HR

[NameChange101113]

I was given a letter to attend Stage 3 meeting regarding absences due to my disabilities, where it stated I could potentially be dismissed. I asked the HR officer if I should resign, since I’d probably end up being dismissed anyway.

She re-assured me that I wouldn’t be dismissed because if the employer wanted to dismiss me, he’d call me “into his office and do it that way.”

Long story short, I ended up being dismissed. I feel so stupid for believing the HR officer. I feel so wronged that she told me I wouldn’t be dismissed, then ended up having my contract terminated immediately.

Do I have any grounds to attend a tribunal for that issue with HR? I’ve already decided that I’m going to make a tribunal claim for disability discrimination anyway (for other reasons that I haven’t mentioned).

I had worked there for 3 years btw.

Thanks

Oh. It took them three weeks for the appeal decision to be made too… Even though after my appeal hearing, they told me that they would come to a decision within five working days, as per ACAS guidance…

I experienced two counts of direct disability discrimination too. I told line manager about my mental illness diagnosis the day after I received it. Then, a week later I had my probation period extended by 3 months due to “confidence issues.”

Some time later, I was told during an internal interview that I “needed to sort my head out.” I didn’t get the role, but someone who had less experience in the role got it instead…

My former line manager told someone else that I wasn’t in that day due to “being in hospital with (name of disability).” She leaked my medical data without a reasonable motive for doing so. My disability became a subject of gossip. I was so hurt.

There is much more to just my dismissal. Believe it or not, there are other incidents that I haven’t disclosed here…

Submitted my claim to the tribunal service. My former employer should be informed within 25 days

Unless both of those resulted in improvement periods - my place does 3 months improvement period and then a following 12 months. If the most recent absence was within 15 months then it is possible I would say.

You're not telling us the full story. 9 days off in 12 months wouldn't cause you to be dismissed. A disciplinary meeting in 2022 and 2023 must be for other absences, so it's more than nine days off in 12 months. if you want advice, you have to be honest with us so we can help you

Got my notes in front of me

Stage 1 - 6 days off due to my diagnosed illnesses, which they knew about (Winter 2022 - Spring 2023).

Stage 2 - 5 days off due to an infection (Winter 2023)

Stage 3 - 4 days off due to my diagnosed illnesses, again, which they knew about. I was hospitalised for two of these days, of course, I had no choice but to be there. (Winter 2023-Spring 2024)

Only one of these absences was due to general illness, not a disability.

6 months.

Wow. That’s incredibly generous.

What did ACAS have to say?

I explained that my former employer did not send me the outcome of my appeal until three weeks after the hearing. They told me delay is a common tactic by employers in hope that the claimant runs out of time etc.

They advised me to sent my claim ASAP, which I did.

“In the NHS you get 3 absences in 6 months (all up to 7 days self cert) or 4 in 12 if you breach that you get an informal discussion about it. That's stage one.

Wow. That’s incredibly generous.”

And also one of the reasons it’s on its knees (like so many public services)

NHS workers deserve the most generous absence policy possible. They put up with a hell of a lot more than they should, sadly. I can’t imagine the stress they go through due to lack of Government funding, abuse, or any other reason.

It's not the same policy in all Trusts. At mine, 3 absences in 12 months triggers an informal meeting. 4 absences in 12 months, or exceeding the Trust's average absence percentage in 12 months, triggers a formal meeting.

Did they not offer the conciliation service? Not sure if that’s still obligatory or not, but it’s usually much quicker with the current tribunal lead time.

I’m sure a lot of them do put up with all sorts. But it’s quite telling when people purposely seek out a public sector job for their lenient absence management. Talk about abuse 😔

They offered it, but it isn’t compulsory. To be honest, I have no intention in settling, especially so early on.

I’m not going to apply for a role just for its lenient absence management policy

And people who abuse it get dismissed, we had several people fired a few years ago for patterns of sickness behaviour and regular sickness.
I am proud of my job with its lenient sickness policy as if I have a bad year (like 2 years ago when I had a trapped nerve and pains and couldn't work for 6 months) I know my job is secure.
Vice versa I pay it forward by not taking sickness unless I really need to, not been off ill for 2 years now.

Got a potential comparator for one of my claims for direct discrimination too.

A colleague in the same role as me had more sick days off work over the course of one year due to general illnesses (think flu and stomach bug etc) and has no disabilities. My comparator was not asked to attend a Stage 3 meeting at all.

However, I had less time off due to sickness compared to the comparator, even though my absences were spaced out over the course of two and a half years. All but one of my absences were disability related, yet I was invited to a Stage 3 meeting, then I was subsequently dismissed. Employer was aware of all of my disabilities.

This has got to be worth raising, right?

First off, breathe. This sounds very stressful. I hope you have a good support network?

Second, HR should have never given the advice they did not should the meeting gone ahead without giving you enough time to arrange a union rep to attend. I think there is definitely scope here to make a complaint on these things alone. What has your union said since being dismissed?

Just skimmed through. From my understanding absence owing to disability should be treated differently to normal absence?

I've learnt through many years working in various places HR on generally crap and represent the company and not the employee. I wouldn't never trust HR in any instance where my reputation, job etc could be compromised and is exactly why I am with a union.

That’s my argument too, but the absence policy is there to treat everyone “in the same, fair way.” According to my former employer.

I’ve always held the same opinion too. At that instance, I was vulnerable and trusted her inside knowledge. Lesson learned, the hard way, unfortunately.