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.

when wfh why was there any need for a specific headset? Laptops have inbuilt sound and microphone. Headsets can help isolate sound when there is background noise, with ha or not, and you can alter the balance of sound.

Oh oh... let me tell you I've been through double parental bereavement, one this year. I am menopausal, and had to fight 5 years for HRT. I have a severe anxiety disorder, depression and care for a very disabled DH whilst also juggling a demanding outside paid job. Don't assume none of us struggle.

@pinkdelight I spoke to the Equality Advisory Support Service, The RNID and Tinnitus UK. Each one advised me it was the duty of my employer to provide me with the correct equipment. I also suffer with Sciatica and they had provided me with chair. This was no different. The company has a DSE responsibility and had provided a colleague with a headset, why should it have been any different for me especially when my AWR on 18/6 was to do this but then at the actual meeting they had changed their tone.

You couldn't have just bought the headset and put it in as expenses?

I agree that they should have provided you with a headset, but you weren't at work! Why would they waste money on an adjustment for someone who may or may not be coming back?

Firstly, as someone said you weren't at work.

Secondly, even if they didn't pay for it, it's only £30. It would be better to suck it up and not go off sick on just SSP for months then pay £30, and be back to normal wage.

You sound like an incredibly difficult employee tbh.

Some of us know very well what it's like being disabled. When I was job hunting, I was also aware that I couldn't apply for certain jobs because they would be incompatible with my disabilities

There are laws in place to protect disabled people. But the key here is reasonable. I wouldn't want to take someone on whose had the amount of time off that you've had

Over the space of 5 years I have lost my father, my mother, my mother in law and my stepfather. None in pleasant circumstances. I required counselling after losing my father and spent a short period of time on anti depressants as a result of the grieving process. 2 years ago I was diagnosed with a degenerative hearing loss which I am struggling to manage. I have had knee surgery resulting in me having to give up a sport I was involved with all my adult life. My DH has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
In all that time, I had short periods of absence for bereavement. I was fortunate that my knee surgery was at the very start of lockdown and as a teacher I managed to WFH whilst my school was closed. I am in my late 60s and still teach part time.
Please don’t assume that nobody on here has had an easy time and therefore have no idea what you’re going through. You do need to be very clear that employers do not have to implement any adjustments for people who have had extremely high absences if it is unreasonable. You’re fighting a losing battle. Also, you haven’t yet answered my questions so I’ll ask them again:
what work did you do after your dM died and before you took this job; what work do you currently do since you lost your job in the spring.

@Catsknowbest I’m not and that’s why I said the majority - not all. I was like you but something gave in my strength towards the end of last year. I lost my Dad in 2020 and my Mum 18 months later in December 2021. Have a teenager that was sitting exams. I have self supported myself financially. All I was asking in my original post was had anyone else been in my position. It wasn’t an invitation for people to make assumptions and be rude. You should know as you’ve been through it.

So now we are up to hearing loss, tinnitus, working related stress, mental health, menopause and sciatica.

As an employer, I would not invest in RAs for a member of staff who had been off sick for months with an unrelated condition. I would wait until we had a confirmed return date. This is just common sense.

If your argument is that the reason you were unable to work for 7 months was because you didn't have a £30 headset, did you explain that you could go back immediately as soon as the appropriate headset was provided? Or were you still signed off with a mental health condition at that time?

You said it was clear to you that the majority of posters had not suffered x,y,z. That's going to turn out to be wrong.

Sorry for the loss of your parents.

But cant you see why the company might not want you back?

lots of people have lots of shit going on but they don’t necessarily only work 12 months in just under two years.

@LIZS Requirement of the company to have a business approved headset. One colleague was given a warning for wearing a gaming headset that he preferred.

At the end of the day it sounds like your employer just doesn’t think that the amount of time / resources that you need to do your job are worth their investment.

All business decisions are a balance and you have, rightly or wrongly, generated vast amounts of admin issues through a variety of illnesses.

Sorry OP but they owe you nothing. You turned up for less than half of your employment.

OP, I'm sorry for the loss of your parents, but most of us have shit going on in our lives. And tbh, I have several staff within my team who have been dealing with far more than the things that you have listed, and yet they manage to keep functioning. I'm not saying that to kick you when you're down, but merely to highlight that your circumstances really aren't that unusual.

OP I don’t think you will achieve anything arguing with people on this thread. If you want proper legal advice on the viability of any claim and you might qualify for legal aid follow my previous post. If you don’t qualify see if there is a law centre near you who can advise you.

But surely you knew which models they approved and could just order one?

Unlikely to qualify for legal aid if the case doesn't pass the merits test. And few law centres will have funding to do discrimination cases which don't qualify for legal aid.

Even if they'd bought the headset months ago, you would still have been unable to work because of your mental illness. Right?

@MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack I had a confirmed return to work date in line with the companies healthcare provider in a report - the beginning of July. I also had a fit note with a return date in it that matched with their recommendations from my GP detailing needing to get used to my hearing aid (habituation) and a stabilisation period after completing CBT sessions.

I hadn’t bought a headset because I needed to find one that would fit with my hearing aid that was approved by the business. I did buy one the day after the AWR and showed it to camera at my attendance review.

Why did you leave your last company?

@PhilosophicalCheeseSandwich No. I just needed to have completed CBT which was completed at the end of June hence wanting to discuss headsets at AWR on 18/6 in readiness for returning but the company did not want to discuss.

How would they know if you wfh?

@Soontobe60 I’m sorry for your loss and traumas. When my Mum passed away in 2021 I wasn’t working. I spent around 14 months doing the admin/probate (as my Dad had died previously in 2020). The job I’ve just lost was my main job after their bereavements. It’s been hard and then I had the health issues arise and the hearing loss. I’m currently looking for another job seeing as I’m not likely to be reinstated.