HELP - advice on constructive dismissal needed?

challey3

Hi

This is my first post but would appreciate any guidance reference sites anyone can give. Its a long story but in short my mum works for the nhs and has been signed off sick for 3 months due to stress (her colleague was off sick for over 6 months and no resource was brought in to help do the work). COuple of issues now..
1) they are moving her base to 9 miles away, they will pay a measly petrol allowance for the extra miles
2) she is contracted to do 20 hours a week (although has been doing 25 for 3 years) over 5 days. she has been told it will drop to 20 hours again form 1st April which is when they will move her to the new base but this means travelling nearly an hour each way to do the 4 hours but has been told she cannot condense days
3) she found out today that it will be 10 hours at one base and 10 hours at another (neither of which were where she originally took the job)
4)Her colleague is still off and nothing is in place to stop the stres but the occi health dr has said she is fit to return to work.

We are really concerned for her health but are not sure now where to turn. Did try the union but they just said look for another job (have also submitted complaint about their lack of help).

Sorry for the long essay but any advice would be appreciated.

dmg24

Does her contract have a mobility clause in it?

Has she asked HR what measures they will take to ensure that her workload is better managed?

Anihilator

challey3 wrote: »

Hi

This is my first post but would appreciate any guidance reference sites anyone can give. Its a long story but in short my mum works for the nhs and has been signed off sick for 3 months due to stress (her colleague was off sick for over 6 months and no resource was brought in to help do the work). COuple of issues now..
1) they are moving her base to 9 miles away, they will pay a measly petrol allowance for the extra miles
2) she is contracted to do 20 hours a week (although has been doing 25 for 3 years) over 5 days. she has been told it will drop to 20 hours again form 1st April which is when they will move her to the new base but this means travelling nearly an hour each way to do the 4 hours but has been told she cannot condense days
3) she found out today that it will be 10 hours at one base and 10 hours at another (neither of which were where she originally took the job)
4)Her colleague is still off and nothing is in place to stop the stres but the occi health dr has said she is fit to return to work.

We are really concerned for her health but are not sure now where to turn. Did try the union but they just said look for another job (have also submitted complaint about their lack of help).

Sorry for the long essay but any advice would be appreciated.

Off hand without further information I suspect the union are right. If you dont like a job you find a new one.

1) 9 miles is not a great amount. I doubt any court or employment tribunial would be swayed by it especially where there is an allowance being paid.

2) If she is contracted to do 20 hours and has been doing 5 hours on a temporary basis extra this can be removed if required.

3)Would depend on a mobility clause. If there isnt a defined place of work likely to be ok

4)Absence happens and it creates extra work and stress for colleagues. If OH feel she is fit to work then refusal to do so could see a formal capability and dismissal process put in place.


Overall it sounds like its a case of she doesnt like or want her job and is therefore looking to utilise allowable contractual issues to get a pay off. Unless the contract doesnt allow for items she either needs to put up with it or move on.

challey3

It does say she can be moved after consultation they actually moved the office whilst she was off sick (within 3 days of her going off sick) back in November and didn't tell her. She has now had meetings this month but the consultation consisted of telling her she was going and it will be from april. HR have been involved for over 6 months and have said that things are in place but the items in place are a temp work who leaves at the end of april and no-one else qualified to help her.

she also raised a grievence against how the consultation had been carried out, but so far at the meetings it has been her line manager, the area manager, the hr manager and one of her friendsand they just keep saying they have followed the procedures.

challey3

thanks anihilator, her colleague has now actually been suspended. Would there be anyway she could ask to do the hours in fewer days? the silly thing is the clinics she supports are at her old location still and so all notes etc will have to be couriered over there each day i.e. there doesn't seem to be a business reason to do this

dmg24

To be fair, they are giving her more than sufficient notice of the move.

Were the union involved in the move consultation?

When is she going back? It sounds like the temp is there to help her settle back into work. There is nothing to say that they will not keep the temp on after April if they are still needed.

