Graduated Return to Work/Wage Reduction

MrsAtobe

Hi all, I need some advice on my situation. I recently had to have an operation on my foot, following an accident in work. Poor maintenance of surface, so their fault.

Our sickness policy is that the first three months are on full salary, then wages go down to two thirds. My wages will go down on the 28th June. I have had an external occupational therapist come out to see me and she has put together a graduated return to work plan, as it is painful for me to either walk very far, or drive at the moment. I live over 30 miles away from my office, and there is no public transport to the office. I am working from home at the moment

The problem I have is this: my GRTW has been set up, but I will not be working full time hours bt the 28th, I have been told that I have to make the hours up with annual or unpaid leave. Is this usual? I really don't see why I should have to use my annual leave when I'm on a GRTW plan that they asked for. Also, in the current climate, would it be wise to put in a claim for compensation?

Thanks for reading this and also for any advice!

Blackpool_Saver

Bump Bump Bump

Googlewhacker

You'd be entitled to put a claim in, whether it is wise or not that is upto you and how comfortable you would feel about the possibility of souring relationships. Also you would have to show they were negligent.

I think they should be topping up your hours worked with the 2/3rds sick pay upto your normal wage but I'm not sure on the legalities.

CFC

You have a GRTW not because the company has asked you to, but because your therapist has recommended it. You would therefore normally not be expected to be paid fulltime for when you are not working fulltime unless I have misunderstood something?

As to the claim, it's not personal, it's business and your employer should understand that. However, you will need to prove it.

Googlewhacker

CFC wrote: »

You have a GRTW not because the company has asked you to, but because your therapist has recommended it. You would therefore normally not be expected to be paid fulltime for when you are not working fulltime unless I have misunderstood something?

As to the claim, it's not personal, it's business and your employer should understand that. However, you will need to prove it.

If its a multi national then maybe, if it is a family business then it will most likely be taken to heart and even if not shown there and then expect your chances of promotions to be minimal and for any money lost (even though it was paid by the insurance) to be claimed back in lower pay rises than you normally would have.

MrsAtobe

CFC, my boss asked me to agree to see the occupational therapist before I even had the operation. So the company certainly expected to live with her recommendations. Given that I wouldn't be in this situation if they had maintained the surface, it really grates that I should be out of pocket, and quite frankly if they were willing to pay my full wages, then I wouldn't even be considering a claim for compensation. The company seems to have a somewhat relaxed attutude about Health and Safety, shall we say. It's a global company, by the way.

Emplawyer

When you say it was their fault, have they admitted liability? I suspect not. If they have then you should not be suffering a wage cut while recuperating, and you should also be looking for compensation.

If as I suspect they have not admitted liability, then many Personal Injury lawyers work on a no win no fee basis and/or take no cut of the compensation as they get their fees from insurance. Assuming you're not in a union (in which case they will have their own scheme through which you should apply) you should certainly consider consulting one and submitting a claim - you don't know how this injury may affect you in future and you may well regret not doing so down the line if your employment prospects are curtailed or affected in any way as a result.

If its a firm that cuts corners on health and safety, do you really want to be working for them in the future? How far will they go? Put a claim in if you're sure of your ground (no pun intended) and if they victimise you as a result, start looking for a job with a more responsible employer

CFC

MrsAtobe wrote: »

CFC, my boss asked me to agree to see the occupational therapist before I even had the operation. So the company certainly expected to live with her recommendations. Given that I wouldn't be in this situation if they had maintained the surface, it really grates that I should be out of pocket, and quite frankly if they were willing to pay my full wages, then I wouldn't even be considering a claim for compensation. The company seems to have a somewhat relaxed attutude about Health and Safety, shall we say. It's a global company, by the way.

Sorry I didn't make myself clear.
The company are following the advice of a health professional, in line with the practice of a responsible employer. It is not that they have chosen for you only to work part time for the moment, it is what is needed for your health. If the company has admitted liability then as Emplawyer states, they should be making up your wages...but you don't say that they have, and they are not offering to make up your wages.

Savvy_Sue

If it's a large company, have they had people on GRTW before, and if so what was the situation?

I work for a small company. There's only two of us have ever had GRTW, and I've had one twice (but a very good sick record apart from that!)

My first one was following brain surgery, 6 years ago, and was just me and my GP working out what I'd cope with. I was still on full sick pay, and the payroll person didn't know what to do, so I just said I'll work some days and keep me on sick pay for the rest. After a few weeks of that I booked some odd days as leave (as I had quite a bit to use up) and worked it out like that.

My recent one has been more professionally dealt with, I feel. I saw Occ Health, got a sensible report out of them. Met my manager (a new one), they made some suggestions, I said I presumed I'd take pro rata sick time to make the hours up and they said "if you're on a phased return as recommended by Occ Health, I think we should pay your full pay and you shouldn't be on sick pay at all."

So the same has happened for my colleague.

I don't know if that's the legal situation, but I agree with you that since they are partly to blame, it's an argument worth putting to them.

However, you know we are ALL responsible for Health and Safety, so had the uneven surface been drawn to their attention? Or was everyone going "this surface is a right mess, someone's going to have an accident" and then not using whatever formal reporting structures you have?

MrsAtobe

Sue, the site H&S rep verbally told me that they' been trying to get something done about the surface for ages, but I bet they won't remember the conversation now . My team leader has spoken to HR, but they are refusing to budge.

Emplawyer could you give me an idea of who would need to admit liability? Would it be H&S, my team leader, HR? Or would there be a phrase that I can look for in an email?

Thanks for your replies and advice, it is very appreciated.

Emplawyer

MrsAtobe wrote: »

Sue, the site H&S rep verbally told me that they' been trying to get something done about the surface for ages, but I bet they won't remember the conversation now . My team leader has spoken to HR, but they are refusing to budge.

Emplawyer could you give me an idea of who would need to admit liability? Would it be H&S, my team leader, HR? Or would there be a phrase that I can look for in an email?

Thanks for your replies and advice, it is very appreciated.

If you need to ask that question then I'm afraid they will not have admitted liability! There may be clues in emails which help a future claim but they shoul dbe fairly obvious - you are looking for anything which suggests they knew about a potential hazard and did nothing about it.

I would get yourself an appointment with a PI solicitor and they will be able to look at all your evidence and advise.