Sick leave and return with reduced hours

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I might be jumping the gun a bit because I don't have all the details, so sorry for that but I'm in need of advice for my MIL. She's recently had an operation and will be off sick in total for about 3 months. On her return to work she won't be able to physically do the job she did before (shoulder problem). Her employers have told her that they can only offer her a part time position which she isn't happy with, mainly because she can't afford to. I understand that they have to provide an appropriate role or that they could potentially dismiss by capabilty but are they allowed to force a permanent reduction in hours?

Is the problem classed as a disability do you know? If so, then her employer is obliged to make reasonable adjustments where possible to enable her to keep working.

Other than that, if she is unable to do her job then they can potentially dismiss for capability reasons as you know. To do so fairly they would be expected to look for alternative employment within the organisation if it were available and then only dismiss her if there was nothing else. But if the only suitable position that is available is part time, they are not expected to increase the hours to match hers.

Its worth double checking whether they intend for her to be doing pt for good or whether they are saying it is pt with pt pay for a certain amount of time.