Work will not make reasonable adjustments for me

[trunjler]

I cannot go too much into specifics for obvious reasons. I have a chronic health condition which is manageable with certain reasonable adjustments which my workplace could easily accommodate (think working from home part of the week in a very standard office job that doesn't require any client contact, as an example). Work have known about this since April and despite saying they would put adjustments in place have done absolutely nothing. HR passes the buck to my line manager and my line manager passes the buck back to HR. I'm at the end of my tether and have just been signed off for 2 weeks with extreme stress which has in turn caused a major flare up of my illness.

Has anyone got any advice as I feel close to a breakdown over this. I cannot leave, I can't afford it and it's a massively niche role.

If someone asks for reasonable adjustments at work, it’s immediately referred to OH. Even desk moves have to be signed off by OH.

Refusing to see OH will come up if you try to take this further. They are there to help.

I thought PIP would be out of the question for me as I can wash, dress and feed myself (not always but mostly). Thank you, I will look into that.

I am so reluctant to put in a grievance as I'm at breaking point already with stress which makes the condition worse, but I can see I may have no choice soon.

I haven't refused. It hasn't been offered.

What happened was, HR asked if he could have my permission to speak to my consultant to discuss reasonable adjustments for me. I said yes (I preferred that to OH but I didn't refuse it, it wasn't mentioned) and gave contact details etc. This was over 3 months ago and HR still hasn't contacted my consultant.

^ This seems the most reasonable avenue for you.

Refer to past emails and lack of response. And say you are doing x y and z,( as above)

I'm currently signed off sick but when I go back if I haven't heard anything further I will be doing that.

Have you tried telling thems how it is going to work?

I'll wfh mon-thurs, I need a laptop, office chair at home, I need Teams. Etc

Yep, set it all out in writing very clearly, more than once.

Can you contact whoever manages your line manager and/or HR?

Have you heard of/spoken to Access to Work? They're a government department resposible for helping people with disabilities stay in work. They will tell your employer what reasonable adjustments they need to make.

In my case it was the work Occupational Therapist who contacted them and got them in as she didn't feel confident in her knowledge of my condition and what adjustments I'd need.

www.gov.uk/access-to-work

It's not about occupational health knowing about your condition. They don't need to know the ins and outs of it (although in my work place, it is medical professionals who are OH staff, mainly nurses) they just need to work with you to come up with a plan of reasonable adjustments. You tell them about your condition and what you feel you need and you come up with reasonable adjustments together. I'd say they were worth speaking to.

Hopefully you being signed off sick will put a rocket up their arses and get them to do something about it.

I'll see occupational health if they want me to, they haven't offered. They offered to speak to my consultant (which was better IMO as the consultant actually knows about the illness and adjustments required - most medical professionals know hardly anything about it, it's very rare), but still haven't got round to it.

You can contact Access to Work yourself: www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply - they were really good with me.

When you say "they (your employer) haven't put anything in place" this suggests they need to purchase something rather than them just "agreeing" to working from home. Is the "something" related to adaptive computer equipment that will be put in place at home to enable you to do your job safely.

If so, I would put it in writing what you need for your RA, and highlight what their absence of action means in terms of your health, and that there are legal implications of you struggling on for so long without the RA

The whole reason for a reasonable adjustment, in case it has escaped their notice, is that it enables life to be just about bearable for you while managing your disability otherwise the RA wouldn't be needed. It isn't a nice to have, it's a must have!

No, they don't need to buy anything physical. I'll tell you what I've asked for as it's nothing unusual IMO. I've asked:

• to be able to work from home 2 days a week. I don't need anything purchased for this, I'm totally set up to work from home, I'm not client facing and don't need to be in the office to answer calls or anything else
• we work on a rota basis whereby we sometimes have to work until very late at night. I'm fine with this but I can't do more than two late nights in a row due to fatigue. So I've asked not to work late more than two late nights back to back (this doesn't impact anyone else).
• along with my set WFH days, to be able to WFH spontaneously if I have a flare rather than have to take a sick day which I don't get paid for. When I flare I am physically very uncomfortable and struggle with travel but I can perfectly well WFH. Again, nothing I actually physically need to be in the office for, all my duties can be done from home.

The definition of disability is a legal one not a medical one so they should not be asking to speak to your consultant - only a court or a tribunal can confirm someone is disabled, so you should tell them you will pursue legal action if they do not put adjustments in place by X date. Do not be afraid to go down the legal route, or at least the grievance route. They cannot dismiss you for requesting adjustments. You can also legally refuse to work if there is a detriment to your health and safety and in this case it appears so as you have had to go on sick leave. If you are in a union, speak to them, otherwise speak to citizens advice and ACAS. You should lodge a claim through ACAS asap as you cannot keep waiting and letting them make excuses. You either leave or you complain formally. As for what is reasonable, there are things to consider - is it effective in removing the disadvantage, what is the cost, is there any disruption caused by the adjustment and things like that. Working from home is unlikely to be disruptive unless you were a nurse or doctor or something that needed you to be physically there. There's also Access to Work funding available for equipment or personal support you might need.

Are you already set up to work from home? As in have pc access etc? If so I'd just email and say you're working from home today as agreed.

Is there a charity that supports your disability?
I also have a rare condition (myasthenia) and the charity has a helpline and can advise on reasonable adjustments for the condition and how to advocate for them.

Could you proactively contact your consultant and explain the issues and ask for letter for work?

My son's allergy consultant was able to do this when we had issues with school.

Finally I think you are going to have to be open to OH involvement, and hope they have the sense to research/liaise with your consultant.

With my "employee with a rare and often misunderstood" condition I understand your concerns.
But with my "manager of a large team " hat on, I would want (and would have to have) occupational health involvement.

@CrabbitBastard the definition is a legal one but to assess suitable adjustments for a particular condition requires an understanding of that particular condition and how it affects that particular patient

@SweetSakura Are you disabled? Do you work for a disability charity? Are you qualified in HR? Qualified in employment law? Won awards for disability advocacy? Gotten an MBE? Spend each day training businesses in disability awareness and equality legislation as part of your job?

All the things that apply to me, and your advice is very medical rather than social model approach to disability and would lead to legal action if you were my employer. You can't even use the correct language and terminology!

Educate yourself better on disability legislation and particularly on the anticipatory duty - which does not require any medical assessment because as much as possible, you should be seeking to mmake adjustments in advance of even meeting the person! Look at the social model of disability, NOT the medical model - bet you've never heard of it, nor even care.

Yes I am disabled. And I have a condition that is poorly understood and very rare. So am approach that is ignorant of medical specifics wouldnt make any sense for me. So I was empathising with the ops concerns that employers /occupational health may not understand her condition and therefore advocacy from her specialist could be beneficial.

Are you a
Member of a union op

Sorry I missed that upthread. Your not.