Called liar for being off sick

paddedjohn

emmylou wrote: »

gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! This has made me so angry :mad::mad::mad::mad:. I have me. This is a disability. And occasionally, i use a wheelchair. Please note that i am not bound to the wheelchair in a physical sense - no one goes near me with rubber bungee cords for example - and when i am ill enough to need one, it doesn't bind my activities. As long as there's ramps and wide enough access (and somewhere to charge the battery for the power chair if necessary) then using the wheelchair actually does the opposite of bind me - it frees me to be able to get on with my life as normal.

Uc *is* a disability (as is cancer - yes it's a disease too) as defined under the equality act 2010 (which has superseded the disability discrimination act 1995) - see direct.gov.uk (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/disabledpeople/rightsandobligations/disabilityrights/dg_4001068)

the definition of ‘disability’ under the equality act 2010


in the act, a person has a disability if:

• they have a physical or mental impairment
• the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to perform normal day-to-day activities

for the purposes of the act, these words have the following meanings:

• 'substantial' means more than minor or trivial
• 'long-term' means that the effect of the impairment has lasted or is likely to last for at least twelve months (there are special rules covering recurring or fluctuating conditions)
• 'normal day-to-day activities' include everyday things like eating, washing, walking and going shopping

people who have had a disability in the past that meets this definition are also protected by the act.

***

op - i think your husband is doing really well only having two days off in a year when he's got uc, and if his boss doesn't realise that, then it's his loss. If boss goes "formal", then obviously you've got the protection of the equality act to back you up - but it won't hurt (in either an employment or medical sense) for your oh to see the medics as soon as he can.

cant be that bad if they have only needed 1 day off work in a year. Normal day to day activities are hardly impaired are they?

GavB79

That was the point I was trying to make. Having had UC for all of my adult life, and recently bowel cancer as a direct result, I would still not say I was 'disabled' under that definition.
Being wheelchair-bound, which I take to mean confined to a wheelchair and unable to support oneself physically as opposed to being a wheelchair user, which is what others seem to interpret it as, I would think that normal day-to-day activities such as bathing and toileting would be significantly more challenging, albeit not insurmountable.
Of course the problem with labels, is that you'll never find one that encompasses everyone definitively

Nicki

It's up to you GavB79 what you wish to call yourself, but for the purposes of employment law, cancer is defined as a disability and protected, and ulcerative colitis may be depending on it's severity. OP's husband is obviously not too bad if he's only missed one day of work due to it in several years, but some people are so severely affected that they are incontinent, or even need a stoma following surgery. I also suffer from it, and in the general run of things (no pun intended!) can get by just fine, but during an acute flare up I have been hospitalized for up to 2 weeks at a time on more than one occasion, and at others have needed to have immediate access to a toilet round the clock, so not been able to leave the house until it is under control. That I thi k would count as an adverse effect on normal day to day activities.

GavB79

So just out of interest Nicki, if asked 'Do you consider yourself disabled?' on for example a job application, how would you respond?
I do appreciate it can be severe, I too have been hospitalised and I DO have a stoma unfortunately.
Oh, and what do you mean by 'protected'?
Happy to continue a discussion by PM if you'd rather not go into details on a public forum.

Nicki

I haven't worked since I was diagnosed though the two things aren't related - I am a SAHM. If I were to apply for a job though it would depend how active it was. At the moment its been in remission for a few years, so no. But if I had a stoma then yes I think I would.

The protections are basically that the employer should make reasonable adjustments to accommodate your needs caused by the disability. So allowing more frequent access to the loo, applying different criteria to monitoring absences if the absences are due to the disability, associated appointments, that kind of thing.

Googlewhacker

Nicki wrote: »

I haven't worked since I was diagnosed though the two things aren't related - I am a SAHM. If I were to apply for a job though it would depend how active it was. At the moment its been in remission for a few years, so no. But if I had a stoma then yes I think I would.

The protections are basically that the employer should make reasonable adjustments to accommodate your needs caused by the disability. So allowing more frequent access to the loo, applying different criteria to monitoring absences if the absences are due to the disability, associated appointments, that kind of thing.

Reasonable is not defined though and it doesn't mean they have to allow extra sick days etc.

GavB79

Googlewhacker wrote: »

Reasonable is not defined though and it doesn't mean they have to allow extra sick days etc.

I have been given all my chemo appointments off paid - two days per fortnight for six months. I was hoping 'protected' might mean immune to redundancy or something, what with all the job cuts everywhere...

Googlewhacker

GavB79 wrote: »

I have been given all my chemo appointments off paid - two days per fortnight for six months. I was hoping 'protected' might mean immune to redundancy or something, what with all the job cuts everywhere...

No but what it does mean is those days of for Chemo will probably not be counted towards the section in the redundancy process for time off ill when they do the scoring.

strewth71

Hubby had another word with his manager and told him he's not happy with the way he dealt with things. Boss still has bad attitude but said he now "has more belief" in the fact that it was genuine. Think hubby feels better for having spopken up instead of stewing but he is defintely going to get a letter off his doc to go on his HR file for future ref.

At the moment hubby doesn't consider that his UC affects his daily life to the point where he would class it as a disability - he's had the condition for over 7 years (since quitting smoking) and his flare ups can be severe but he adapts and gets on with things the best he can. However, if last week was an example of a REALLY bad flare up it absolutely knocked him for six and he couldn't get out of bed for 2 days - never seen him so ill. If he had to live with that happening often we would definitely have to look into the possibility of being given more assistance at work as it would affect his ability to work on as normal.

As things are he's taking Mercaptopurine and Asacol tabs which tend to keep things manageable (apart from last week). This episode has brought the fact that we have to deal with this to the forefront and we will make sure he takes his health needs more seriously than his obligation to his employer in future. You get thought of no better for struggling on it seems.

Thanks everyone again, all comments and advice have been very helpful x

zzzLazyDaisy

GavB79 wrote: »

So just out of interest Nicki, if asked 'Do you consider yourself disabled?' on for example a job application, how would you respond?
I do appreciate it can be severe, I too have been hospitalised and I DO have a stoma unfortunately.
Oh, and what do you mean by 'protected'?
Happy to continue a discussion by PM if you'd rather not go into details on a public forum.

You can answer the question however you wish.

However, as other posters have said, for employment law purposes UC can be a disability depending on the severity.

If you have a stoma it is definitely a disability - simply because in considering the question of whether and how the illness or condition impacts on normal day-to-day activities the effect of any treatement/meds must be disregarded. I am sure you would agree that if you did not use a stoma pouch, your stoma would have a massive impact on your day to day life.

You may not agree with how the law assesses 'disability' and you may choose not to describe yourself as 'disabled' which is fine. However, if an employer is made aware that an employee has a condition which amounts to a disability under the Act, then they should also be aware of their duty to make reasonable adjustments.

I think that is the point that previous posters are trying to get across.