Reasonable Adjustment Unfairly Disadvantaging Co-workers?

[Ahoybell]

Similar situation and struggling to find anyone with same circumstances. I'm part of a small team with core hours of 9.30 - 15.30. Need to be in office for 8 hours to break even (otherwise flexi-time credit or deficit). Someone has recently got a 'reasonable adjustment' to handle same workload (from home) but they are only required to log on at 9.45 and very rarely work after 16.00. They do not incur a flexi-time deficit and instead 'break even' every day.
Can I and other colleagues contest this as an unreasonable adjustment given that said person has to work significantly less hours for the same pay?

Adjusting core hours start and end times is a fairly standard option in terms of reasonable adjustments.

As for the rest, you are not entitled to know what reasonable adjustments have been put in place and why.

As someone with a flexible agreement as a reasonable adjustment this sort of thing boils my piss. Unless you 100% KNOW that they are doing less work for the same pay that they would if they did the same hours you did then wind your neck in. If you somehow know they are being paid more for doing less than you then ask for a pay rise or put in a flexible working request yourself.

You simply cannot make the accusation that your colleague is somehow getting a beneficial working deal when you cannot know what the deal they have actually is ?

Whether or not they have an agreement (at least for now) of doing less hours for the same money is simply none of your business.

They may well be on a 'graduated return' to full time hours, or they may have agreed to only do part time hours and agreed to take a pay cut for this, rather than have to either go off long term sick or to leave permanently.

Whatever their 'deal' is, it's simply non of your business.

You need to ignore what your colleague is doing/not doing and concentrate on YOUR work. If you feel you are having to do more work, then address this with your boss, but do NOT say that it's because of your colleague !

Disability and any reasonable adjustments agreed with your employer should not impact other staff, but there may well be a conversation needed to ensure your work/hours/responsibilities are kept as they were, or a suitable financial reward is agreed if you are required to do more.

Trust me, no one ever wants to have their health issues 'aired out' at work with their bosses. It's NOT something that is done for an 'easy life' or for no reason other than laziness. It's embarrassing, soul destroying and takes months of meetings with bosses/unions , doctors/hospital etc which are all hugely stressful, and often impact existing health conditions even more.

So forget about your 'it's not fair' argument, as it's irrelevant and baseless.

Oh gosh, not very understanding or empathetic, are you? God forbid you ever do f yourself in a situation where you may be required a little more grace.

It sounds like you dislike this person and don't believe they have the disability they claim, or are exaggerating?

Unless you are responsible for picking up extra work unpaid and against your contract because of her arrangements, you should probably not say anything.

It could come off optically quite badly for you and you could even be accused of ableism.

You're totally out of order.

You do not know their situation. It is none of your business.

A condition with flare ups is very likely to mean they are dealing with a disability that needs careful management so they don't have a flare up.

You sound like a spiteful child.

If you are unhappy with your own working conditions then raise it. But this is nothing to do with you.

Getting RA is usually really difficult and requires doctors evidence and occasionally health.

In fact, unless you've been told the details by the employee concerned, someone is gossiping in a way that may breach confidentiality..what a horrible work environment for your unwell colleague when they're already dealing with a lot.

Those eight hours include breaks, don't they? So the colleague is taking the Statutory Minimum.

For example, you have a 35 hour week of actual working time (including pottering around in the kitchen, conversations by the photocopier, speaking to various people in person, gossiping about a disabled colleague and how to try and get her Reasonable Adjustments taken away from her etc). 30 of those are in core time.

She does a minimum of 30 hours plus the Statutory minimum break and the past 4pm finishes with no chats by the photocopier or general distractions, so gets more done in that time with no additional detriment to her health condition caused by travel, being there for unpaid time (breaks) and suchlike.

Seems pretty reasonable to me.

Oh, and no, you cannot 'contest' an adjustment made to account for another employee's disability/ongoing health condition. You could complain and find yourself undergoing disciplinary proceedings for attempting to bully somebody on the basis of their Protected Characteristic, though.

These reasonable adjustments are likely to have been agreed after an OH referral.
I think you need to appreciate that sometimes and often in work environments reasonable adjustments do need to be made dependent on a person's individual circumstances. And you may not know everything this person has gone through or experiences. Reasonable adjustments often supports people in work and as employees need to be flexible.
If they have then management t would have considered these factors.
I often get team members questioning others arrangements.
I tell them it's not their business and just to concentrate on what's expected of them.