Apologies for posting anonymously but I feel a little paranoid at the moment with my work situation.
Quick question for those in the know.
If I get called into the office to be dismissed at short notice, i.e. with only one hours notice. Can I refuse to attend the meeting if I cannot find someone to accompany me?
I don’t really know anybody in the office where I work as I am in a van driving around all day normally. I would normally ask a fellow driver or a friend but I think they are keeping things quiet so I can’t prepare.
I have done nothing wrong, work have just found out that I have MS and I fear they are going to fire me as I may be deemed a risk to them.
NO NO NO AND ANOTHER BIG FAT NO! They cant do this…get CAB/Access to work on it. If you fulfill your duties satisfactorily, what grounds has he to sack you on?The rotten cad!
keep working as usual - if you’re called into the office even on short notice go along - make notes of what is being said - don’t commit to doing anything - tell them you’re seeking advice.
And do that - find a lawyer who specialises in employment and disability. Yes, it’ll cost you money but will be worth it.
(had a similar problem a few years ago - went to the Union who were of little use.)
Not only have me and my husband owned our own business, but we have both been managers in other companies and it is your right to have someone with you, its also the law that you have to be 1 verbal warning and 2 written before they can get rid of you and have very good reason’s for this as well. So just be mindful, the law is very much on your side and don’t let some mindless bully get to you, honestly it does my head in, good luck.
i am pretty sure you must be given 48 hours(2 working days so not friday afternoon for first thing monday) written notice of a disciplinary meeting which would also inform you of your right to accompaniment (colleague or union rep).I have never got a definative answer from anyone as to if the union rep has to be a rep for a union you are a member of or is specific to your industry? My friend who is an Aslef rep has represented his wife and was going to represent his Dad but on hearing this his dads boss decided he might have been hasty and ripped the thing up!
you have protection from disability discrimination under the equality act. As you have MS regardless of your how disabled you may or not be you automatically have the “protected characteristic” of “disability” your firm has legal obligations such as making “reasonable adjustments” https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en are the experts on equality act and have a good helpine.
Also https://www.acas.org.uk/ for general employment advise including equality act. One bit of advise they have given me is that email is accepted as evidence as highly as written evidence in employment tribunals so save any of those communications you may have with bosses/hr etc.
Good luck,dont let em bully you but bear in mind any of their obligations from the equality act only come into play if they are aware of your disabled status so when the time is right a nice (evidential) email to HR to remind them of their duties to you may open up proper discussions on what they can do to help you at work rather than how they might get rid.
How have they found out you have MS anyway if you haven’t told them?
I am not in a union the company I work for do not recognise them or something, so no one seems to be in one.
I disclosed my MS back when I was diagnosed about 10 years ago. Nothing was ever discussed then or has been until recently about how I am affected. Over the years I have just been told to “keep quiet” by my colleagues and get on with it. That was what happened back then, It was a small friendly company, but now we have been sold off, things have changed. I have never had any return to work interviews when I have returned after relapses or any dealings with HR. It just wasn’t the done thing at the time. This is why I am worried, I don’t know what to expect or what to say.
I’ve got a new manager recently and he has brought in some of his mates to work under him and there is a huge culture of bullying going on. He knows about my MS and I can tell that he gets a kick out of belittling me or secretly mocking the fact I have MS. I haven’t slept a wink all night and so worried what is going to happen today.
I definately think you should look at the equality commission site i linked previously and call up the helpline for advise.
It does not matter weather or not your company recognise unions!,its a common tactic of firms to say that to discourage anyone joining one,you can join a union if you like and a rep can attend disciplinary meeting with you,it is a legal right!
have a read up on the equality act and try to get a little understanding. If for example your concern for your job is around your sickness record ie having more time off than “company tolerance levels” you could most definately ask that a “reasonable adjustment” the company could make would be to discount “disability” leave from routine sickness.Theres no guarantees but if you could prove to a tribunal that you requested this and it was not granted and the tribunal thought that would be “reasonable” for your company to do,it is likely the tribunal would take a dim view on that. Please Please speak to equality commission for advise they may even be willing to approach company on your behalf?
The company do not have to recognise a Union on site for you to still have a Union person as your representation.
Its your statutory right to have ANYONE sitting as your representation.
