Case conference at work

Rallymad

Went for my HR meeting on Tuesday, met my union rep outside meeting room, he told me that this is it, they are talking about redeployment or termination!!!!!
Went into room bawling my eyes out, out of 9 months I have been off 5, no company would sustain this so time to get occupational health team involved to see what I can and cannot do, if I cannot do the job then they will look at redeploying me, but what if there is nothing there for me?? Do I need to take a cut in pay???
TBH I am in total shock and can't believe it, I thought that as I have condition that is covered by the Equality Act I would be okay. Then got told that as a member of staff is retiring I am not suitable to take on certain clients (I thought it had been agreed that I was not able to push wheelchairs but still able to do my job). I work with adults with learning disabilities, there are not a lot of them in wheelchairs and that will leave 3 support workers but I am now not suitable to work with some of them. At no time has my job caused me time off, I have had flare ups!!!
So down and upset, to add insult to injury, on walking out of office after speaking to my manager, I went over on my ankle........visit to A&E to be told I have damage to the ligaments in my ankle and could take up to 6wks to heal!!!! :shock:
Was told not to worry about it as this is classed as accident at work, what does that mean????
Thanks for listening to my rant x

Nixxy

Hi,

I just wanted to say how sorry I am to hear what you are going through. Living with a disability is very stressful in itself and struggling with employment does add to it.

I can't provide you with real advice as I expect it is a complex situation with you and employers coming from different places with different priorities. I will say it is positive that you have your union involved although I wouldn't always assume that they will have sufficient expertise to be the best advocates.

Have you had support through Access to Work? If not, get in touch straight away. Also ensure you have copies of all OH reports produced after your consultations. OH should have been involved the minute you disclosed you have arthritis so I hope they have been supportive throughout, if not then use this in your favour. Keep all documents, record all conversations and get expert advice when you need it. If you work for a local authority they may well have a staff support service that gives you access to basic and confidential legal advice. Take whatever you can to strengthen your position.

Also consider what other emotional and financial support you might need. If you really aren't in a position to do core aspects of your current role (which they will need to evidence) and have had such significant time off then maybe you need to really think about what you can and can't do, not just in terms of this role but employment in general. This may mean considering your alternatives. The stress of trying to hold on to a job that you aren't physically fit enough to do may well be contributing to those flares, even if unconsciously.

My employer moves to sickness monitoring and intervention after six days in any rolling twelve month period with increased targets if further days are taken which can quickly lead to disciplinary procedures, disability is always a mitigating factor but I know how stressful just the process is when you have time off for genuine flares.

I hope you find some resolution.

N

Rallymad

Hi Nixxy
Havn't had access to work in as we have our own occy health team who have been great. They are suggesting that its time off thats the problem, on top of my flares I have had problems with medications that caused more time off and a concussion!! If it weren't for bad luck I would have none at all. My job has not really had an impact on my arthritis, just work being difficult now and trying to get me out the door. They are even using wording against me now also but will deal with that when I go back. The case conference will just be them going over my job role etc and hopefully I can convince them that I can do it fine. This year has been a crappy one, just after the HR meeting I went over on my ankle and did damage to my ligaments (lucky white heather!!!!) right in front of my manager!! Hows that for timing. So now been off for another 4 weeks on top of that. Ankle still giving me bother but am desperate to get back and work my **** off LOL
Thanks for responding
Arlene x