Off sick since august , been called in for a 'catchup ' with HR ??

janiebaby29

Anihilator wrote: »

Well if you prefer "don't worry about it. They will pay you indefinitly despite the fact you can't work and are not ever likely too be able too for them again"

Of course this would be completely incorrect but hey at least you will feel better. Well until you are shocked when it happens.

Im not stupid and do know that , but the realisation of the possiblitly of not being ever able to work again is very demoralising , without comments like yours adding to it .

paulwf

OP I think you should discuss with the medical experts what you expect the end result to be and from there work out with your employer what your future is with the company.

Your health has deteriorated over the last 2 years and you have now been off for 6 months and haven't indicated to us any sign of being able to return in the foreseeable future. You need to be able to give your company some options. Can you return in 6 months? What sort of job will you be able to do?

Try and give them some scenarios, they can only help you if you can help them. If you can't see yourself returning to work then look into the available options for getting incapacity benefit.

Anihilator

janiebaby29 wrote: »

Im not stupid and do know that , but the realisation of the possiblitly of not being ever able to work again is very demoralising , without comments like yours adding to it .

Well in future remember to tell us at the bottom you only want the advice you want to hear.

dickydonkin

janiebaby29 wrote: »

I cant stand , sit or walk for a long time .
My job was in the office , which suited me , then they had to change hours which meant there was less hours in the office and moved me onto the tills , knowning that i had this back condition , this caused my back to get worse .
I still havent had any Occupational health advice at all .
thanks

janiebaby29

There is some good advice on here and some - well - let's say unhelpful and unsympathetic.

Let's go back.

You say that your company were aware of your back condition - this could be a vital aspect of your situation.

When you worked in your office, was there ever a risk assessment carried out? This is a legal requirement.

These are usually self composed and usually ask about your workstation(s) and if you are aware of any problems. Headaches, back pain and other MSD's are usually attributed to poor workplace designs and ergonomics. It is quite possible you have an industrial injury caused by a poorly designed workstation.

You then state that the company were aware of your back situation.

That should have alerted the company that there may be issues with your workstation and they should have investigated.

But what they did then seems a little irresponsible.

I can understand them trying to keep you in work, but by compounding your injury by giving you a position that has undoubtedly exacerbated your problem (as you stated it got worse doing the new role), that is downright negligent and is unacceptable.

They have obviously not considered if you were suitable for the new role.

I would certainly consult a solicitor (no win no fee) who may offer more advice on the situation.

Your company has a duty of care to you and it seems they have been sadly lacking in this instance.

Anihilator

dpassmore wrote: »

janiebaby29

There is some good advice on here and some - well - let's say unhelpful and unsympathetic.

Let's go back.

You say that your company were aware of your back condition - this could be a vital aspect of your situation.

When you worked in your office, was there ever a risk assessment carried out? This is a legal requirement.

These are usually self composed and usually ask about your workstation(s) and if you are aware of any problems. Headaches, back pain and other MSD's are usually attributed to poor workplace designs and ergonomics. It is quite possible you have an industrial injury caused by a poorly designed workstation.

You then state that the company were aware of your back situation.

That should have alerted the company that there may be issues with your workstation and they should have investigated.

But what they did then seems a little irresponsible.

I can understand them trying to keep you in work, but by compounding your injury by giving you a position that has undoubtedly exacerbated your problem (as you stated it got worse doing the new role), that is downright negligent and is unacceptable.

They have obviously not considered if you were suitable for the new role.

I would certainly consult a solicitor (no win no fee) who may offer more advice on the situation.

Your company has a duty of care to you and it seems they have been sadly lacking in this instance.

What a load of utter !!!!!.

The OP had a back condition. This condition has proceeded and now inabilitates her work.

This is a medical condition not incompetence.

Its people like you who are causing companies to go out of business andd such as they cant insure against these sort of scams.

dickydonkin

Anihilator wrote: »

What a load of utter !!!!!.

The OP had a back condition. This condition has proceeded and now inabilitates her work.

This is a medical condition not incompetence.

Its people like you who are causing companies to go out of business andd such as they cant insure against these sort of scams.

Well enlighten me and tell me what is 'utter'.

You have correctly stated the OP has a back condition - that is not in dispute, it is how that back condition came to be that is relevant to the OP.

