Redundancy or finish on health grounds ???

MrsA1939

Hi I don`t know if I am on the right forum, but here goes

My husband had a stroke in October 2008, he is still off work, (he is a wagon driver)

My question is this,
The only contact he has had with his employers is twice after he came out of hospital, and that was to see when he was retuning to work.

He has had a phone call today from his employers to say that someone is coming to see him on Monday, naturally his first thoughts were that they were going to finish him, which is understandable because of his long absence (he has not received any wages off them, in all this time)the consultants told him that he would never drive a wagon again, and he did tell his employers this.

My question is,,,, will they have to make him redundant or finish him on health grounds,
He will be 65 in August and retirement age, although had he not had the stroke he would have carried on working


Sorry for a long drawn out post
Thank for any advice

Googlewhacker

To be fair they would be very silly to make him redundant so near to retirement age and even so they could dismiss him on capability reasons.

Before someone else points it out he is still earning holiday pay whilst of sick so it maybe worth pointing this out when they give him notice which will at least give you a small payout.

MrsA1939

Thank you googlewhacker, we had no idea that he was still entitled to holiday pay.

We will wait and see what happens on Monday

thanks again

bigsooze

Jobs get made redundant, not people - if his role is still there, they shouldn't make him redundant. If they do want to terminate his employment it's more likely to be on capability grounds due to his absence.

But that shouldn't happen at this meeting - he should have a formal invite to a meeting, right to be accompanied etc. before they dismiss so this sounds like a discussion meeting to me although may be setting the scene for a capability dismissal. I would imagine they'd need medical input though.

Uncertain

As stated above they may well be able to terminate his employment on capability (health) grounds but they must follow due process or they leave themselves open to a claim.

As also mentioned his holiday continues to accrue the whole time he has been off sick and this continues right up to the end of any notice they have to give him. In round figures this is two days per months PLUS any untaken holiday he had at the time he fell ill. NOTE, as he has been off sick he CANNOT lose any of this holiday because he has not taken it in the normal leave year.

It would be very unwise of them to give him notice without seeking a medical opinion. They could either ask him to see an occupational health doctor (at their expense) or they could pay for his GP to write a report. Either can only happen with his permission and he has a right to see any report that is written. In the case of the GP this is BEFORE the report is sent to the firm.

If as a result of this they do opt to dismiss on capability grounds they must pay him whatever notice he is due.

I would strongly suggest you obtain some professional advice. At the very least phone ACAS or talk to the CAB. Check you house insurance as you may well have cover for legal help - often people don't realise this.

Some small firms are ignorant of the legal position and others choose to be so you must look after your own interests!

Finally, it is not in your interests to hurry any of this as, at the very least, holiday pay is still accruing. Do not be deliberately obstructive but ask for everything in writing, take a few days to respond then use a 2nd class stamp. Getting a report from your GP will take a month or more if you exercise your right to see it first and discuss the contents with the doctor..........

getmore4less

My husband had a stroke in October 2008, he is still off work, (he is a wagon driver)

AIUI stokes are a notifiable disability to DVLA so does he still hold a valid driving licence?


http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/MotoringAndTransport/Yourvehicleandlicence/DG_10029770

Hammyman

MrsA1939 wrote: »

Hi I don`t know if I am on the right forum, but here goes

My husband had a stroke in October 2008, he is still off work, (he is a wagon driver)


My question is,,,, will they have to make him redundant or finish him on health grounds,
He will be 65 in August and retirement age, although had he not had the stroke he would have carried on working

I have a question for you:

As he has obviously been suffering side effects of the stroke for more than a month after the event, he is LEGALLY REQUIRED to notify DVLA.

Has he notified DVLA of his medical status? It is highly unlikely he would keep his HGV entitlement.

I take the fact he's not already finished on medical grounds is an indication that he has not notified DVLA and thus had his HGV licence revoked?

MrsA1939

Hammyman wrote: »

I have a question for you:

As he has obviously been suffering side effects of the stroke for more than a month after the event, he is LEGALLY REQUIRED to notify DVLA.

Has he notified DVLA of his medical status? It is highly unlikely he would keep his HGV entitlement.

I take the fact he's not already finished on medical grounds is an indication that he has not notified DVLA and thus had his HGV licence revoked?

He has notified the DVLA and no longer has his goods licence, although he still has a normal drivers license, his consultant did say to use the car for very limited times, eg visits to the GP and hospital appointments##Thanks all for your input

Hammyman

MrsA1939 wrote: »

He has notified the DVLA and no longer has his goods licence, although he still has a normal drivers license, his consultant did say to use the car for very limited times, eg visits to the GP and hospital appointments##Thanks all for your input

I'm glad he had the decency to do that. Its a hard decision to make.

As he was employed as a lorry driver but no longer has a HGV licence and isn't fit enough to do work in the yard/warehouse and can't really drive, I think medical retirement is on the grounds.

forgotmyname

MrsA1939 wrote: »

He has notified the DVLA and no longer has his goods licence, although he still has a normal drivers license, his consultant did say to use the car for very limited times, eg visits to the GP and hospital appointments##Thanks all for your input

But have you notified your insurance and the DVLA? You really need to.

MrsA1939

The reason for my husband appointment with his employers was just to inform him that he is due to retire in August, which we already know lol

Thank you all for your helpful replies:A
Mrs A 1939