Dismissed My Job Due To Absence linked to my Disability

[mummytippy]

Apologies for my lengthy post. I added a post (in May) regarding wanting advice for my employer to look to make reasonable adjustments for me due to my disability of hearing loss and Tinnitus. I had been employed by my ex employer 22 months. I had gone of work last November due to work related stress but was also waiting on an Audiology referral to come through. My employer was aware of all of my health issues. I had an attendance and wellbeing review (AWR) in May and was told I could discuss appropriate headsets at my next AWR which was scheduled for 18/6. I did contact the RNID and Tinnitus UK so that I could gather as much knowledge as I could prior to this. Before the AWR in June I had also bumped in to a colleague who has a similar hearing issue to me and he had recommended the headset he wears and sent me a link for it which I forwarded to my team leader. Just before the AWR, I then received an invitation for a capability assessment/attendance review to take place on 23/6. I contacted my TL and she said that it might not go ahead. It would depend on the outcome of the AWR with her. I had a fit note with a return to work date of 14/7 with recommendations from my GP. On the 18/6 I attended the AWR and tried to discuss my RTW but it was like the tone had completely changed. I took with me a proposed phased RTW plan to discuss, information from the RNID, Tinnitus UK and also evidence I had been speaking with an Employment Support Advisor via Talking Therapies but it all seemed to fall flat and was met with no interest. I was dumbfounded. I asked my TL to discuss my proposed phased RTW plan emphasising it would need to meet with her approval but she was not interested. She was really quiet. The note taker during the AWR was also a TL I knew (but not well) and he asked me questions which I felt were hostile. The whole experience was awful. I felt completely ganged up on. I did manage to show my white noise sound support and show how it sits behind my ear. The reasonable adjustments I asked for were: to sit somewhere quite on ‘in office days’ and for ad-hoc additional health breaks to adjust/remove my sound support. These were agreed to verbally. Where I raised the question about the link to the headset and the link I’d sent my TL, she said that she had been unable to follow the link and she asked why I had not just bought one. I explained that we were due to discuss headsets at this AWR. there was a cool response, my proposed phased RTW plan was merely photocopied and I was told the Capability/Attendance Review Hearing would still be going ahead. At this point in time I had 2 further medical appointments to still attend. One was my final session of CBT therapy due to happen the day of the hearing (23/6) and the other was with the Audiologist on 20/6 (rescheduled from 30/5 due to the Audiologist being ill). This was a follow up appointment to see how I was getting on with the sound support. Through my employer I had private medical cover. I had spoken with them at the end of May and a report was compiled. The report stated I have a disability and that my employer should allow me to trial a RTW after all my medical appointments were completed.
as I hadn’t like the time of the AWR and the Attendance Hearing was still going to go ahead, I sent a letter to my TL requesting a reasonable adjustment for the 2 requests above. This was never acknowledged. On top of this, when the notes from the AWR meeting were sent to me, they were inaccurate and incomplete. I replied to the email containing the Tale notes with my version of the notes asking for them to be recompiled. This was not done before the hearing. I had joined the Union but too late for them to represent me but they were able to give me basic advice which was if I wasn’t happy with the notes I needed to make this clear but I could attend the hearing to discuss my return to work. Unfortunately I didn’t receive a reply from the Union representative until after the hearing but the morning of the hearing I did send the hearing manager an email to ask her if it could please be rescheduled and why. She declined and because in the invite it had said that a decision on my employment could be made in my absence I felt I had no choice but to attend. My final session of CBT took place and ended an hour before the hearing. I did have a colleague attend and take notes. The hearing was a hideous experience. The hearing manager was very dismissive of my health issues and seemed to have an issue with my proposed phased RTW plan. I emphasised I was not happy with the notes from the AWR and that the RTW was a proposal. From the audiology appointment on the 20/6 the audiologist had put a new program on the device which was a hearing aid function and this was a significant improvement for both my hearing and Tinnitus. I was advised to have a period of ‘habituation’ to get used to this so explained this. In relation to the CBT my practitioner had advised a period of stabilisation following this (as she had also recommended I have some bereavement counselling too). I explained this and I must point out the final reports were not available at this time as still being typed up by the health professionals. I was just completely unheard. The hearing manager had also still been sending additional things into the appendices for this hearing on the 20/6 which was just one working day before the hearing (as a Friday) so I felt everything was rushed. The hearing manager ended the hearing at it was agreed I would speak with my GP to see if I could return to work sooner than 14/7 so I had agreed I would seek their guidance due to the recommendations above from the Audiologist, CBT practitioner and the companies healthcare provider which stated phased RTW at beginning of July after all appointments completed. About and hour after the meeting the hearing manager phoned me and asked if I could RTW on 30/6 and she would put 24/6 through to 27/6 through as annual leave. As I was away from 24/6 because my boyfriend had booked a surprise short break for me as I’d had a rough time and he knew I did not want to take any further time off work after returning, the earliest I could see my GP was on 30/6. I assured her I would seek their guidance on 30/6 and update her as soon as possible. I felt very pressured and told her this. I did this on 1/7 sending a revised fitnote in with a RTW of 7/7 with my GPs recommendations in the comments which included the habituation period and the stabilisation period and details of a phased return to work. I also added that I was open to speaking with my TL to discuss the plan for the following week during the course of that week. She acknowledged receipt, said she was still reviewing my case and that she would be in touch on 3/7 with her decision. I had logged in on my work laptop through the week, reading emails and preparing myself to return. On 3/7 I received her decision which was to dismiss me. She stated I had further delayed my return to work. I was distraught. I feel like I have been punished. I appealed the decision but the outcome remained the same. The hearing manager of the Appeal Hearing was a Customer Service Manager so I feel this wasn’t really appropriate either as no HR / Occupational Health element. I am now going through the Early Conciliation process with ACAS. I would like reinstatement as I do not feel I should have lost my job. My boyfriend (we do not live together) works for the same company (it is where we met) and I just feel completely isolated now as this has made things very awkward. I feel I have lost my career. My colleagues (our colleagues) who became friends now feel awkward. I’m now unemployed, obviously have outgoings and have gone from being in a secure position to the opposite and where I had improved my mental health to return to work, this has deteriorated again due to what has happened. If anyone could please advise me as I am so upset about all of this. TIA.

