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.

But they will only have been verifying what you told them. You do not need to habituate ha or any adjustments, you can do that in your own time and work. Did your mh really not improve until end of June?

I have to say, I’ve never known someone take 16 months off for bereavement.

A colleague of mine lost both of her parents in one year, her total bereavement leave might have been about two months. My ex-husband had 6 weeks when his father died.

My own staff have probably averaged 4-8 weeks, roughly. After the funeral usually.

Each to their own and all that but the last few years sound very in and out for you.

No I didn’t.

Right, so there was no actual point in the company buying you a headset while you were still signed off sick with a mental health condition. So they were not at all unreasonable in failing to provide you with this equipment because that was based on a future need that would only become relevant once you returned to work.

Your main objection seems to be that your employer sacked you for poor attendance before you had got used to the hearing aid. However, they sacked you for poor attendance that was primarily because of your mental health. The two do not really seem to be related.

You seem very hung up on the recommendations that were provided by what you keep describing as the company's health care provider, but from what you've said in your OP, this is merely a private health care provider funded by a corporate health insurance scheme, and not an occupational health doctor. Is that correct? And do you understand that doctors have a remit to advise on health issues only? They can make recommendations about health related issues but they do not advise on employment law and they do not dictate employment decisions.

But this hasn’t happened to you. You are talking of other people. Ever one’s experience is very different to the next. It takes as long as it takes does the journey of bereavement and it depends on multiple factors. You sound a very judgmental person. The 16 months I didn’t work I was able to support myself financially. Not that really need to explain or justify myself to you.

Exactly! In the time taken to ask all those people about the issue, Amazon could’ve delivered it.

It’s also telling that OP assumes no one else here suffers bereavements, tinnitus and the rest when plenty of posters have and worked on in jobs that weren’t wfh almost all the time. Course we’re all different but the bottom line is that this job is incompatible with OP, that was clear from very early on and to not accept that is helping no one. The fact she can’t accept it shows how far from being well she is, I guess, so she’ll have to carry on until it sinks in and she’s ready to find a role that’s more suitable.

I find it hard to see how all the RAs relating to the hearing loss are connected to the sickness absence - you were signed off with mental ill health not tinnitus. Tinnitus was added to your fit note because it affected your mental health. Then you put off your return to work date - it's not a shock that your employer decided to cut their losses. I'm sorry but work related stress isn't considered a disability under the equality act (apart from in some very rare cases) so I don't think this comes under disability discrimination. If you have to take two long periods of sickness due to WRS in the first 2 years of the role then the role is not for you.

Your expectations of the workplace vs your sense of personal responsibility are WILDLY off base, OP. You will continue to have the same issues elsewhere until you start to take on board what everyone is saying to you.

You didn't need to visit the GP.

Most people with mental health issues, bereavements, and disabilities keep working OP. I’m guessing you have a husband who is able to pay your mortgage, bills etc? Lots of us don’t have that option and simply can’t risk taking months and months of sick leave and then refuse to return to work until after a GP appointment.

In the last four years I’ve lost a parent and an aunt, become seriously physically disabled on top of neurodiversity which already existed, got ptsd as a result of the accident that made me disabled and was subjected to a violent rape, sexual assault and non-fatal strangulation incident. And I’ve gone through the menopause.

your point is?

As a former union rep, I agree.

I suspect he was actually just making a point to the OP about people who show no interest in or support for their trade union until the time comes when they need a fuck-load of immediate, expensive and time-consuming help.

Seriously, folks, if you ever want the help of a trade union, join when you start the job and pay your inexpensive monthly subscription, rather than joining only when you know you’re facing a disciplinary. A union is there as a collective to make things better for everyone, every day, not as a legal team who can you can just engage for £15 a month in an emergency.

I think the difference was that you weren’t actually at work at the time.

You couldn't ask?

I guess I am quite a judgmental, cynical person when it comes to workplace absence.

