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.

Working from home is a privilege that employers don't have to offer. It sounds like from your initial points, they don't want him just sitting on teams calls, he needs to be more visible (eg networking) which in person is important.

Your main issue really is that you need to live much closer to his work, 90 minutes each way is very far - is that an option? Could he find work close to where you live? I really don't want to sound unsympathetic because I know you are very worried about him, but a company only needs to make reasonable adjustments within the workplace - employees choosing to live a really long way away isn't something they need or should adjust for.

As for the wfh thing, dp brought all his staff back in May 2021, wfh just wasn't as productive and teamwork really suffered - as the role appears to be coaching and training I can see why remote working really isn't long term suitable.

I'd say they are on their way to managing him out, probably because they see further illness in his future. The poor appraisal will be the first step, followed by performance management, which they will use as an excuse for him to be in the office full time.
He needs to stop pussy footing around them, speak to ACAS, get his union rep in on his meetings. Keep a written diary of everything, back up anything she says verbally with a written email back to her.

We went through this with my husband, he did eventually get made redundant and recieved a payout, they were trying to avoid having to do this by destroying his excellent professional reputation. But financially it hammered us, he's never managed to get back to a job at the same pay grade and the stress was absolutely appalling. His company was a large well known one.

Communication has broken down with his boss so confrontation has to be the only answer. Take a union rep and make the company adhere to the occupational report.

Working from home is a privilege that employers don't have to offer. It sounds like from your initial points, they don't want him just sitting on teams calls, he needs to be more visible (eg networking) which in person is important.

The OP has already said his office role is just sitting solo in his office working via Teams. The same as his wfh routine.

I agree he should speak to his union. Of course his manager is wrong to not acknowledge or look at the occ health report, it is just that though- a report of recommendations that if the employer deems not reasonable doesn't have to implement. Of course they should morally, but as long as they can justify not then as long as they follow process it's not illegal.

I'd get signed off for now and escalate it.

This is really serious. It’s arguably disability discrimination and places the company at significant risk of legal action.

I would suggest a grievance

What awful discrimination by the company. I do think he needs to start the formal processes and push as hard as he feels able to do (appreciate he must feel very ill). This is his health at stake, and even a few weeks more delay sounds like it could be detrimental.

Would it help if his GP or consultant provided a fit note confirming what OH says and then he send that to his line manager and just doesn’t go in? He needs a solution quickly. Good luck OP.

Take all of this information to the boss of his boss. Emphasise that the boss had failed to take into account the information sent about Occupational Health. Complain about the boss’ s competence and the validity of the performance rating. Meet with the Union Rep.
I think you have to play hardball here.

But he's been told (correctly) what to do and has refused to do it because it is too "confrotational". Sorry, but the whole point of being in the union is to be able to submit grievances when you have one and take the bloody union rep to the meetings!!!!! If he continues to ignore this advice then he will get nowhere - following the procedure set down both in policy and law is the backbone of any legal action he may be able to take in the future. There is no other alternative. He is in a union so that the union can get "confrontational" when ones managers / employer are being unreaosnable and they are being unreasonable - and quite possibly unlawfully / discriminatory.

It’s not a privilege if required for a reasonable adjustment in respect of his disability. That’s like suggesting a specific expensive desk chair which is required for someone with chronic back pain to be able to work is a privilege. It’s a legal requirement.

Reasonable adjustments allow people with disabilities and long term health conditions to be in work, and facilitate then being as productive as possible. Without them many wouldn’t be able to work (which is what will happen to the OPs husband if he ends up on dialysis).

Speak to the manager again, explain it so she understands. If that doesn't work, speak to HR. If that doesn't work, submit a flexible working request to WFH. He can do this in rapid order on the same day if need be.

Couldn’t agree with this more.

Sorry but (a) you are not coming across as unsympathic - you ARE being unsympathetic and (b) this is wrong.

You have no idea why they want him in the office - it actually sounds like the manager is being an arse, but that's a guess on my part (and probably better than your guess).

The travel to work area in the UK is typically about 90 minutes, so no, they don't need to move hopuse because the employer of ten years is now being an arse. And there is absolutely no reason to walk away from 10 years employment rights.

"Reasonable adjustments" are not just "within the workplace" and include changes to workplaces, and to roles, based on individual need. Please don't advise on disability law when you know nothing about it. Working from home is a common and manageable reasonable adjustment.

What your partner did and why is irrelevant to anything. Your opinion on remote working is also irrelevant - it may not always be suitable for employees, but it often is too. There is not one size fits all. In this case he is remote working anyway because he is the only person doing a job in the office and is working with others across the company via Teams - the chances of a tribunal thinking that the adjustment isn't reasonable would be quite low since he is effectively already doing it, and the only matter in question is the location of his chair that he makes the call from!

