Disciplinary Help!!!

stephbond89

I put a post up about my husband a few days ago. He fell asleep in work for 10 minutes and was suspended unpaid pending a disciplinary. Today was the disciplinary and I was some help:

He went in with a written statement outlining the reasons he fell asleep which were a mix of having an 7 week old baby at home who was sick that weekend, working very long hours (without the legal 11 hours between the shifts), and also his medication has begun to make him drowsy (he declared his medication to his employers when he started the job, he is on anti depressants).

As soon as his boss read the part about him been on anti depressants, he said "did you declare these meds?", my husband said of course he did, (which I am sure should be on file somewhere) he then ajourned the disciplianry to go and "read up on something". And told my husband he would phone him either later today or tomorrow!

Now to me, this definitely sounds like he already made his mind up when my husband came into the room- and was planning on firing him outright, but now he is worried we may take him to a tribunal because of the reason been my husbands medication which was declared to the company when he started!

Can my husband be fired because of his medication even though it was declared to the company? Should they not have checked what the medication was and if it would make him unfit to work nights before hiring him?? Surely they cannot fire him for taking the exact same medication he has always taken which was declared simply because they have started to have3 adverse affects on him (which he has now seen a doctor about and is changing his medication to somehting which wont make him drowsy).

I am very worried about this, my husband is the only one of us who works- I had a baby 9 weeks ago now, and was not planning on going back to work until my daughter was at least 9 months old.

Also, I wanted ot know about the time scale it took to get the disciplinary, as far as we were aware it had to take place no later than 7 days after the incident. My husband was suspended at 8am on Tuesday the 16th, 8 days ago...
We thought that if it was any longer than 7 days to the disciplanry and it was seen as historic and no longer could be acted upon?? Though this iM not so sure on.

Another thing...the supervisor who "caught him" asleep, has now claimed that he has warned my husband about sleeping on the job before, which he never has, and he definitely has never had anything recorded abiout it or had a disciplinary, but he is claiming he has warned him before which he's not!!

Any ideas where we stand here???

Uncertain

stephbond89 wrote: »

Can my husband be fired because of his medication even though it was declared to the company? Should they not have checked what the medication was and if it would make him unfit to work nights before hiring him?? Surely they cannot fire him for taking the exact same medication he has always taken which was declared simply because they have started to have3 adverse affects on him (which he has now seen a doctor about and is changing his medication to somehting which wont make him drowsy).

Short answer - no.

However, the employer cannot be expected to have expert knowledge of the side effects of different drugs. Arguably they should have sought advice or sent him to see an occupational health department.

Equally, if you husband was warned of side effects he should have explained these to his employer. Also he should have explained the nature of his job to his doctor. The doctor could have issued a "fit note" saying that he was only fit for work with certain adjustments. If the employer couldn't accommodate the adjustments then they would have to treat him as off sick.

Clearly the firm are nervous about the implications of sacking him which is an encouraging sign.

dmg24

How long has he been on the meds? Did he tell the employer specifically about the drowsiness/ sedating effect, or did he simply say 'I am on x medication'?

stephbond89

he has been on it since feb 2007, a yr before he started with the firm. He was never made aware of the side affects by his doctor until he went to see the doc the day after the incident when he told him the drug is infact a frowsy making drug.

He told his doc he was on medication for anti depressants and gave them the name of the pills and his dosage...they didnt ask him any questions about them or his illness. Just hired him and put him onto night work.

Googlewhacker

If your husband didn't know then you can't expect the employer to know the side effects of the drugs.

Also employers are best not asking about drugs and their effects because any decision they make could be construed rightly or wrongly as discriminatory and put them in a whole heap of trouble so I would say the onus is on your husband to explain the problems with the drugs.

As Uncertain says your husband may get away with this with just a formal warning and not dismissal which would be a good thing.

dmg24

stephbond89 wrote: »

he has been on it since feb 2007, a yr before he started with the firm. He was never made aware of the side affects by his doctor until he went to see the doc the day after the incident when he told him the drug is infact a frowsy making drug.

He told his doc he was on medication for anti depressants and gave them the name of the pills and his dosage...they didnt ask him any questions about them or his illness. Just hired him and put him onto night work.

