Quiet night - ATOS is it acting illegally ?

Richie-from-the-Boro

According to FAQ Q.1. on this website The Equalities Act (2010) which came into force from 1 October 2010 makes it illegal to ask an individual about their health status at the pre-employment stage. Yet ATOS who do the pre-employment screening for the NHS in Southwark ask the following [note the ATOS Origin fish in the linked pdf] in this their questionnaire :

They ask : ....... Do you have, or have you suffered from any of the following (please circle YES or NO):

Back/neck/limb ache/ joint pain/arthritis etc that limits your normal movement?
Epilepsy/fits/blackouts/ fainting etc?
Diabetes or other endocrine disorders, Jaundice or other blood disorders?
Current or previous Chest disease/angina/ heart attack/ Heart problems etc?
Asthma or other breathing problems/conditions?
High blood pressure/giddiness/prolonged headaches or migraine?
Do you have any problems relating to shift working or night duty?
Eyesight problems not corrected by glasses or contact lenses?

Hearing impairment requiring assistance or special equipment a work or any recurrent or persistent ear infections or other ENT problems?
Allergies to dusts, chemicals, foods, drugs or other substances?
Latex/rubber allergy or any other skin related dermatitis/ eczema type condition or other skin disease?
Psychiatric ill health, including diagnosed conditions, treatment or ongoing therapy/support?
Bulimia/anorexia/eating disorders?
Depression/anxiety reactive or endogenous even if mild?
Gynaecological/Bladder or Kidney problems where this affects your ability to work and results in frequent absence?
Do you have any health problems relating to night work or shift pattern working?
Do you have, or have you had, any health problems which resulted in a change or restriction in your professional activities?

_________________________

Now call me a radical but making mi££ions and mi££ions out of the taxpayer by finding the disabled for for work .. .. that doesn't exist anyway .. .. then charging the NHS & other employers mi££ions more for making sure the few disabled that do get to even the application level have it made difficult - if not impossible - for them to progress to interview stage, let alone employment.

dori2o

I don't undertsand how ATOS can have it's fingers in both pies. Surely there is a conflict of interest?

They do the Occupational Health referrals for most of the Government Departments. They do this on a telephone interview basis, not via a face to face assessment. How can anyone properly assess an individuals needs via the telephone?

They inform the employers of the individuals suitability to remain in employment based on their health problems.

There have been many many cases where ATOS have declared people unfit to remain in employment, and then only a few weeks later, whenh the individual has been forced out of their job, and has been forced to claim ESA, ATOS in their infinate wisdom, have found the individual Fit for Work during the assessment.

Talk about having your cake and eating it.

Richie-from-the-Boro

They - ATOS are a busy big bee buzzing around the hive of government money picking up the 'honey' for their big fat financial queen. Just over the water they are equally barbarous with their diabolical attitude to occupational cleansing via their 'cyber' assessments, he even states in that article that """ 20% of existing employees must be bad """

Back to the original #1 post, what % of [disabled] interviewees are made an offer of employment ... ... after - ATOS 'pre- employment screening' - I wonder ?

In fact what % of [disabled] applicants are made an offer of even an interview ... ... after - ATOS 'pre- employment screening' - I wonder ?

Is this ATOS pre-employment screening methodology in clear breach of the Equality Act I wonder?

Richie-from-the-Boro

garybarlowforpresident wrote: »

The EqAct does not exclude employers from ensuring that the successful candidate is fit for the role in question. The questionnaire that you link to is to be completed only by successful candidates. This is quite lawful.

"""fit for the role in question"" - agreed
"""completed only by successful candidates""" - I disagree

The pdf clearly states """All successful applicants are required to complete this form""" but the questions must be completed in full before an appointment is made. It is therefore pre-employment as it clearly states in the header.

The 2010EA is very clear it makes it illegal to ask an individual about their health status at the pre-employment stage. I disagree with you because there's a huge contradiction between the EA and the way the ATOS pre-employment screening is structured, one I feel could be tested in the courts.

Structured

Measuring a potential employees [Capability] health and fitness to meet the demands and risks of the job is far exceeded by the range of the questions, indeed I'm sure that large organisations such as the NHS have pre-employment & diversity policies particularly around disabilities that would preclude such tests let alone the EA. itself.

GMbabies

We know ATOS is illegal...just have to prove it somehow.

SCOTS nurse Joyce Drummond reveals how thousands of genuinely ill people were set up for a fall before they had even been assessed by benefits firm Atos.

dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/nurse-makes-heartfelt-apology-after-1340838

kurgon

They get around this by not showing the questionnaire to the interviewers. This is done in other NHS organisations that aren't covered by ATOS and the questions are very similar

mazza111

dori2o wrote: »

onflict of interest?

They do the Occupational Health referrals for most of the Government Departments. They do this on a telephone interview basis, not via a face to face assessment. How can anyone properly assess an individuals needs via the telephone?

Just to clarify on that bit. In my experience when working for RM. They actually listened to you by phone and perhaps gave you amended duties suitable to your illness/ailment. They also got in touch with your GP. I found ATOS very helpful at this stage, and meant I didn't need to go sick during the run up to my ill health retirement. If warranted they will call you in for a face to face interview. I don't know if it works the same for "most of the government departments" but that's how it worked for me and RM.


Found them to be totally different when dealing with them from a DWP side though.