Husband is ill and being treated badly

[Hopedun]

H has worked for his large multinational company for over 10 years. He has a role which I don't really understand but spends a lot of time doing calls and coaching to other staff in offices across the UK. He is the only one with his role in his site although there are 3 others across the UK.

He has stage 3 chronic kidney disease. His kidney function greatly improved to around 48% when everyone was told to WFH and his blood pressure which is very high also fell to normal levels. His high blood pressure is because of his CKD, he is on medication because of it.

His boss told him she expected him to be in the office three days a week last year so he started travelling in. In traffic this can take up to 90 minutes each way. He feels absolutely dreadful after doing this. Public transport would take even longer, over 2 hours so it isn't an option. This is all so he can sit on Teams calls to speak to people in other offices, in an office alone.

The hospital see him regularly and said his kidney function had fallen in six months to 23%. He can only put this down to the travelling. He asked for an occupational health referral and the doctor said in the report that he should not be required to attend the office weekly or even monthly. They should leave it to him to come in when he's well enough and his travel to work as well as having multiple tasks dumped on him was severely affecting his health.

He suffers with brain fog due to his condition and needs a bit of down time between leading calls and meetings so that he can get his focus back. His boss books him in for back to bag meetings which he can't cope with anymore.

He still had not had a meeting with his boss to discuss the findings of the OHS referral five weeks on so in his performance review last week, he asked if she had read and she said she had seen the email but hadn't opened it! He then spoke to his union rep who told him to book a meeting about it in her calendar which he has done.

During the performance review she said she was only marking him with a 2 instead of his usual top marking. He asked why as his is top site in the UK and he hits all performance indicators and she said he was not visible enough in the office.

Once his kidney function drops to 10% he will be extremely ill and needing dialysis. His doctors want him to avoid this for as long as possible as he is only early 40s.

Amy advice please? Sorry it's so long.

Speak to HR

I’d forget HR, they will just make sure the company is following correct process. Get the union involved ASAP.

I don't know what the set up is in his company but in mine if I need anything, my manager is wholly responsible for me. HR don't get involved unless there us something really serious going on. They refer you to the guidelines to read any policies.

Make some plans that are based on your DH losing his current role. A lot of employers are shit and DH's health and ability to work at all is far more important.

I wiuld start with him refusing to go into work, but continue to work from home. Be in contact with HR and OH to get them to come up with a plan.

Can you free up any funds by moving house? Or are you able to keep things afloat on your salary @Hopedun ?

Go to the very highest boss there is, today. You can’t mess around with declining kidneys.
he won’t be able to work on dialysis, brain fog becomes all consuming.

I think you need some independent legal advice to be honest. I’m not sure who to go to but I’m thinking some sort of independent employment legal person. It sounds like they’re trying to make his life difficult in order to say he isn’t meeting their targets / expectations etc. (I also have kidney issues and chronic autoimmune issues and have been in similar situations many, many times. Sadly despite what many people think if they want to get rid of you they will. Companies can be so underhanded about it all).

The union have said if she doesn't implement the changes OHS have recommended then he needs to raise a grievance against her. I told him to take the union rep in the meeting with her but he said that was too confrontational. His job can be done perfectly well from home and he makes the company plenty of money. I don't know why she is making his life so hard. She won't give a toss when he's lying in hospital desperately ill needing a kidney transplant and not able to work at all.

This is serious

Might it be worth speak to a solicitor who specialises in employment law?

Can he get signed off from work to get some breathing space to deal with this?

And I agree with pp, start looking at what would happen if he stoppes working there. What's the job market like for bsj type of role?

I echo joining a union. If this isn't possible, contact an employment lawyer for advice.

Your DHs employer should make reasonable adjustments to accommodate his disability (for this is what he has) and they are not.

Does the employer have an E&I policy? Sickness policy? Read up all all relevant policies and write down how they are not being followed.

Sorry, cross-post.

Yes I can go full time at work if need be and we will manage on my salary. We have deliberately not gone for an expensive house so that we can manage with just me working. He is capable of working though, he just needs to be mostly based at home.

He did travel to work 5 days a week in the past, he just can't do this anymore. He has claimed PIP but has been turned down.