Assuming all other (medical) factors remain constant, it would be very unusual for meds to suddenly have a sedating effect after three years. Furthermore, your husband has a duty to alert his employers of any factors that could impact on the health and safety of himself and others, and it would appear he has not done this?

I would take further advice before using this as mitigation.

stephbond89

we have also just had a new baby, his doctor did actually say that it is his pills which have started to cause the drowsiness due to the other things happening in his life, a new baby, long working hours etc.

I dont expect work to know the side affects of his pills at all of course, BUT- if a potential employee says they are on anti depressants, surely they should seek advice about whether someone with depression should be working 15 hour night shifts, and my question really is whether or not he can be fired BECAUSE of his medication.

As I said, he was never made aware the medication could make him drowsy- and now he does, he is taking action to change this medication. But my question really is considering he declared his medication to his employers- can they now 3 years down the line fire him because of an effect of his medication and mental illness?

prosaver

dont worry about the medication , working very long hours (without the legal 11 hours between the shifts),
the law says he needs 11 hours between shifts- what would of happened if he fell a sleep in the car?
They are liable for putting you husband life in great danger -by not leaving 11 hours between shifts!!!
and you the one who has a case against them

dmg24

stephbond89 wrote: »

we have also just had a new baby, his doctor did actually say that it is his pills which have started to cause the drowsiness due to the other things happening in his life, a new baby, long working hours etc.

I dont expect work to know the side affects of his pills at all of course, BUT- if a potential employee says they are on anti depressants, surely they should seek advice about whether someone with depression should be working 15 hour night shifts, and my question really is whether or not he can be fired BECAUSE of his medication.

As I said, he was never made aware the medication could make him drowsy- and now he does, he is taking action to change this medication. But my question really is considering he declared his medication to his employers- can they now 3 years down the line fire him because of an effect of his medication and mental illness?

No, he cannot be fired for reason of him being on medication. However he can be disciplined for not making the employer aware that he was overly tired (and so risking the health and safety of himself and others), and for not seeking advice on his medication earlier (with each prescription he would have had a leaflet detailing the possible side effects, so if he was not aware that is due to his own negligence).

Edited for clarity!

stephbond89

prosaver wrote: »

dont worry about the medication , working very long hours (without the legal 11 hours between the shifts),
the law says he needs 11 hours between shifts- what would of happened if he fell a sleep in the car?
They are liable for putting you husband life in great danger -by not leaving 11 hours between shifts!!!
and you the one who has a case against them

Well we thought this was the case, we spoke to ACAS about it who said that there were no exceptions to the rules about having 11 hours between shifts. He works (or worked!!) Monday 5pm til 8am and Tuesday 5pm til 8am- that leaves 9 hours between shifts, these shifts were in the minority (only two nights a week), but they were not voluntary shifts (not overtime always written into his rota). But, we dont think this would holod up in a tribunal to help with the case of his dismissal...though we're not sure!! He was not working the 15 hour night shfts the day he fell asleep he'd been on 12 hour days the weekend before, and he fell asleep on the Monday night at 2am approx.

So dont know if it would hold up there?

stephbond89

About the fact he didnt let his boss know he was overtired, if you knew his boss you would know why.

He cannot take days off sick without having his boss have a go at him about it, saying he is leaving them in the lurch (even if he gives 10 hours notice he is told he is leaving them in the lurch!) and they try to persuade him to come in.

He had a car crash in March 08, the car was a write off- he was on his way to work at the time. He banged his head quite hard in the crash, and phoend his boss to tell him he had crashed his car and he would be unable to get to work- his boss not once asked about his welfare, but said "go home, have a coffee and the supervisor will pick you up in 2 hours". He is terrified of asking for the night off, as whenever he does he is treated like cr*p, and was once given a disciplinary (over 12 months ago) for taking a day off sick because he didnt give the allocated 6 hours notice...he gets in from work at 8am, goes to sleep and wakes at 2ish ready for his shift at 5...he doesnt have time to give 6 horus notice if he gets sick before work, which he stated, but he still got a written warning for it!!!!! Hence why he didnt tell his employer he was tired, yes it was terrible of him, and I am not making excuses at all. But just telling it how it is, so you can get an idea why it happened how it did