I cannot see any grounds for constructive dismissal if she decided to resign.

challey3

she is due to go back 14th feb on a phased return but she and the temp will still be the only people so if nothing is put in place she will be back down to doing 2 peoples role on her own. originally the hours were increased to provide support for an extra clinic and so it was agreed that to support all of the clinics 55 hours resource a week was needed - she did 25 and her colleague 30 hours

berkshirelady

hi,

firstly, before she returns to work, occy health should make recommendations for adaptations to her work environment & work load to ensure she can go back safely. If a colleague's absence and the subsequent stress caused has contributed to/caused her sick leave, then occy health should write to her line manager advising what they should do to remedy this before she goes back. If they haven't made a recommendation she should go back to them and ask why not (and see GP for support prior to doing this). Have they thought about reduced hours to start with, so she can build up gradually and get back in to things? Standard return to work policy, especially for stress, in my experience.

If there is no evidence adaptations have been made and occy health have asked for them, she may have grounds for a formal grievance? She may have grounds for a formal grievance anyway, if management have not taken steps to protect her physical and mental health due to the absence of a work colleague. It's not her fault her colleague has been off sick, the situation should have been managed properly, with proper consideration given to her health and safety.

Also, if she is being moved without consultation I would expect a reasonable employer to pay a disturbance allowance, for a lead-in period at least, to cover extra expenses and time spent travelling. was she consulted properly about this change and was the union involved? of not, this could be an arbitrary change of terms and conditions without agreement, which is not on!

Unions are all very good in theory, but local reps can be rubbish (and sometimes watching their own backs first if they are fellow employees). I suggest bypassing local reps and going direct to regional/head office and ask to speak to one of the legal team.

If your mum has ongoing health problems that require long term medication, she may be covered by the Disability Discrimination Act. This is worth checking out as this law is there to protect people against discrimination at work because of a long term medical condition (and not just the more 'obvious' disabilities like visual impairment, wheel chair user, etc).

Your mum should go to her GP and explain the situation. I guess her doctor will have signed her off, and would not be happy as a professional to hear that she is being told by her employer and occy health to go back to work if proper support is not in place. From my experience, I would expect a GP to refuse to sign her off as ready to return to work if they were not confident that she was being supported properly.

Am I right in thinking that NHS would have a welfare officer attached to HR? If so, maybe worth checking out?

sorry for the essay back! but hopefully these suggestions will help. I spent a while working as an HR assistant for a govt department and I am also an employee covered by DDA, so I have been 'through the system' from both sides.

Good luck, let us know how you get on. I wish your mum all the best :-)

challey3

thanks everyone for posting so quickly and giving me some ideas to talk to her about its greatly appreciated

berkshirelady

Hi dmg24, I note your comments about the temp. But if you're a permanent employee going back to work after a long period of sick leave, particularly after being diagnosed with stress, then you need proper reassurance that the situation is not going to happen again. Note, the word 'temp' means just that, there's nothing to say they will keep the temp on after April either, is there. From my point of view, being told there's a temp around for a few weeks only adds to the uncertainty, and therefore the stress. Not good for people trying to recuperate from something that a lot of people still think is merely being miserable. Stress can cause serious physical symptoms and an make people very ill!

and to Annihilor re: your 'absence happens' comment. yes it does, but it's not down to colleagues to work themselves silly and get ill to cover for manager's lack of business continuity planning. It's up to management to put something in place to ensure that employees' health is protected, and that service users continue to get a good service! that's what managers get paid for?

Anihilator

berkshirelady wrote: »

Hi dmg24, I note your comments about the temp. But if you're a permanent employee going back to work after a long period of sick leave, particularly after being diagnosed with stress, then you need proper reassurance that the situation is not going to happen again. Note, the word 'temp' means just that, there's nothing to say they will keep the temp on after April either, is there. From my point of view, being told there's a temp around for a few weeks only adds to the uncertainty, and therefore the stress. Not good for people trying to recuperate from something that a lot of people still think is merely being miserable. Stress can cause serious physical symptoms and an make people very ill!

and to Annihilor re: your 'absence happens' comment. yes it does, but it's not down to colleagues to work themselves silly and get ill to cover for manager's lack of business continuity planning. It's up to management to put something in place to ensure that employees' health is protected, and that service users continue to get a good service! that's what managers get paid for?

Did you miss the fact they have a temp 2-1+1 = 2