That comes from managing people, some of whom take the absolute proverbial and avoid work like the plague. Or throw in a WRS sick note when things won’t go their way.

It’s really hard/annoying to manage long term sick, not that I’d imagine you care, because you’re a person down but can’t appoint to replace them. It leaves the rest of the team overloaded and therefore potentially morale drops, because everyone is picking up work for someone who may not return, and if they do they’re never sure how long for.

I’ll admit that professionally I have a really, really low threshold for sickness that could be avoided, or not returning when you could have. It shows a lack of commitment to the job you’re employed to do, and rarely ends well.

OP I think you need to accept their decision and move on. You’ve had a significant amount of absence. You say you “wanted”
to go through the NHS, this seems a significant error on your part if you had employee benefits. It looks avoidant of returning to work!

It wasn’t an invitation for people to make assumptions and be rude

And yet that's exactly what you've now done in assuming posters haven't been through what you have

You're really not helping yourself here, OP, but nevertheless I wish you all the best in finding a more suitable job

Exactly. I don't know why the OP has claimed that they failed to make reasonable adjustments or why she is suggesting that she has been treated differently from other colleagues. The employer had already agreed to the proposed adjustments, but realistically, what employer is going to purchase special equipment for an employee who hasn't been worked for months due to an unrelated health issue? I don't know why the OP isn't acknowledging this.

She seems very confused, and her posts on here give us a few insights into what this might look like from the employer's side of the story.

But you are claiming you were unable to work due to your employer not making adjustments for your tinnitus - which is entirely separate to your bereavements and anxiety.

Nobody is denying you’ve had some stress in your life. The point is that you are claiming you were discriminated against because of your disability, which you were not. You weren’t sacked because of your disability. You were sacked because after adjustments were put in place for your mental health problems you felt you were still not able to work and then you failed to do the things you needed to, such as accelerating your treatment with the private healthcare offer, or being available on the necessary dates instead of going on a mini-break.

I really don’t care whether people work or not. If people can be satisfied by the pared down lifestyle they can manage on benefits, that’s fine by me. But you cannot expect to be paid SSP indefinitely for a condition your employer has already helped you to manage, while not doing the things required of you to demonstrate that you’re entitled to it.

Your past posts suggest that you have a very long history of disputes and legal wranglings and so on with different organisations and people, in which you are always convinced that you and yours are being wronged and that nothing can be your fault.

You weren't working and it took you FOURTEEN MONTHS to obtain probate?! Unless your DM had a complex estate with off-shore investments and owned properties abroad, it should have taken you two months max' to complete the PA1P and no more than a further four months for probate to be granted.

Your past posts suggest that you have a very long history of disputes and legal wranglings and so on with different organisations and people, in which you are always convinced that you and yours are being wronged and that nothing can be your fault

This is sadly true, @bauhausofeliott and may also inform how this all appears to the employer, who really can only do so much if an employee's not even going to be there

Tribunals can be all bread and circuses for some, but there's a lot to be said for learning and moving on instead

I’d focus on getting a reference and possibly asking if you can resign rather than be dismissed. Will make it easier to get the next job and move on

@AngelicKaty Maybe so but after caring for her after my Father passed away I wasn’t working emotionally exhausted. Sorry not to have fitted in to your time frame.

10-25% of adults suffer from tinnitus. Just imagine if everyone was this dramatic about it.

Before you ask, yes I have it and have for the last 6 years or so. I also have hearing loss and have similar aids to you that are for hearing loss and work to lessen the tinnitus.

Granted I don’t have the added complication of wearing a headset for work, but I do also wear glasses. I picked up my hearing aids and was back at work later that day. I have never heard of anyone needing time off work to adjust to using them.

Honestly, I am surprised your employer didn’t get rid of you sooner. Off with Work related stress when you’ve only been somewhere a few months is not a good sign.

Sorry typo… I wasn’t working and emotionally exhausted after caring for my Mum.