relatively new ie if less than 2 years, the employer is probably trying to force her out. Unpleasant, but not uncommon sadly.

As your friend appears to have a health condition that would be a protected characteristic under the equality act she will be entitled to extra protections. Your first point of contact should be the ACAS helpline which is very good. Google for number. There is a good solicitor who practices equality and employment law. Jasmine Loggerenberg, check the find a solicitor on the law society webpage for her contact details as not sure who She works for now. She may advise over the phone initially, or try Lemon and Co. That is if ACAS think her rights are not being upheld. It is possible to sack somebody who is ill and unable to carry out their role, but the correct process must be followed. This depends on the company's procedure but it should be similar to the ACAS code which is also available on their website. Hope that helps.

It might be a good idea to see if the illness she suffers with is classed as a disability, can she claim benefits for it Tec.

How much time off are we actually talking about?

If the amount of time someone's taking off is so significant as to cause the business real problems, looking at redeployment to a role where this either reduces or causes less of an impact isn't unreasonable at all, and in fact is expected of employers, rather than termination for capability without exploring adjustments/redeployment.

It doesn't sound like the manager has been handling it well at all, and if your family member wanted to raise a formal grievance about this, she could do so. It's also disappointing her manager has left it 8 months before seeking advice higher up the organisation but at least it's happening now.

If the GP hasn't recommended anything which the employer could do to improve your family member's attendance rate, her employer will need to investigate options.

I would expect them to seek medical advice from an occupational health professional about whether her condition is a disability, what adjustments could/should be made in order to bring her attendance to an acceptable level, and about whether redeployment to an alternative role is possible.

How long has your relative worked for this employer?