I'd get in touch with ACAS who can offer independent employment law advice for free. Also might be worth looking into any charities specific to your husband's condition who may offer advice/advocacy on this. This sounds really serious and like your husband is being discriminated against based on his condition, which surely cannot be legal (although I'm no employment law expert!)

This is serious!
Get HR involved - send them the OH report as well!

Legal advice sounds like good idea as it sounds like she wants him out. I think his union has a legal helpline so will get him to ring them.

I echo everyone saying HR.

This is massively serious and boss needs to know this. He's given her a chance, she hasn't done what she should have. Take it higher.

He absolutely should take the Union rep to the meeting that's what they are there for. I have a similar issue as the employer where staff member doesn't want to come to office at all due to health, our role is however customer facing and relationship based and does require this, we have negotiated the best offer I can give although it's not what they would want. That said they certainly felt more confident having Union rep involved.

Reading this either she is micro managing him because that's her crap style, because she wants him out because she considers there to be practice issues, obviously we can't tell which.

I would ask to appeal the rating saying the boss hasn't followed occupational advice.

I would get that union meeting urgently then plan to refuse to come in other than mentioned.

Then I would look for another role as it sounds toxic

www.yorkhospitals.nhs.uk/seecmsfile/?id=1207

This link has some helpful info about work protections...

He should definitely contact HR as his line manager is not handling this properly and it doesn't look like she's going to.

Occ Health have advised adjustments (less office working) and if your husband meets the definition of disabled under the Equality Act (linked to the impact his condition has on his ability to carry out day to day activities, whether the condition is long term etc) then an employer has a legal requirement to implement reasonable adjustments (eg homeworking) to support him.

This . Bang on advice . HR act in the company's interest. Sounds like they are managing him out because of his illness.

Appeal the PIP decision. It sounds like he hasn’t understood the point scoring on the form properly as from what you’ve written he should definitely be entitled to it - I am on the top rates for both care and mobility as an ongoing award. There are very good PIP support groups on Facebook that are worth joining - just search for PIP in the search box and related terms and join one of the largest ones (some have 60k plus members and you can get lots of free help and advice). Don’t pay anyone like fightback as the Facebook groups will give you the same advice for free.

(You can still get pip whilst working - it’s not means tested).

I would get a good employment lawyer asap op.

His boss clearly isn't going to do anything so you need to (a) go above her head and (b) do it in such a way that they sort things out.

Looks like disability discrimination & a requirement to make reasonable adjustments but that will only happen if you find the right person who (a) understands the company's legal obligations and (b) has the power/authority to do something about it.

The best approach would be a letter drafted by a lawyer but sent from your dh which sets out all the legal stuff in non-legal speak and if that doesn't work a second letter from the lawyer explaining the potential consequences of the company failing to follow the guidance in the OH report commissioned by them and paid for by them by their OH provider.

Somebody in the company will know that they won't want this to end up in legal action or with a worse outcome for your husband which they may be responsible for.

I wouldn't just raise a grievance but I do agree a grievance is also a good step to take. My worry with a grievance is it may drag on and my reading of your post is this is something you can't really afford to happen.

You may have legal expenses cover on your home or car insurance or even with a credit card so have a good look as they may be able to help you although cover is sometimes limited. Alternatively I would personally cut back on all my other spending to find the £ for a lawyer in those circumstances.

The Employment Lawyers Association has a directory of employment solicitors but you might need to look around as the bigger firms often don't do individuals only advice to employers. A small/boutique employment specialist firm might be good or a high street firm with an employment specialist.

I'm not in practice anymore but one of the things I would explore is who is the right person to write to. It might be the HRD but not if they are not skilled/knowledgeable. It may be dh's boss' boss if they are decent & know what they are doing or a divisional director etc. DH will be the right person to ask about this as he knows the business.

Good luck to you both and please protect his health it's just too important not to xx

He REALLY needs the union rep in with him. A full time officer if necessary, the union will have lawyers who are experts in this. Again, cannot stress enough, they absolutely need to be in the meeting with him and should be informing their Regional Organiser/Lead Officer. I’m a union rep and this is what I’d do.