Immunosupressants vs job requiring Public Transport

Lum

I can say that and they also have that on record thanks to me having a load of sick time in 2010 after it got infected and turned into septicaemia.

devildog

I can totally see where you are coming from regarding plane travel because all the air gets circulated and with a suppressed immune system there 'could' be some risk.

One of my 'children' (use the term loosely) is on immune supressants and the likes of rail/bus travel really isn't an issue. Mixes with all sorts of people in many varied environments(including medical ones) and it really hasn't been a problem.

For anyone, the side affects of an immune suppresant are a susceptibility to infections, stands to reason as the immune system is being compromised.

Sorry, I personally think you are expecting too much

uponahill

karenc135 wrote: »

I take methotrexate for psoriatic arthritis and work in an FE college with thousands of people passing through the doors every day. I have never had any issues with infections etc, but am sensible and have my flu jab etc as well as eating and drinking sensibly to make sure I am as fit as I can be.
My work place has an equality and diversity policy which basically means that they go out of their way to make sure that you can stay in work. They very kindly provided me with a access to disabled parking for the days when I am achy and stiff. I am not disabled and most of the time I look and move like anyone else, and have always worked.
It might be worth asking your employer about their equality and diversity policy. I must admit I always thought that sort of thing always applied to somebody else, but was pleasantly surprised. They may have to provide you with somewhere (employment law) to park, and it is worth looking into further.
Best of luck.
PS I didnt even need to provide evidence of my condition although I offered to do so.

It wouldn't be a government office would it? Since it became the norm a few years ago, it's like them asking - are you happy at work? what more can we do to make you happy? Anything from a special car parking place next to the main door, to a special chair, keyboard - you name it they offer it.

From personal experience I thought all employers were now required to have this onboard.

I must have been spoilt and did not realise it.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Lum wrote: »

Richie: The reason I'm looking for official advice and/or legislation is due to a lack of understanding and because I genuinely believe that they wont do anything more than the bare minimum legally required.

The Act doesn't specify 'reasonable', the code agrees reasoanable will vary according to:

the type of service being provided
the nature of the service provider, and its size and resources
how the person's disability affects them in that context.

The Code also says that some of the following factors might be taken into account when considering what is reasonable:

how effective any steps would be in overcoming the difficulty that disabled people face in accessing the services
how practicable it would be for the service provider to take these steps
how disruptive taking the steps would be
the financial and other costs of making the adjustment
the extent of the service provider's financial and other resources
the amount of any resources already spent on making adjustments
the availability of financial or other assistance.

Given the above :

- what do you expect / wish your employer to do ?
- what do you expect / wish legislation could do for you ?
- what reasonable adjustments made by your employer would be acceptable to you?

What in employment law / DDA terms does " technically I'm under consultation still " mean ?

Lum

We're under consultation due to the closure of my current office. I'm no employment law expert but I believe there has to be a formal consultation process where they pretend to negotiate with the employees before doing whatever they originally decided on doing anyway. This is currently ongoing.

In an ideal world, I'd like them to not close the current office, or to move us to another business park that has parking. In practice it looks like they're pushing towards moving us to this site in the middle of Cardiff.

Even if I were perfectly healthy this is problematic as I cannot leave any earlier than I already do, due to my caring responsibilities. My leaving time is dictated by how long it takes to get my partner, who cannot walk and has fluctuating ME, safely into her car in the morning.

So I'd be looking at either asking to work from home or asking for assistance with finding and paying for a parking space in the middle of Cardiff and an adjustment to my start time to take into account the increased travel time.

blossomhill_2

Your employer will have to have done a risk assessment on how this move will affect the employees- ask to see it and see if they have taken the impact on those with medical conditions into account - if they haven't you can make them aware of yours ask them to revise the assessment to accommodate your circumstances

They have a legal obligation, not least because you are a carer, but before finding out what you can hit them with, see what they have already considered

mealone

Lum wrote: »

In need of some advice here. I take Methotrexate for severe chronic eczema and thus I tend to avoid public transport since every time I take a bus or a plane (not tried trains) I end up catching something or other and feeling like crap for a week.

I'm also a carer for an adult with several disabilities, she gets DLA at the higher rate for both care and mobility, so it's important that I avoid getting sick.

The problem I have is my employer is proposing moving my job to the middle of Cardiff, to a site with no parking (at least not that I could afford daily) and is saying "It's right by the train station so you don't need parking".

I really can't afford to be getting sick all the time as I get crammed into a rush hour train with steamed up windows every day. Is there any documentation or legislation I can use to hit them over the head with, ideally something that doesn't mention cancer or leukaemia since I don't have those conditions.

Your girl friend didnt get DLA and hadnt applied a few weeks ago?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3754971

What dose of Methotrexate are you on? I believe the normal dosage for your problem are quite low, do you have any other immune problems?

Lum

@blossomhill: I agree with you in principle, problem is we only get three meetings as part of this consultation. The first one is already gone, and at that point neither me nor my new manager knew that this was the likely location, we only found out today. The next meeting is on Monday and the final one a week after that. Therefore I'm trying to get as much information on legislation in advance, ready to quote chapter and verse on Monday if it comes to that.

laurel7172

Do you know for certain that public transport will be bad for your health?

I ask because I'm on immunosuppressants and work in a school...one of the hospital consultants intimated I might not be able to carry on in that position, but I just got on with it and I found I wasn't being struck down by every virus that floated by. Immunosuppressed doesn't automatically mean immune deficient. You might be lucky?

Lum

@mealone: In that thread I wrote "that assumes that her DLA application is actually sucessful". We got the response back from the DWP last night, and the news that has caused me to make this thread dropped this morning. I'm currently taking 6 methotrexate pills per week, though this is likely to go back up to 8 shortly. I'm also on zarfilukast and regularly use Betnovate-C. I've been on some form of immunosupressant for about 6 years now, starting with azothioprine, ciclosporin, mycophenylate, mycophenylate+ciclosporin methotrexate and now methotrexate+zarfirlukast.

@laurel7172: I've made this thread because of my previous experience on public transport, I used to take half hour flights from Liverpool to Ireland on Cheesyjet and would get sick after every single flight without fail. I wasn't a carer back then so I just dealt with it (and then switched to ferries) I can't see how 20 minutes on a train twice a day every single day is going to be anything but even more risky, and now that I'm a carer and we're reliant on my partner's income more than my own, the risk is unacceptable to me.