it has been some time since I posted, and I have just realized that this website is a fantastic tool with such wide advice from members. I will try and make it as short as poss. I have worked for 38yrs for the same company, I have been diagnosed with MS for 9 years of those. I have worked in the same environment for probably 20 yrs and had adjustments made when diagnosed. I have only had absence once in those years due to a relapse last year. My job role has been reassessed, and after being in a very close environment with toilet, sitting all day and very little walking and early working shifts due to my fatigue which is extreme late afternoons. I am now being told that my tasks will be changing. I have enquired and feel that my employer has basically disregarded the conditions I was allowed to follow for those 9 years basically stating that the new job role entails more including shifts having to stand and walk, not be close to a toilet facility and probable longer working shifts. I am very upset and unsure what I can actually do. I have just been assessed for reasonable adjustments by them which is the second I have ever had. Apparently they should be annually. Can anyone please let me know what I can do. Thankyou so much.
Hi I would strongly suggest u speak to citizen advice bureau and \ or ACAS. If your company have made the changes they have for u under disability law, I don’t understand why they can suddenly decide u don’t need those adaptions any more. Get some professional advice asap.
Many thanks for the advice. It has been a company wide action with many being reintroduced to new departments. They have not been clear as to what the new role will be but have made suggestions of these tasks that I will just not be able to do. I think because I have voiced my concerns they have now carried out my assessment which as I have said early is only the second in 9 years. It isn’t my fault that they have changed or disbanded the role I have been in for some 20 years. It is very worrying after 38 years that they seem to want me on the scrap heap. I will definitely seek some legal advice.
Thanks George. It is very worrying. They would stand by my pay scale it is the role/tasks that will change quite dramatically hence my worries. I know that I will not be able to complete these and do not want to fall into the box of underperforming which apparently has happened to able bodied colleagues. This will result in being managed out without being paid what is due i.e. Redundancy.
I would pay for legal advice - a ‘disability’ solicitor may think it a good idea to write to your company pointing out your rights etc. - not a confrontational letter - just to give your employer the message that you aren’t going to be pushed about.
Are you a member of a trade union? If so, you must talk to them, they are there for just this kind of situation and can often. be a great help - they would be well versed in disability rights in the workplace. 38 years service should be worth some consideration.
As krakowian suggests and you are not in a Trade Union; don’t forget if you are a member of the MS Society they pay the Disability Law Service for free legal advice and help if required; see http://dls.org.uk/
Hi Ben, I wish. I know that in this day and age it seems ridiculous but in our company which is a major retailer and as I am a departmental manager it is deemed a no go area. I feel easier after having such great advice and I am definitely finding out my legal standing as I don’t want to seem uneducated about what they can actually do. and the 38 year service means absolutely nothing anymore, too expensive, still paid sick and bank holiday premiums etc. I will make sure that the right thing is done here it really isn’t fair.
Hi Ben, I wish. I know that in this day and age it seems ridiculous but in our company which is a major retailer and as I am a departmental manager it is deemed a no go area. I feel easier after having such great advice and I am definitely finding out my legal standing as I don’t want to seem uneducated about what they can actually do. and the 38 year service means absolutely nothing anymore, too expensive, still paid sick and bank holiday premiums etc. I will make sure that the right thing is done here it really isn’t fair.
Thanks
J
The law is on our side. Once you have ‘proper’ legal advice you will feel empowered. Let your employer know - in the nicest possible way! - that you have taken legal advice and you’ll be o.k.
And remember you employer is just that - employers are not friends.
Just stay put Jacqueline, for crying out loud! 38 Years you said??! Shame on them! I ‘have’ SPMS and I have been put out of work , since my last assignment in, I think, 2003! Having a disabled daughter at the same time (plus a most forgiving and wonderful wife and son) plus being officially a foreigner (dutch…), did not make things easier.
But, one of my resolutions is making clear to that lot that I am still here, ‘do not let them!’ (if you know what I mean?!).
Many thanks for your support. I am so pleased with the response I have had. I will let you know how I get on, and I’m totally agreeing with you and I won’t let them…hopefully.