@mummytippy Why are you deliberately ignoring questions about the reason on your Fit Note for your absence, your work related stress and why you want to be re-instated?

Also, it is now October, you were dismissed at the beginning of July what has changed in those months that has made you decide you want to be re-instated?

1. what was the reason for work related stress? Was this covered in the fit note?
2. for tinnitus, why couldn’t you have returned when you got the headset (and why did it take months to sort this?)
3. why did you need a GP appointment when your fit note expired before going back to work?

I worked from home with 2 office days per month. I was looking for somewhere quieter to sit in office days.

This is so weird - so all the being off working waiting for adjustments was because of 2 days a month that you were in the office, but the rest of the time you wfh so could manage the environment/sound issues yourself. I'm really stumped as to why you had to be off for months, unless it wasn't really to do with the RA/disability aspect and was really about the stress/anxiety which isn't covered by the disability but you are folding it in to make your case stronger.

Also it now turns out that the company had a 24/7 GP service you could have used, so if it was so vital for you to see a GP before returning to work (and as many have said, that wasn't essential and you could have seen your GP after returning to work anyway), then you could have seen the company GP instead of creating this helpless situation where you couldn't see your own GP till after your holiday. It's neither here nor there whether you 'liked' their GP service. Your GP may well be 'fantastic' but this was a situation where you needed to see a GP and you took your own sweet time, further delaying your return to work, which was the death knell for this job. It's so odd that you can't see that and expect your employer to put up with endless delays based on what you prefer and what your boyfriend's done etc.

Why do you want to be reinstated OP? I'm not having a dig and have read your replies, but not everyone else's so this may already have been asked but not answered. It doesn't sound like the job is the right fit for you, the relationship between you and your employer appears to have broken down, and you would have the additional tress of not being able to be ill in future, not without it causing anxiety for you and probably bad-feelings amongst your employers and colleagues. Sometimes its better to walk away from a situation and on the face of it, this is one of those situations. I'm just wondering why you want to effectively force them into taking you back.

because of 2 days a month that you were in the office, but the rest of the time you wfh so could manage the environment/sound issues yourself.

It’s shocking isn’t it, good luck OP finding another cushy WFH with only 2 days a month in the office job especially when your new employer requests references and one of the questions is attendance which is why I suspect you are going for a tribunal now rather than when you were sacked and you realise you have really shot yourself in the foot for future employment. No sympathy from me you have brought all this on yourself.

I think it helps if you are in ops position to think that everything is being done to you . Locus of control is external if I have remembered rightly. Posts like this help me as a people manager to understand how people’s minds work. They are really useful. My locus is very internal.

Re the short break.. . It was a break abroad and the flight was 09:05 on 24/6 (day after the hearing)
Your holiday was day after the hearing so why didn't you go @mummytippy ?

@NellieElephantine I did go on the break

It's funny how you're answering trivial questions like this, but not the important ones, like:

• How is your "disability" related to the reason you were signed off sick in November 2024 i.e. work-related stress? and
• Have you taken professional legal advice?

