Employment law question

[rey mysterio]

for me fatha

He’s 59 and been working at a factory for the last ten year. He’s been off for over a year on the sick after having loads of knee trouble, having a full replacement and then a slipped disc.

He’s tried to return but has been assessed by a nurse at the company and they have judged him to be incapable of even the most menial task. The gaffer (who is a known bully and a bit of a psychopath) has tried all he can to get rid of me fatha, and argues that they can’t find a job for him to do. It has been left to HR to find him a new role.

He’s in limbo because he’s not getting sick pay now after he was discharged by the doctor, but the company are trying everything they can not to let him return so he’s stuck with no income

Is there anything he can do? He’s got the GMB involved but is worried he doesn’t have a leg to stand on (pun not intended)

 

[Nookie Bear]

for me fatha

He’s 59 and been working at a factory for the last ten year. He’s been off for over a year on the sick after having loads of knee trouble, having a full replacement and then a slipped disc.

He’s tried to return but has been assessed by a nurse at the company and they have judged him to be incapable of even the most menial task. The gaffer (who is a known bully and a bit of a psychopath) has tried all he can to get rid of me fatha, and argues that they can’t find a job for him to do. It has been left to HR to find him a new role.

He’s in limbo because he’s not getting sick pay now after he was discharged by the doctor, but the company are trying everything they can not to let him return so he’s stuck with no income

Is there anything he can do? He’s got the GMB involved but is worried he doesn’t have a leg to stand on (pun not intended)

Try involving Acas or speak to an employment law expert - few of them give you a free initial appointment which may be enough to tell you what you need to know.

Sounds like constructive dismissal but a specialist will give you better advice

 

[RestlessNatives]

for me fatha

He’s 59 and been working at a factory for the last ten year. He’s been off for over a year on the sick after having loads of knee trouble, having a full replacement and then a slipped disc.

He’s tried to return but has been assessed by a nurse at the company and they have judged him to be incapable of even the most menial task. The gaffer (who is a known bully and a bit of a psychopath) has tried all he can to get rid of me fatha, and argues that they can’t find a job for him to do. It has been left to HR to find him a new role.

He’s in limbo because he’s not getting sick pay now after he was discharged by the doctor, but the company are trying everything they can not to let him return so he’s stuck with no income

Is there anything he can do? He’s got the GMB involved but is worried he doesn’t have a leg to stand on (pun not intended)

The union will know best so they should communicate to him exactly what the situation is. That said, I do know that it's a popular misconception that you can't get sacked if you are legitimately sick. I think it boils down to you making reasonable efforts to find a new role for them but it isn't black and white.
If they can show that the nurse has made the decision based on safety reasons etc, it's hard to argue.
Ensure he gets as much official advice as he can, unions, employment law expert etc but remember that he can't just rely on the boss being a 'known bully'. He will need evidence of times and dates of examples when he has been. Hearsay is not enough.
Good luck. This is why he pays his union subs though so they should be stepping up and sorting it for him.

 

[daveyc]

Sounds like they're trying to finish him on ill health grounds. What communication has he had over the course of his absence?

 

[BackhouseParkRangers]

for me fatha

He’s 59 and been working at a factory for the last ten year. He’s been off for over a year on the sick after having loads of knee trouble, having a full replacement and then a slipped disc.

He’s tried to return but has been assessed by a nurse at the company and they have judged him to be incapable of even the most menial task. The gaffer (who is a known bully and a bit of a psychopath) has tried all he can to get rid of me fatha, and argues that they can’t find a job for him to do. It has been left to HR to find him a new role.

He’s in limbo because he’s not getting sick pay now after he was discharged by the doctor, but the company are trying everything they can not to let him return so he’s stuck with no income

Is there anything he can do? He’s got the GMB involved but is worried he doesn’t have a leg to stand on (pun not intended)

GMB can only really support him from a process point of view, this is where your dad needs to keep his wits about him.

The company will have a sickness process, which the company will have to follow, from experience, they probably won’t follow it correctly, as nobody will be sitting with the document and stepping through it step by step.

However, this will only really benefit your dad if he’s fighting a dismissal, it sounds more like he’s getting took through the capability grounds, and whilst he may be able to delay this, ultimately, if he’s unfit to do his current role, he’s going to struggle.

Delaying the process is probably pointless, as I’m assuming if he’s been off a year he won’t be getting paid.

This will leave him with two options.

Redeployment, which means applying for any vacancies within the company that he’s capable of carrying out, he will go straight to the top of the queue for these jobs, and the interviewer will struggle to not give him the job unless he’s totally unsuitable.

The other option depends whether his condition is covered under the equality act 2010. If it is, and it’s not a straight forward question, then the company have to make ‘reasonable adjustment’ to allow him to do his job, the struggle here is what is classed as reasonable.

An example would be that if the company could provide him a piece of equipment that would let him do his job, then that would be reasonable, readjusting the job role completely and letting him do something that’s a mile away from his substantive role, or something of no benefit to the business is not reasonable.

Sometimes in these situations, the best thing is to take the bull by the horns and do something else, I’ve seen too many people fight for something that they know in their heart of hearts isn’t going to work out. The stress and anxiety isn’t worth it.

Hope this works out for him, whatever the result.