Being Off Work / Sick Pay

[Saf]

Hi Guys,

ok so i've had hydrops in both eyes in the past and have been left with scaring which left my vision pretty dull. left eye was alot worse than right eye so i have finally had transplant last month, which was full thickness transplant

im currently off sick from work. im now getting pressure from work to come back as obviously they don't want to continue paying sick pay to me,
my work involves me using computer screens all day, literally from start to finish, therefore i dont want to go back just yet as it strains my eyes, drys them out and make them itchy dealing with computers all day. i want to be off at least until he hospital prescribe me a set of glasses to go over my transplant eye which should improve my vision and hopefully less strain on my eyes.

i am also concerned any strain could result in rejection, and i understand the rejection is at highest risk early on after the procedure for at least the 1st year.

im also now considering a change in career as i dont think working with computers will be good for me down the line and also cant i deal with this stress of having to convince my work of my condition and them thinking that im trying to milk them for sick pay

my work have said they will write to the hospital to confirm how long i need to be off sick, now i remember in my initial consultation i was advised your only going to need to be off work for couple of weeks,

even typing this post i can feel the strain coming on now and hotness feeling in my eyes

has anyone dealt with similar situation? or how long have other taken off work

[Andrew MacLean]

hello and welcome to the forum.

How long have you been off work so far? The advice I was given was that I should not return to work for six weeks after my graft. Before I had gone off work, my employer along with JobCentre Plus had provided me with some kit that made my work at the computer far more friendly.

If you do return to work ask for a workplace assessment. It may be that providing a screen that uses inverted colours or that is set to offer a larger font size will make your work environment more accessible.

Every good wish

Andrew

[Anne Klepacz]

Hi Saf,
Just to add that you'll find some useful leaflets 'Keratoconus at Work' and 'Keratoconus - how the law can help you at work' which you can download from the home page of this website
www.keratoconus-group.org.uk/sitev3/publications.html
which give more details about the Access to Work scheme that Andrew mentions.
Everybody (whether they've just had a graft or not) should have regular breaks from screen work for the health of their eyes. How much time people take off work after a graft varies, and it largely depends on the sort of work you do. An employer should make 'reasonable adjustments' to enable you to return to work - that may include extra kit, negotiating shorter hours for a few weeks, working from home part of the week. Obviously what's possible will vary from one employer to another. You can get more advice from your local Action for Blind People employment team (they deal with all sorts of eye conditions)
www.actionforblindpeople.org.uk
All the best
Anne

[Saf]

thanks for your reply guys

i've been off for about 4 weeks.

my work had already done all the stuff to help me out at work, gave me a better chair for my posture, bigger screen, adjusted the resolution even with these amendments still feel strain using after 5 mins or so

im guessing its not normal then to get eye strain using a computer with keratoconus after short period of time, i assumed it was and was jsut another joy that came along a with keratoconus along with and have persevered over the last few years at my job.

is it possible then if i go back to work and persevere with the pain/strain it could result in graph rejection, thats the main thing im worried out

i suppose if it is the case then ill try and get the hospital on my side by maybe writing a letter or something to my workplace, if that doesnt work then i'll prob be looking for a new job...

[Andrew MacLean]

Saf

I used to get eye strain very rapidly, even with my screen set to a larger font size, but I found things much easier if I adjusted the way in which the screen exhibited text (I favoured blue text on a yellow background, and when that got tiring, I inverted it to yellow text on a blue background). My Mac made these adjustments easy, but I am pretty sure that other people here have posted in the past that their PC made similar adjustments possible.

Andrew

[longhoc]

Hi Saf

Sorry that you've got added budens to deal with in work -- getting on the road to recovery after a graft is hard enough, you just don't need extra problems.

In addition to what Anne and Andrew have said already, you're also entitled under the Equality Act (which inherited the DDA or Disability discrimination Act legislation provisions and expanded on them) to be considered for "suitable alternative employment" -- which could be on a temporary or permanent basis. Your employer has to consider anything which is "reasonable". The "reasonableness" of this, as Anne mentioned, depends on such things as the size of your employer, the other types of work people do there etc. etc. The obligation, though, is on the employer -- whatever size they are, whatever they do -- to show that what's being asked for is unreasonable. The burden of proof is on them to show that the request is unreasonable and the reasons for it.

It's not too widely understood, but it is actually up to the employee to suggest the adjustments (roughly speaking, there are some complications to this statement but that is the principle). So don't be coy, say what you think is needed. If you think about it, your employer doesn't know what you need -- only you do. So tell them !

Another thing to consider is, are you talking to the right people in your place of work ? You immediate supervisor or manager might seem the best person, but even if they are happy to look at your situation seriously, they will benefit from some trained advice and guidance from people who know the law and how the employer should be following it. Do you have a HR department or -- better yet -- Occupational Health team there ? If so, I would absolutely ask your manager to engage with them.

Finally, while it is nice to think that everyone is as helpful as they can be, a letter from a clinician explaining what surgical procedure you've had done, what its effects are, how long they'll last and so on does help you to establish credibility. So again, if it were me, I'd definitely ask your ophthalmologist or -- possibly better, but you'll know the people concerned best -- your GP to do this. If nothing else -- and you've not already done this -- you should as a matter of priority get a Statement of Fitness for Work (a.k.a. "Fit Note" -- this replaced the previous "Sick Note" (!) which you used to get) from your GP saying that while you are capable of performing some tasks in the workplace your ability to do others especially screen-based work is impacted.

I'd really like to be able to finish by saying that eye strain, dry eyes, tired eyes, irritation etc. isn't going to have the potential to influence your graft. Unfortunately all these effects stress the eye to some degree. The normal integrity of your eye has been compromised and until recovery completes it presents an increased attack surface area for infection agents (viral and bacterial) which you'd normally shrug off easily. The medication you've probably been prescribed post-graft also reduces the efficacy of the immune response. You want to stack the deck in your favour as much as you can right now -- stressing your grafted eye does the opposite.

Please don't be worried or alarmed though, but do listen to what your body is telling you. If it's hurting, it is not working.

Take care,

Chris

[Ian Anderson]

Hi
I an an accountant so work on a computer all day every day, and whilst not as "far on" with keraticonus as you (I still can cope with very well specified specs) I have found that with a smaller screen positioned closer to me iget far less eyestrain. So a 17 to 19 inch non widescreen works for me. Widescreen does not as I find the focal distance varies too much from centre of screen to outside.

It may help if it does great if not at least you tried

Ian

[jojo19732009]

Hi
I have had to look for other employment due to work conditions and changed posts in Jan 2012, My new post is now working with computers everyday. I have to say that Access to work have come up with zoom tex which changes the fonts and colours and also enaables you to plug an ear bud into your computer so you can click on to a tab that enables the text on your screen to be read to you so you may take time to turn away from the screen more often to give your eyes more rest inbetween. also a smart pen that records what you write down and you plug it into the computer and this transfers all your note taking onto the computer and turns it into a word document.
Access to work will re assess at any point if your condition changes so it doesnt matter if you have already had an assessment before. I know you still feel your job is difficult but it is better to get re assessed and at lease your employer will see that you are trying your best to make steps also.
I have gone through nerly loosing my job due to KC and the work place and believe me just because you raise the DDA card even when the union is behind you it is still a sticky wicket. I Hope you get some more advice but get re assessed.
Joanne xx.