Is this a Reasonable request by work?

[RSIWoes]

I've nc and I'll try to keep it short. I work in a clerical job for a large organisation. I was told 5 minutes before I left today that for the forseeable future I would have to take my work laptop home (and back) every day, in case coronavirus shuts down the building.

I said I might have a problem with that, and was told "make it happen".

I currently pay for weekly physio sessions because of tennis elbow in both arms, caused (the physio says) by having too small a desk at work and at home which isn't supporting my arms properly. I also have stiff shoulders and neck. My manager knows this.

My team all drive to work. I deliberately live a 15 minute walk from work to avoid a commute. My walk home is all uphill and the weight of the laptop in a backpack today has set off my elbows and neck. Apparently I can ask for a suitcase on wheels instead of the backpack, but I think pulling something will be worse for my arms than wearing it.

Mornings are a nightmare because my 12 yo with ASD and dyslexia has multiple things to remember and gets a bus. I regularly forget my lunch/handbag/keys/phone - or DC gets on the bus and I'm left holding their PE bag. The laptop is one more thing to remember (used every day at work).

I will ask next week whether there is a different bag, or perhaps I could have 2 laptops and leave one at home and one at work. There may be a solution I haven't considered and I remain open to ideas. I understand why they want me to have the laptop at home.

BUT, can they insist that I must carry the damn laptop back and forth? I have Reasonable Adjustments at work for a few different reasons (one being the arm issues) but they seem to have forgotten this.

It's a completely reasonable and normal request. You sound hard work.

Sorry my message didn’t make sense before.

1. why are you paying for weekly sessions. The NHS will treat you for this. Also I don’t see why you need weekly - you get your exercises, do them and go back to get assessed.

2. if your workplace station is too small, you need to make it bigger. Have you thought about asking for a proper mouse and keyboard? That would allow you to use screen independently.

3. you have no excuse for your home environment to be cramped. You can control this environment. You need to get that sorted

4. get a stand up mouse, they are fab and help with symptoms/provide an end to the repetitive motion.

5. you need to do a workplace assessment to make sure your desk and chair are at the correct level.

madcatlady surely if you have disabilities yourself, you understand that they affect different people in different ways, and different parts of the body in different ways?

ellenpartridge did you read the op’s posts about the pain it causes? You sound completely lacking in empathy and that’s really not something to be proud of.

Op, I don’t think you’re being unreasonable to struggle with this. I certainly would be in pain from carrying that weight for 15 minutes as I have joint problems, and pulling a wheeled case would make my shoulder/elbow/wrist dislocate. Hopefully they’ll be understanding of your situation and agree to a second laptop for you for home.

I had similar issues with my shoulder, got a letter off my chiropractor and my work got me a smaller, lighter laptop. I didn’t have to take it home regularly but did on occasion or I had to work out of other locations. An employer I worked for after this refused and said they “didn’t do” lighter laptops for any reason. I really couldn’t physically carry it, ended up with severe pain when I tried and ended up spending a fortune on taxis (they expected me to carry a lot of other equipment sometimes as well). Another member of staff kindly gave me a key to their locker(they didn’t have enough for any new staff) and from then on I left it at my main office.

As you live so close, could you collect the laptop if they decided to close the office? Or could someone drop it off for you?

If you’ve got a home PC/laptop can’t you just get a cag token and cag into your company’s applications ?

Alternatively, you can use software like Centrastage which allows you to remote into your works device off a home device.

That would be a reasonable adjustment I would have thought.

Sensible, reasonable request. Bag or suitcase on wheels.

Ummm, I can see it’s awkward but everything’s gone tits up at the mo so you’ll just have to deal with it, in the same way that many other people are dealing with stuff.

If you only live a 15 minute walk away and get quarantined, can’t one of your colleagues drive it round to you? It’ll only take them a few minutes.
We had people self isolate and someone drove to them to deliver a keyboard and screen to make it easier for them to work at home.

It feels like businesses can’t win on here sometimes.

How long have you had the tennis elbow issue? Does it impact your day to day living? What’s the outlook, have you performed a desk self assessment & had any time off for this?
As I don’t know the answers to the above, I would say, it’s a reasonable request from your employer.
However, your reply could be, unfortunately due to your Upper Limb Disorder / tennis elbow, (that’s why you need O/H to clarify whether this is the case & the desk assessment), you are unable to carry or pull your work lap to & from work. In order to be able to work from home, in the event of office closure, as a reasonable adjustment, I request a spare lap top /desktop, be made available, for the purpose of home working.
NB according to NHS - Most cases of tennis elbow last between six months and two years. However, in about nine out of 10 cases, a full recovery is made within a year. And from HSE www.hse.gov.uk/research/misc/silman.pdf