absence investigation.

[poochie]

help or advice much needed.......

 

i work 16hrs per week but started off at 40hrs per week 3yrs ago..... due to work related injury and time off for surgery, i had to be moved to another dept on doctors recommendation and he had to write to my employers to request this because the occupational health lady refused to contact him saying " he just wants a big fee from us for writing a letter, all we need is your story and i take notes".....

 

Anyways, i got moved to another dept which happened to be chilled where i am up and down a stool for four hours stretching to back of shelves etc........ I ended up pulling a muscle in my shoulder and was off for a month.....Now previous to this, i had warned employers that my arthritis was playin up due to the cold and i asked if i could be moved again ( my arthritis was never a problem in other depts and i never knew it would present a problem in chilled until i got moved there)....... I had to go on sick leave again and more doc requests and more occupational health visits with same view that she wont contact my doctor because its all about money and collecting fees in any way that they can.

So basically time off work with injury and warnings about arthritis, then occupational health not being helpful in least, I felt intimidated into goin back to work in same dept or i was gonna get sacked.

I went back on reduced hours,. but had to work in same dept and i had to increase my pain relief to get thru each shift...... I spoke to managers with them all sayin they will phone me but they never, i requested another meeting with occupational health representative but that has never happened, and just the other day i went to work and was ambushed into a meeting and told my absences were goin to investigation. I was not asked until 20 minutes into the meeting if i wanted a rep with me and they could get one for me...... I was shocked at it all happening, and said somethin along the lines of " where would i find a rep at this time of morning at short notice and should i not have been given prior warning about this meeting to give me time to arrange a rep?"

I went thru the meetin sayin very little and had no option but to sign the written notes which apparently i will be sent copy of with a date for the investigation.

 

I have spoken to my doctor who reckons they have broken many rules when it comes to me returning to work because they refused to move me dept knowing i now had a disability which meant i was not fit for the job they kept making me do each day. They deliberately ignored his written requests to move me from chilled area due to arthritis getting worse and pain relief havin to be increased.......

 

I asked to speak to managers many times wen at work and they always said " i will come see you before you finish your shift" but wen i went lookin for them they were always in a meetin.

 

My last visit with occupational health was discussin possibility of comin back on 2 days per week because i was still due 46hrs holiday which i must take before end of march 2013 or i lose them ( each holiday request i put in was declined, i still have the forms....(.i was declined because others were given priority) and just recently i had to put in holiday forms to try not lose my holiday entitlement but they were declined again.... i also told my manager that i never got after last occupational health visit so it seems her request for my 2 day return to work with my other 2 days being used up as holiday entitlement, was not acted upon and it now looks like i am gonna lose 46hrs holiday entitlement because my manager keeps refusing my holiday requests......

 

I am quiet shy person at work and dont make a fuss which is probably why they intimidate me and basically run rings round me......I go to work, do best i can then go home........ i enjoy workin there and have many friends but they all say the same, my manager is takin **** because i wont stand up to them.

 

so basically my absences are up for investigation. I am scared im gonna lose my job..... I need a rep to help me as i dont know wat all this means or wat happens

.

I also want to argue about my holiday entitlement as well because it is their fault i have accrued so much and now may lose out on it all.

And their policy on diversity which states " make every effort when colleagues become disabled that they are able to stay in employment - actively progress and/or any reasonable adjustment"....

 

I probably veered off track several times but my nerves in tatters over this.......

 

any advice or help would be much appreciated...thankyou

[Emmzzi]

Please start by telling us why you believe you are disabled. It is not as simple as being ill, and you may be relying on protection you do not have.

 

Do you have a condition which affects your day to day life and is expected to last for more than 12 months? What reasonable adjustments would you need in order to be able to put in a 40 hour week?

[poochie]

my arthritis is detetiorating and they have me climbing step to reach back of shelves.....my knees, hands, elbows and ankles joints are suffering badly in chilled area but i never suffered this bad in other depts.

i also have carpal tunnel syndrome affecting my hands and damage to my right shoulder which i keep damagin because my right arm cannot straighten due to broken elbow in work related injury several years ago...

my colleagues and 2 managers know i struggle to reach back of shelves and they know the cold affects my arthritis and they have been advised by my doctor to move me several times but they wont.. my carpal tunnel syndrome means i have to wear wrist support because plastic edges on shelves hurt my wrists and because i partly lean on them to reach back of shelves, they hurt the nerves in my wrist and cause pins an needles then numbness in hands.... all these things affect my ability to do my job in that dept but i was fine to work overtime in other depts....

Please start by telling us why you believe you are disabled. It is not as simple as being ill, and you may be relying on protection you do not have.

 

Do you have a condition which affects your day to day life and is expected to last for more than 12 months? What reasonable adjustments would you need in order to be able to put in a 40 hour week?

[assisted blonde]

Arthritis and carpal tunnel do not in themselves mean you are disabled.

[Emmzzi]

You need another occupational health referal and you need your manager to ask the question "would you consider this person might be disabled under the terms of the Equality Act 2010."

 

Then another question,

 

"this person's job involves tasks a, b and c for approx x amunt of time a day. Are any adjustments neccessary to enable them to carry out these tasks."

 

From what you say it may be that no adjustments are possible to enable you to work a full week. Be aware if this is the case they can dismiss, or they can only pay you for hours worked. If you *cannot* work then you may need to claim benefits instead. They seem to hsave put you in 2 different departments neither of which suit, and they may not have vacanices anywhere suitable.

[poochie]

the arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome only became an issue when i was moved to chilled area therefor it is a disablity because the cold affects my arthritis and climbing up and down a stool for 4 hrs each day does not bode well for my knee joints...... And the shelves causing numbness in my hands and arms are also causing me not to perform my job but yet they move me to another dept to cover sickness and do overtime and i dont have problems on those depts which i know are short staffed.

I dont wish to have 40hr workin week back, im happy to work 16hr week but on other depts where i have been used to do overtime previously, and where i had no problems workin and stayin later.

 

I also have looked back in my diary and have dates from august last year where i had been requesting a move to another dept and the peoples manager, gsm and line manager all agreed to find something for me in other depts but nothing came of it.

[Emmzzi]

It may be tht there are no 16 hour jobs available.... in which case.. what will you do?