Demoting for disability
Hi
I am very new to here. I have some queries for my mate, who has been working in UK in a large monopoly organisation for the past 8 years. They (employer and peers) took dislike of him from the very beginning and as such he felt being mistreated all through yet he didn’t raise his voice for fear of escalation in to an untenable situation. He rather went on focusing on his work but few years later the employer suddenly raised question about his performance and sent him for assessment. The recommendation came was that he should be sent for training to improve his performance and there was a big emphasis on addressing his behaviour in terms of improving his interpersonal communication and team work considered to be affecting his performance. In spite of the recommendation, the employer failed to find the necessary training for him in almost 3 years time. Now, they are asking him to take up either a downgrade or resign from the job, alternatively they warned him about facing a competence procedure. In all this time he continued to be subject to abuse and discrimination even in the without prejudice meeting. He was taken off work for 17 months and afterward brought back to a different department in a supernumerary position for the past 12 months. Consequently, he had to go sick off work due to stress at work caused by his employer. He spoke to me and other friends about his performance report and we felt that there is something wrong about it. We suggested him to see an expert for an independent assessment whereby the expert diagnosed him with asperger’s syndrome and childhood ADHD. Subsequently, he informed his employer about his disability and argued the earlier assessment was wrong as at the time he has disability and they failed to spot his disability which they should have done for the fact that the assessors were senior medical experts. Unfortunately, the employer continued to disregard his disability declaration and failed to acknowledge that they will look into readjustments. Furthermore, they are disregarding his being sick due to stress they caused.
My question is shouldn’t the assessment is wrong now as it was applied at the time considering him having no disability in addition to their failure to spot it?
Secondly, can they invoke sickness procedure whereby they can either dismiss him or reduce his pay in spite of his being sick due to stress caused by the employer themselves.
Can you please advice me? I will be grateful.
[b][u]
Have him demand everything in writing because he has memory issues due to his Aspergers. Invest in a small recording device and record every interaction. Also since he is disabled can he have someone record the meetings then transcribe them for him? Can he have some kind of disability represenative present at the meetings?
The earlier downgrade happened before they knew he was disabled so I guess he is screwed on that on. Hopefully they will not be able to push him around anymore. Why would he stay there if they hate him? I stayed at a part time job for 9 years because no one would hire me but I eventually quit. The bastards called me for three weeks to come back but quit calling when I threatened to sue them for harrassment.
_________________
There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die -Hunter S. Thompson
The earlier downgrade happened before they knew he was disabled so I guess he is screwed on that on. Hopefully they will not be able to push him around anymore. Why would he stay there if they hate him? I stayed at a part time job for 9 years because no one would hire me but I eventually quit. The bastards called me for three weeks to come back but quit calling when I threatened to sue them for harrassment.
He was picked on for his difficulty in interpersonal communication and socialization but fact is they didn't yet acknowledge his disability and asking him to either take a downgrade or leave them. In either case, it will be a gross injustice to him as in the latter case he would not get a job leaving a monopoly organisation after having had a performance issue and leaving without a good reference. On the other hand, if they agree with his disability issue then I guess they have to accept him back to work with reasonable adjustments. At the moment they are betting on the performance report.
Your friend needs to seek the help of someone who specialises in Employment Law [UK].
He should gather all his employment correspondence and try the Citizens Advice Bureau or a union rep if he is a member of one.
If an employer has issues with an employee's performance there are laws and procedures that have to be adhered to.
I would strongly advise your friend to seek independent advice on this one. I agree that the Citizen's Advice Bureau is an excellent place to start and they can often also help with finding a solicitor and applying for legal aid if necessary (although a lot of solicitors will give a brief free initial consultation to see if you have a case). Although I will say that, as far as I understand it, while you have the right to ask for reasonable adjustments in the workplace, you do not have the right to insist on them - if the employer has good business reasons to refuse he is within his rights to do so - but an expert on employment law would be able to clarify this for certain.
I also agree that it is really important to keep records of everything that is said, get everything in writing wherever possible and if he can record conversations great - it will all be useful if he does end up going to an employment tribunal in the future (although I am not sure if recordings are admissable as evidence if those on them have not given their permission for the recording in advance).
If it were me I would want to look for another job as it's not very pleasant working somewhere where you're not wanted or appreciated, but if he has a case he could pursue it whether he is still working there or not.
I assume, since you haven't mentioned it, that he is not in a union - if he was his union rep would be another source of advice.
Definitely have him go to someone who knows about the employment laws ans see his rights as an employee, because in most places now they can't do things like that, especially ignoring a diagnosis. In Canada there is something called the human rights tribunal, it sounds like something he'd want to look into if you guys have something similar, as they would help him figure out the laws and he could even sue the company if they don't stop pressuring him like that.
Good luck to your friend. I hope he either comes out on top or realizes he's better than this job and quits for a different one.
Thank you all for your thoughtful advice and comments. I surely would pass them onto my friend. Hope things will turn out to be in his favor as there is now an Equality Act 2010 yet we wonder how little these employer know about this or how little they care about acting lawful!!
Remember, employers can only act against workers rights and laws as long as nobody stands up to it. Hopefully your friend knows that.
Employers often do "try it on" and leave the employee to do all the running. Meekness is quite common so economically it's usually worth their while to play these kind of tricks. After all, they can always back down if the employee starts getting assertive. A letter from a solicitor who is well-grounded in employment discrimination law could change everything. You could try a trade union, but in my experience they don't have any teeth these days.
Employers often do "try it on" and leave the employee to do all the running. Meekness is quite common so economically it's usually worth their while to play these kind of tricks. After all, they can always back down if the employee starts getting assertive. A letter from a solicitor who is well-grounded in employment discrimination law could change everything. You could try a trade union, but in my experience they don't have any teeth these days.
Couldn't agree more...we wonder the same why they are dragging on and on while
the trade union was almost selling him out...he managed to escape at the last minute. I wonder if anyone would believe we felt some trade union reps/officials are in liaison with large monopoly employers behind your back.
I think unions often get infiltrated by right-wingers. Sometimes the union rep and the boss are the same person I've been surprised how often the management somehow finds out information given in confidence to union reps.
But I don't think it's all down to corruption at the local level. Thatcher's anti-union laws make it rather a difficult thing to organise a strike - there's a precarious amount of legal red tape to wade through, and I've heard that if you get so much as a full stop out of place, you can find yourself with a devastating lawsuit on your hands. Also, high unemployment is a godsend for the enemy, because when the demand for jobs outstrips the supply, wages and conditions can be reduced, and nobody starts a fight over it, because aspirations are reduced and people are grateful to have any kind of job at all, no matter how exploitative. Then we've got the importation of overseas workers who will work longer and harder for less because it's better than what they had back home, and because they can sometimes support the ones they left behind very cheaply because of the exchange rate. In short, the ruling class have for the time being got us over a barrel.
Similar Topics | |
---|---|
Anyone else here has intellectual disability like me ??? |
12 Dec 2024, 1:21 pm |
What Trump’s Win Could Mean For Medicaid, Disability Program |
08 Nov 2024, 12:53 pm |