I would suggest it is companies like the one the OP is working for that is the problem by showing complete disregard for their staff. I suspect you would still have kids climbing up chimeys and working down the mines!

If the OP'S company have not fulfilled their LEGAL requirements, then they are potentially liable - particualrly if the injury has been proved to have been attributable to her work.

That my friend is fact - not 'UTTER'!

Lady007

janiebaby29 wrote: »

My job was in the office , which suited me , then they had to change hours which meant there was less hours in the office and moved me onto the tills , knowning that i had this back condition , this caused my back to get worse .


The statement is above is very damning. If your employer was aware of your condition and put you in an unsuitable role then then they have neglected their duty of care. What they should have done was sought a medical opinion from OH before transferring you to the tillls. Did you point out to them that the tills would not be suitable due to your condition ? A Personal Injury claim may be a possibility if they have as you state made your condition worse. Also, why was it you who moved to the tills - wasn't there any one else more able who could of moved?. You need to find out from OH if your condition could be recognised under the DDA.

paulwf

This is in response to dpassmore:

Firstly as my above post pointed out the OP should decide what they want the future to be (or rather what the doctors think the outcome can be). Imagine that the HR staff are as friendly and as helpful as possible and they ask the OP the simple question "what would you like to happen"? As it stands the OP can only really say "I'd like to be kept on sick pay" to which HR will reply "for how long?" and the OP will say "I don't know, but there is a possibility forever". That clearly isn't an acceptable outcome even if the company is totally on the side of the OP.

I wouldn't recommend jumping down the litigation route unless the OP is sure they aren't going to return to work and that there aren't any other options such as medical retirement or incapacity benefit.

The OP's incapacity seems to be mostly down to an underlying medical condition, none of us here know enough about the case but did the workplace really cause the injury? It might have happened anyway so the OP would need to seek advice before going down the litigation route.

I can understand them trying to keep you in work, but by compounding your injury by giving you a position that has undoubtedly exacerbated your problem (as you stated it got worse doing the new role), that is downright negligent and is unacceptable.

The condition appears to be one that worsens with age so again it would have to be proved that work caused it. What alternative did the company have? Perhaps offer redundancy as the OP stated they no longer required someone in a full time office role?

The company put the OP on office and checkout duties and have paid 6 months continuous sick pay to date. I don't think it is the company that has caused the injury...it may have exacerbated the underlying condition but short of being paid to stay in bed any type of job could do this. Checkout work doesn't cause someone to be off work for 6 months, perhaps it hastened the deterioration but this point would probably have been reached soon anyway.

Torby

with all due respect, I think you should be looking towards your union rep for help and guidence here

http://www.usdaw.org.uk/

if you work in a shop and are till trained you should be in this union (unless you chose not to join, the major supermarkets have union reps in most stores and its part of their job to recruit members) if you check the website you'll see there are lots of people (union members) that were in the same position as you. The union has helped them and if neccessary pursued cases through the courts AND won for their members.

It doesnt cost anything to take a look to see scenarios similar to your own and how they play out with the supermarkets.

@PAULWF: if the condition could be attributed to age/underlying conditions etc, it can be argued that the injury at work exacerbated the onset, i.e. yes it would/could have happened in 10 years time but this has brought this forward by 3 or 4 years, so in court it may be argued that the injured party would only be compensated for a short period as opposed to supporting them financially for the rest of their "working lives".

This however may set the stage for retiement on grounds of "ill health" (plus the firm may be happy to get rid of you quicker...pay you off).

Also if you do get a settlement for an injury at work and you have been off for a lengthy period and moved on to incapacity benefit, the award would have to be high enough to take this into account, the government will also wat its pound of flesh back if you win your case.

In my experience, this route is only worth going down if you have the backing and legal resources of your union, there have been cases where people have taken this burden on themselves and lost their homes over it.... no win no fee....now thats a different story

viktory

Anihilator wrote: »

If you cant sit, stand or walk for long periods of time and the OH report backs this up you will be dismissed on capability grounds.

In all honesty if you cant even work on a check-out you are of little use to a supermarket.

janiebaby29 wrote: »

thanks for making me feel worse !!

Anihilator's comment was harsh perhaps, but a fair assessment nonetheless. I don't think s/he can be held responsible for your sensibilities (the phrase fragile flower springs to mind!)