@PlacidPenelope I have been fighting to be reinstated since the date I was dismissed. I have exhausted internal processes so am now going through ACAS this is why it is now October.

@mummytippy

Can we just clear some things up in a way that is easy to understand.

1. What was on your fit note For your first absence with this employer in 2024?

2. Did your employer address those issues and install RA to help fix those issues?

3)a) You worked for 7ish months after returning from the first absence; how was that? How was your performance and how was your employed with managing your needs?
b) You were suffering tinnitus at this time. Did you tell your employer, and did you ask for a headset or more RA?

4. You then went off sick in November 24, 8 months after the tinnitus diagnosis. What was on this fit note? It led to 7/8 months off work. So what were the actual documented reasons for this time off - was it stress, mental health or the tinnitus or all of it? Not just stuff you chatted about on the phone to your manager, but what was documented on the fit note?

5. What caused such a long delay in getting back to work? Was it waiting for CBT? Or waiting for the hearing aid? Was this documented on the fit note and why couldn’t you work whilst waiting for treatment?

How come you couldn't keep working when your role is wfh all but 2 days a month? Why wait for the changes at the office when you're barely in there?

Fair enough, thanks for explaining that. Now could you answer why you want to be reinstated to this job?

What was the actual reason given for your dismissal?

I think it was 2 days a month in the office and the rest of the time WFH.

Thanks I am a bit confused about all this I thought she worked 2 days a week from home

I am not sure why the company would actually want you back.

Your attendance is going to be a real issue when seeking new employment especially given that lots of recruiting firms ask how many days off an employee has had. Even if they do take you back I reckon this has been going on for so long that they will ‘manage’ you out and they will watch your performance like hawks.

can you not go back to your previous company? Or were there issues there as well.

I suspect the best you can hope for is a negotiated reference.

I work with people who have hearing loss and tinnitus everyday of my working life. I also refer them to ENT for related issues. You have absolutely taken the piss. I cannot recall anyone who has used it as an excuse not to work for months on end. You should move to my area OP, the wait for ENT can be 18 months, instead of the 38 weeks or however long you managed to stay off. I suspect the big problem is that your adjustments are not reasonable. You don’t need several breaks a day to adjust a hearing aid, it takes seconds, especially if it’s connected to an app.

It is estimated that anywhere from 10-20% of the population experience regular tinnitus. It is not sustainable for all those people to take months of sick leave.

@PlacidPenelope I would like to be reinstated as I was good at my job and enjoyed helping people.

You think that but what does the TL and company think? Given that you were off 10 months out of 22 they might have another opinion.

I think you are kidding yourself.
Out of 22 months possible work you only did 12. Out of the 10 months off you had at least 3 off with work related stress in the first 12 months of your employment.
As others have pointed out, this job isn't a good fit for you.

@PlacidPenelope The reason for dismissal was a longer period of absence than normal and delaying my return to work even though the company’s own health provider had said to allow all of my medical appointments to have taken place which they did. One was on the day of the attendance review and it had been recommended a period of habituation after the audiology appointment and stabilisation period after the final CBT appointment which was the same day.

“Own health provider”
Do you mean occupational health or just a doctor paid for by their private insurance who wrote you a sick note?

@TheOnlyWayisGerard Thanks for that. There was an awful lot of anxiety and stress linked to my hearing loss and Tinnitus diagnosis. I didn’t take the 38 weeks off while waiting, I worked and then when it all got too much I went off.

You keep talking about your disability but your disability wasn’t the cause of your absence. You were signed off because of your mental health problems, not for having tinnitus in one ear. Your employer did make reasonable adjustments for your mental health problems by putting arrangements in place to accommodate your panic attacks.

Your disability is a minor hearing impairment on one side. That is not why you have been absent for almost half your total employment. You have been absent because of your anxiety. That might include anxiety about the hearing impairment you describe as a disability, but it is the anxiety that’s stopped you working, not the tinnitus itself.

The fact that the holiday you went on (which stopped you doing what you needed to do re. your absence and fit notes) was booked by your boyfriend is irrelevant. You didn’t have to go. It isn’t your employer’s problem that your boyfriend spent money on the trip, or that he didn’t want to go without you. Surely you must see that?

It's unrealistic for you to want to get your job back OP - employment tribunals reinstate fewer than 1% of claimants to their former employment as there has usually been a fundamental breach of trust in the employment relationship (and there clearly has been in yours!). In any case, you are running out of time to make an ET1 claim (you have 3 months minus 1 day from the date of dismissal i.e. 3rd July 2025) - the early conciliation phase pauses this clock, but it only lasts 6 weeks so you'll have to get your skates on once ACAS has issued the Early Conciliation Certificate for your case. So, again I ask, have you taken professional legal advice?