Our company has only recently recognised a Union onto our site, literally 1 week ago, it took over 2 years fighting to get them on site, even with the threat of legal action from the union, however in that time the Union rep has attended a few disciplinary meetings along side a few employees .
You could actually join a Union today and have immediate access to representation from that union ,who by law would be allowed to represent you in any disciplinary meeting, whether the union is recognised by your company or not.
When a company asks an employee, “do you want someone to come in with you”, (and they must offer this choice to you), the employee can select any person they like, it doesn’t have to be a colleague from work, it can be a union rep, a butcher a baker a candlestick maker.
" What is the right to be accompanied? Workers have a statutory right to be accompanied where they are required or invited by their employer to attend certain disciplinary meetings. The chosen companion may be a fellow worker, a trade union representative, or an official employed by a trade union. A trade union representative who is not an employed official must have been certified by their union as being competent to accompany a worker"
Quick update everyone and thank you for your replies and advice.
I got summoned into a fairly formal meeting (although they never said it was formal) with my manager and HR. I went in alone as they didn’t give me the option to bring anyone in with me. I was really worried and scared if i’m honest as I didn’t know what to say. The meeting basically was HR saying that they were concerned along with my manager with my MS and how deeply concerned they were about the risk I am as a driver. They also said that they need to find out what is going to happen to me, MS wise as they understand that MS is a progressive condition and could have long term implication on my working ability.
If i’m honest I didn’t say too much ( I wasn’t able to) but I said that as part of the recent relapse I had been struggling from mental health issues and these were still ongoing with stress playing an important trigger point, including today with being called into a meeting. I wanted to return to work in a phased fashion but I was unsure of the procedure, etc, as no one has ever spoken to me about my condition and how it affects me. I also said that I was disappointed with the lack of workplace awareness around my disability and often felt like I was made to feel stupid and treated differently, etc.
It would appear that when I said that, the meetings topic of conversation changed and it ended up becoming more of a “how are you now” sort of meeting and “how can we help you?”. In fact, I ended up walking out of the meeting feeling as though I was leading the meeting. The meeting ended up by HR saying that my manger would be made to be a “person of support for me” and that HR would arrange a follow up meeting in the not to distant future to see how the company can assist me in the role.
I’m pretty sure I would have been sacked today if I hadn’t suddenly spoke up and mentioned the mental health. I’m not massively affected but it does play an annoying part in my life at the moment.
As long as the DVLA have no issue with you driving, they shouldnt
Moreover, expressing concern about what ‘might’ happen is a red herring. Planning for the unknown is impossible and they need to wait until things change before they start addressing it.Stating concern for long term implications is good but not able to be managed when they havent actually happened
I am not sure what your policies are, but sacking someone who hasnt been through absence process is usually grounds for contacting a lawyer
I think you’ll find that with MS you will need to register for a medical driving licence with the DVLA.
I think you’ll also find that a medical licence comes with restrictions to what type of vehicle you can or cannot drive, but I’m not sure what is or isnt allowed.
Also as you drive for a living your company would need to inform it’s insurance company that one of its drivers has a medical licence, they would need to confirm if it’s a 1,3,5 year licence.
I wouldn’t really worry about this bit though, it sounds worse than it actually is, it’s fairly straight forward to apply for the medical licence.
I was dreading the idea but it’s nothing to worry about.
Most insurance companies dont give a hoot if you are disabled and on a medical licence, all they want is confirmation that the DVLA have been informed and granted the medical licence.
If you havent already notified the DVLA of your MS, you are actually already breaking the law by driving.
MS is one of the conditions that you HAVE to inform the DVLA and your insurance company about.
You dont need to tell the insurance company that you have MS, but you do need to tell them if you have a medical condition that might require a medical licence.
Driving without notifying them of this voids your insurance.
Once the DVLA grant the licence it basically takes away responsibility from the insurance company, they don’t usually increase premiums either, that could be regarded as discrimination .
‘anon’ you have to inform DVLA Swansea once diagnosed. If not then you shouldn’t be driving. (There may a time gap between informing them - getting forms -and possible medicals sorted but I think you can still continue to drive in the meantime.)
If you can’t drive then I would hope you are found a non-driving job with the company.
Your employer By Law has to make reasonable adjustments - CAN’T sack you.
Being cynical here - they are your employers - not your friends - they may appear to have your interests at heart. It is up to you to research (google?) what your rights are and you must be prepared to fight for them.