UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hi ,

I need some advice please,

I've worked for this company for over 9 years,

So I started having vision problems, So anyway over a coffee me and my employer agreed that I could work part time back in Nov till I get everything sorted.
Had treatment for CXL in early December and had 3 weeks off, actually used my two weeks of holiday I had left and 1 week being on sick which I didn't have too.

Came back before christmas still on half days.
I didn't feel right, So thought it's best to stay on half days till it feels better as there's quite alot of computer work involved.
So I been on part time for roughly 8 weeks.

My employer has turn round yesterday and gave me a new employment agreement to sign.
Basically this new agreement means that I'm on permanent half days and have no right to revert back to normal full time hours and my holiday pay will reflect upon the new hours, followed by another letter which stated you are obviously going to be on part time longer than I anticipated,

So I can plan for the company's future please see new agreement attached. Okay fair play but nothing's changed

I think some of the guys who work around me have mentioned to him that I'm doing a course, so he probably thinks I want to leave anyway. < nothing wrong with one who wants to better himself/herself as long it's not in there time.

Can he actually do this?

Hi Amzy

"Can he actually do this?" -- in short, no, he can't

When you returned to work following your Crosslinking, you had to start with what is typically called a "phased return to work". This is because you couldn't return to your previous work pattern straight away. A phased return to work is a Reasonable Adjustment and your employer is almost certainly obligated under the Equality Act to provide this because you are likely to be deemed as a disabled person as defined by the Equality Act.

The reduced hours which you are working is done under the Reasonable Adjustment requirement which employers are under. An employer cannot use what they are obligated to provide as a Reasonable Adjustment as grounds for altering your contract of employment.

Unfortunately the sort of pressure you're now being put under is not untypical. It is the last thing you want to deal with right now -- and it is very unfair for an employer to act in this way. However, employers "trying it on" is also not exactly unheard of either

Have you been able to speak to someone in the HR team where you work ? If it is a small company they may not have one but most companies over about 50 people do and it is a good idea to discuss your situation with an HR professional who will at least know the law and make sure that the company itself does not end up getting into difficulties of its own making.

The other thing you should also do is obtain a Fitness for Work certificate from your G.P. which explains what your condition is, the impact of your recent treatment and the implications for the workplace. The G.P. has considerable latitude as to what to put on the Certificate and they should be willing to put that a period of reduced hours will be needed for you to remain in the workplace and how long this situation is expect to last for -- say, 12 weeks or something like that. The employer is not bound to adhere to the G.P.'s advice on the Fitness for Work certificate -- but if they ignore it, they would have a very hard time objectively justifying that.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an excellent resource if you want to check out how the law relates to disabled people in employment. http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/advi ... -practice/ Gives a very comprehensive list of Reasonable Adjustments -- "Altering your hours of working or training" is in there.

Anything else you need to know, please say.

Best wishes, hope your employer sees sense !

Chris

Amzy wrote:I think some of the guys who work around me have mentioned to him that I'm doing a course, so he probably thinks I want to leave anyway. < nothing wrong with one who wants to better himself/herself as long it's not in there time.

I saw this just before I had a routing appiointment with HR at work so asked for their take.

They said that what might be going through the employers mind is that if they are fit enouggh to persue a course outside of work, then why can't they work for me full time?

As longhoc says this need to be discussed further with HR because for example it miht be that the only way you can do a course in the evneing is by having to rest your eyes for half the day. My local HR said that if however you were doing the course when you would normally be at work (that is if you were working fulltime again), your employer may see this as abusing their reasonable adjustment of changing working hours while you recover.

I am playing devils advocate here because your post is from your experience as as we often find on this forum, there are two sides.

Action for the Blind and your local Citizens Advice are also good places to discuss this further with.

Thanks for the advice people,

Unfortunately our company has no H.R,

Yeah there is always two sides..
I completely understand that trying to take time off work doing part time when my contract is initially full time and perpetrating that my eye's are not right still is being disloyal and merely abusing the system.

However the course did end in November and I have not done anything with it since as I'm supposed to do the rest of the course on a building site to build up a portfolio.
Another point to mention even if I was doing the course still - It didn't even overlap with full time work hours as used to finish work at 5.00 pm and the course started at 6.00 pm.

So unless he has got the wrong side of the story,
He has also made one person redundant and Jan is always slow for us so I think his done it too suit himself.

Amzy,
As Gareth suggests, do contact your local Action for Blind People team (they don't just deal with the blind!) www.actionforblindpeople.org.uk and ask to speak to an employment advisor. You could really do with some expert help on this from someone who can represent you.
All the best
Anne