Withdraw job offer

[Maxtashtom]

Hello there,
I would like some advice for my daughter.
She accepted a job offer from bupa dental as a receptionist.
Today after telling them she needs a few hours every 6 weeks in hospital for infusion for crohn's disease.
She can give them at least 4 weeks notice prior to her appointment as to what date time the appointment will be. And she has said she is willing to do extra hours/ cover because of this.
Now she has received a phone call to say they need to speak to HR to see if it's possible to proceed with her application?
Seems unfair after offering her the position? Any advice would be appreciated thank you 😊

Can’t she book a days annual leave for each appointment? One day every six weeks is a kind of usual amount of leave to take

Sounds like disability discrimination to me. Hopefully HR will spot that from a mile off and everything will be fine, but if not, I would definitely challenge this. I'd have thought that covering her for a few hours every 6 weeks should fall within the normal interpretation of a reasonable adjustment.

Has she signed any contract? If not, then yes they have to check as her schedule taking time off ever couple of weeks may not work for the role.

Fingers crossed they can stick with her schedule. But no guarantee

They will possibly say as she didn't disclose it at the interview it doesn't meet the needs of the business now having to accommodate the time off. I had an employee with the same and it was never an issue, the employee was a long serving reliable worker. They might also be thinking having chrones might cause her to be off ill at times during a flare. Hopefully she will get it sorted out and she gets to keep the job. X

I'd read up on the Equality Act and seek advice. If she's well now, they can't withdraw the offer I don't think. They can ask you to see occupational health to discuss adjustments (and that sounds like an entirely reasonable one), but they can't withdraw the offer. I would definitely speak to citizens advice or maybe ACAS and find out what they think.

This looks relevant:

www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/about-crohns-and-colitis/publications/employment-ibd-a-guide-for-employers

Here’s a direct link to the information sheet:

s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/Publications/employers.pdf

I too think this would fall under reasonable adjustment. ACAS might be able to advise.

Thank you for all your advice, she is working already and is very stable with her crohn's never has any time off due to her illness as long as she gets her medication every 6 weeks. Seems a shame for her to miss out on a job she would love through something beyond her control.
She had the interview on the Tuesday and they offered her the job Thursday.. the position was for Mon- thur her infusion is usually on a Friday so she thought she would be fine but today her appointment came and it's for a Wednesday so she explained this to the woman who offered her the job who told her it would be fine they would honour her appointments.
Then later she had a voicemail to say they would contact HR to see if they can still proceed with their offer. After so.e quick reading I think if they withdraw the offer it may be seen as discrimination?

I think she’ll be fine. Wait and see before doing anything. (Although in future sign first!)

She offered to use her holidays for her appointment or swop days etc x

Thank you 😊

This should fall under the right to reasonable adjustments. It's irrelevant whether she has signed a contract or not, discrimination during the recruitment process is still unlawful.

If they do withdraw the job offer then please speak to ACAS about next steps.

@Maxtashtom

Thank you 😊

Hey any update on DD job offer? Xx

They said they would contact her tomorrow (Mon 13th ) to see if they were still going to offer her the job. I'll keep you updated

If you think about it, it's difficult as they need to have someone on the phone for that day, it's not as if they can keep the recpetion closed if she's away.

I think she's better applying for another job.

@underneaththeash

If you think about it, it's difficult as they need to have someone on the phone for that day, it's not as if they can keep the recpetion closed if she's away.

I think she's better applying for another job.

If this ends up in tribunal, they will have to show why they couldn't cover these few hours another way. In my view they would struggle to justify their position if they now withdraw the job offer.

She could also ask the hospital to see if they could honour a Friday appt. They might be flexible. That Wednesday might have been a one off.

It's a pity she brought it up at that stage. She should have waited to speak with occupational health. Didn't she have to fill in a form declaring any ling term condition?

She might have done so and after that, it would have much harder for them to not take her on.

As things stand, does she have any evidence that she told them she suffered from Chrohn.

I do feel for her though, it's disgusting behaviour, especially coming from a healthcare provider!

Thanks for all your advice, they have said they will work round her appointment as they have 4 weeks prior notice so the job is still hers if she would like to still go forward. . She's really pleased 😀

Thank God for that!

Good news! I was coming onto say that, where I work, the call with hr would be about understanding what adjustments might be needed and finding a way forward, not withdrawing am offer. Glad to see that has also been the case here

Yay brilliant news x

Good for her !