Hi. This is my first time. My husbands ms has moved from r &r to secondary progressive. He has been offered a place at our local hospice for a neuro session to help with spasticity. This would be for 2 hours on a Monday for 12 weeks. His employer has said he should book as annual leave. Is this right?
I don’t think so but I’m sorry, I’m no expert. Why not try Citizens Advice?
It may depend on his contract of employment. There’s nothing black & white in law which says you have to take leave nor that you are entitled to sick pay, because there are so many permutations.
Many companies improve on statutory sick pay provision and this could be covered by some form of insurance policy, but the insurance may not cover regular appointments. Also, the way they pay could be by timesheet / clock which means he would be effectively part-time for those 12 weeks.
I do not think the employer is correct here.
Here’s what the gov.uk site says:
If I were you, I would phone the MS Society for advice. Or Citizens Advice or similar.
By the way, you’ll see that the advice says nothing about the time off being paid time off. As I understand it, it’s up to employers what they do about paid or unpaid. But they do need to grant reasonable time off for treatment or be prepared for a legal challenge.
I am guessing he is not in a Union, so this might help.
MS legal advice service | Multiple Sclerosis Society UK (mssociety.org.uk)
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p.p.s. The Equality Act 2010 (the relevant legislation here) states specifically that that a person who has multiple sclerosis (and a small handful of other conditions) is a disabled person. So there’s no joy for the employer there. Extract from the Gov.uk Equality Act 2010 Guidance below:
“The Act states that a person who has cancer, HIV infection or multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disabled person . This means that the person is protected by the Act effectively from the point of diagnosis. (Sch1, Para 6). (See also paragraphs B18 to23 (progressive conditions).)”
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A late reply but try calling the MS Society help line . They should be able to answer your questions and offer advice and guidance