I think that your husband should leave and sue for constructive dismissal. First he needs to overcome his scruples and take union rep to meeting.

She's setting herself up for a disability discrimination grievance and potential tribunal and is skating on very thin ice here! If your dh doesn't do anything, then he's seriously risking his health purely for the whims of this manager.

First steps, speak to his union rep and get a grievance raised. She's denying reasonable adjustments for no good business reason and this is breaking the law as per equality act 2010. I can almost guarantee that his adjustments will be put into place once senior management gets wind of it as they won't want legal action taken against them due to one poor manager.

HR are there to protect the organisation

the organisation has a clear and legal
duty to make reasonable adjustments

OH have suggested adjustments

for the organisations to assess whether reasonable.

the fact the manager has not even read this is a pretty clear indication that no adjustments have been made.

and they sound reasonable from what you have said.

please tell him to escalate to HR. there is no way the manager is following policy at the moment

Don’t do this

Okay thanks for all the advice. His job is perfectly doable from home with occasional office visits. He is willing to go in once a week even though the OHS report didn't advise it. I know it's not ideal but surely it's better than him not working at all when he can still do his job and doing it well.

Just to answer a question asked, the commute didn't used to be as long but there's been ongoing roadworks on the motorway he uses with no end in sight. He also used to stay a night with his mother who lives near his work but he can't do this anymore.

He is now taking the union rep into the meeting with him tomorrow, he will ring acas while he's driving home tonight. We have savings so could pay for an employment law solicitor if needed. See what the outcome is tomorrow first, maybe she'll see sense! This boss is actually sitting in for his real boss who is off on maternity. His real boss is lovely and is really sympathetic to letting him get his job done whichever suits him. She won't be back for at least another year though.

I will get him to appeal against the PIP, thanks. That would really help us.

honestly the union rep (if they are half decent)
will sort this out for him

Check your house insurance to see if you have legal cover for employment disputes. Does he have access to sickness policies and is his manager for losing those policies? it looks like he only requires reasonable adjustments to manage his illness, I would engage with HR asap as ask for their advice

Ffs - is his manager following those policies (stupid autocorrect)

Do get advice about appealing the PIP, as a PP above suggested. We did this for DS1 and won. I made sure that I wrote about what he was like at his worst, with no sugar coating. I hope you can turn this around, OP.

DO NOT take legal advice independantly of the union! If you do so then the union will witrhdraw. It's in the rule book(s) and for perfectly sensible reasons - you can take their advice, or you can take someone elses advice, but you can't expct them to pick up the pieces when you do something that somebody else advised. You only ever take indpendant advice if the union fails to support you or you are prepared to go it alone. I won't pretend that unions are perfect, but nobody is. And you need to bear in mind that people often confuse two things - just because you don't like the union advice doesn't mean they are wrong. People often think that unions and employment law can fix anything - often they can't. But that isn't the fault of the unions (although it is often the fault of employment law!).

He should NOT go in prepared to negotiate! And make sure his union rep knows this. It is not a discussion about how often he is prepared to go in. It is a discussion about his DISABILITY, the recommendations of THEIR occupational health and how HIS MANAGER is going to implement those recommendations. The employer doesn't have to implement them - but they would be bloody stupid not to without a really substantial reason to refuse, and given what you have said about his role and the size of the company, that would probably need to be a VERY, VERY, VERY good reason. You never go in to a meeting asking for less than you want, and you don't negotiate unless your position is weak. His position is not weak. He needs to offer no compromise.

Come over to the crappy kidneys thread on the general health board.
Lots of knowledge and support from people with similar health issues.
And their partners. And we're all lovely 😊

I agree, but I would offer some caution. Lots of people think PIP is about having a disability. It isn't. It is about the degree of impact that disability has on your everyday activities. There is a huge difference between a disability, which may have very little impact (sometimes to the extent that many people don't consider themselves to have a disability) and being eligible for PIP. And sometimes people think that the disability is enough and describe their condition rather than describe the impact. Equally, as I said, there may be little impact. I have arthritis. I have had arthritis for many years, some of which I wouldn't have even really known about it. Arthritis is a disability, but for many of those years I would had a perfectly normal life and activities, even when I knew that I had it. But now I can't walk without pain, my feet go numb due to the artristis in my spine so I cannot walk very far before I have to rest, I am slow, I cannot easily do household tasks etc. In other words I now get PIP because the impact on my life is huge. The OP to look at the impact, and given his condition, it may actually be that he wouldn't qualify. I do agree with getting proper advice, because knowing the words to use and the system does help with successful applications, but I would also be realistic about his condition and how much it impacts. This site is really worth signing up to www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip as their advice is consdiered second to none in a successful application.