Long Term Sickness

[honeybabe]

I have been working in the same part time job for 6 years but have been off sick for a year with M.E.It is likely that I will still be off for some time.My employers are in regular contact and seem to be subtley putting me under pressure to return to work or resign .As I am part of a team it has been pointed out that they cant fill my place as I am still officially "employed".I have tried to get from them what terms they would offer me in light of my illness with regards to hours etcif/when I did return but cant seem to get anywhere.
Are they permitted to basically hassle me out of my job or should they keep my job open.. and if so for how long? I havent paid into any pension fund so they have already told me i am not eligible to be pensioned off due to illness.

[bigtone]

hi honeybabe
I dont know your legal position but why dont you write to your employer and ask for a return to work interview! then you can discuss what they are prepared to do and help you gradually return to your normal working hours if you are up to it !
Also returning to work might make you feel a bit better
Good luck

[honeybabe]

thanks for that...but I am not considering returning at the moment...believe me going to work doesnt make u feel better when you have M.E!!!

[Siamsal]

In the short term, a lot depends upon what it says in your contract. This subject may be covered under sickness or sick pay. (As an example, mine is something like 6 months at full pay, a further 6 at reduced pay, then finished)

More generally, an employer isn't obliged to keep you on if you are long-term sick (and most people would say 6 months+ is long-term). You can't be forced to resign, no, but they can just sack you.

You don't mention sick pay; are they making up your SSP? You can't expect them to go on doing this indefinitely.

Understand their point of view: the company also has a responsibility to its owners, its customers, the other staff. They have no idea of when you'll be back, so can't make any plans.

[Champagne]

You definitely need to check your contract as companies' policies do differ on this subject.

Whatever the case, bigtone is right in the sense that it would be in your favour to be proactive with your company. If they are hinting that they want to know either way then you could suggest meeting with somebody from work. If you are too ill to travel into work then suggest a home visit. Basically, if they are still binded to you in your contract then it will be difficult for them to sack you, especially if you are showing that you do still want to be in their employment. Good luck whatever the outcome.

[Cennet]

To dismiss you fairly, they will have to go through statutory procedures and ask your permission to contact either your gp or consultant. After that they may want to take further independent medical advice as to the prognosis

You arent guaranteed a job for life whatever happens to you healthwise and the company have to take a wider view as expressed better in a previous answer

Might be worth taking some legal advice as to your position

[honeybabe]

thank you all for your input! I am not on ssp as I did myself an injustice by reducing my hours initially when i was feeling ill (too loyal to my job!!) and subsequently when I eventually went sick I hadnt done enough hours in the preceeding weeks to qualify for sick pay.I claim incapacity benefit instead so I am not costing my firm any money in that respect!
I agree that I need a meeting with someone in HR or similar but asking me when im likely to return is like asking how long is a piece of string! maybe I would be better off resigning and look for a totally new direction when im well enough to work.It pains me to say that as I was on the top grade of pay and having to start again through no fault of my own is sickening!

[honeybabe]

im sure they cant sack me as M.E is subject to the disability discrimination act.

[Cennet]

Anyone can be dismissed if the company can show they dismissed you for other reasons other than your disability - disability does not give you immunity

[Memore]

Hi I work in employment law and there is no legal right to be off sick however they can manage you out of the business once they have shown that they have been supportive in trying to get you back. Once the sickness is exhausted say all sick pay run out and on ssp you may be dismissed under capability however they should send you to their occupational health department and also they can ask you to give them permission to contact your gp = you do not have to give this permission and they cant do it without your agreement under the access to medical reports act but if you dont allow this they have to make a decision based on the info they have. you cannot be pensioned off if not in pension scheme but as you have been there more than 1 year a dismissal carried out may be unfair unless they have done all the above if your prognosis is that you are unlikely to return to work they could lawfully dismiss under another substantive reason in law which is vague if I was you I would ask for a compromise agreement whcih basically is a pay off for you to resign but you sign away your rights to take them to tribunal but you are better off resigning than being dismissed for ill health absence if you want another job - you will be covered by DDA for ME I think as well. They have to accomodate a staggered return to work and give you adjustmentss following a long illness or it wont look good for them in tribunal - if you change your hours you are not entitled to be paid for hours as before but most good companies would maintain salary for period of time. If you have been off for 1 year i can see why company want the situation sorted out

[honeybabe]

thanks for all that! I have already had a medical via work with capita health solutions and they agreed i was not fit for an immediate return to work. As i pointed out I am not on any type of work based ssp only incapacity benefit.Im due my pca assessment with the dwp on wednesday where it is anticipated(but i know not set in stone!) that i will be "signed off" for some considerable time.I feel therefore that I may well resign if that is the case.Thanks for all the info it has been most helpful.

[Memore]

phone acas and see if they can negotiate a deal for you because I tell you what that company would be silly to dismiss if their OH department thinks you are unfit for work and as you are covered by DDA it is difficult for them - you need to play a game a bit by saying that you do eventually want to return to work a compromise agreement would be a resignation that they pay you for but get acas to negotiate for you I am pretty sure its free. especially after 6 years you are in a good position I shouldnt say this and if you were one of my employees I wouldnt give this advice! I know from both sides how this works! Good Luck

[honeybabe]

do I need to be a member of asas? as Im not a member of any union at present.

[Cennet]

You cant join Acas - its a government dept not a union ( only been in existence for 30 years and its stil thought of as a union!)

You can tell your employer that you think their actions may lead to an unfair dismissal/discrmination and if they continue, you will take out a claim at the Employment Tribunal.You or your employer then can contact Acas to ask if they can conciliate in a pre ET1 agreement - it would mean that if an agreement was reached, you would not be able to take your employer to a Tribunal or certains courts

Seek legal advice before you enter into this kind of action and make sure in your own mind what you want to get out of this

[Memore]

You could say the stress of worrying about the job is not helping you - ACAS would be able to arrange what is called a compromise agreement but they call it something else think COT I have only done comprpmise agreement if you dont go to ACAS and your company offer a compromise agreement by law they have to pay for you to have it seen and actioned via a solicitor of your choice usually up to �250 for solicitor fees otherwise it would not be valid.

Tribunal would only be useful to you if they sack you unlawfully - they would have to show they tried to help you back were reasonable offered adjustments etc - You have been off a long time so if they have been reasonable they could go down capability route dependent on what the prognosis was from their own OH based on GP records obtained from your own GP

[honeybabe]

Thanks,I have had some feedback from my line manager about adjustment of hours and distance travelled etc but my job does entail working in the evenings sometimes up to 11pm which i am far from capable of coping with at the moment.By 6pm im worn out! Again they have hinted that working evenings is part of my contract and the job demands it and therefore if im no longer able to do it.........so you can see the dilema I find myself in at the moment.I dont want to resign if there is any way I can obtain a financial settlement as you suggest if they are unable to adjust my job sufficiently to enable me to return to work in my current state of health.

[Memore]

after 6 years experience I would try for that definitely they will know that as well if they are halfway decent as a HR department they probably have already thought about this - I think it is time that you saw either ACAS or a solicitor who specialises in employment law as with all due respect to you - you will need some clout from someone who knows representing you - At least ACAS is free so go there first I would say you have a pretty good case - if your contract says nights a reasonable adjustment would be you not having to do that to start with and building it up but they dont seem to be trying to hard - there isnt anymore advice I can give you now except get some representation - ACAS does have a website think it is www.acas.gov.uk and they are very good - good luck and let us know how you get on. If you need any more help just write on here.

[honeybabe]

thanks for all that its a great help...will keep you posted!

[Cennet]

An Acas agreement is called a COT3 . Acas services are always free and impartial but they dont give advice so you still need to take some legal advice

Good luck Honeybabe

[honeybabe]

Hi to all that were involved in this...I spent MONTHS trying to get an answer from my employers regarding graded return to work and in the end they basically told me i could have adjustments but in practise they are just not workable because of the nature of the job.They couldnt offer me another position as I am a crown employee and ons staff in the main are civil servants,so no joy there.So came home and wrote a letter of resignation after my meeting as I felt I wasnt going to get anywhere...they said I could have a pay of f but it would go on record that I was dismissed through "inefficiency due to ill health"...not something I want on my file for sure. Having sent in a very honest resignation letter I received a bog standard one liner reply that was awful after all those years of high standard hard graft!! It makes my blood boil!! So its back to the drawing board! Thanks for the advice ..it did help!

[ermintrude600]

Hi , I have been off sick since september , I approached my employer this week after consulting with my doctor who recommended another month off then a phased return to work , I have been recieving SSP. I got a letter from my employer this morning stating he wants medical reports, and while I have nothing to hide and will do it, It strikes me that perhaps they dont want me to return as when I then emailed him as couldnt get him on the telephone, I asked what his opinion on the phased reurn was, his reply was he would have to see what the report said and I had to have this Review under employment law?? Does anyone know if this is correct. If my doctor feels I am ok to return to work I dont understand the problem, any thoughts?