Can they force medical retirement?

Jal.

Hello,

I'm new here, so hi everyone, and apologies if this is in the wrong forum or anything.

I have a query regarding employment laws and such and was hoping someone could offer a wee bit of advice.

My partner, who works as a Postman, was involved in a motorcycle accident in November where he badly dislocated his shoulder and has been off work ever since, waiting for the MRI scan to determine what kind of treatment was needed.
He received the scan about 2 weeks ago and we now know he needs surgery, but have no idea when this will happen.

On hearing the results, his manager called him in and made him a cash offer to accept medical retirement.
Now,one of my partners work colleagues's hip collapsed and was off work for almost a full year before they negotiated a return to work with light/reduced duties.
So he was quite shocked and more than a little worried that he has had this offer after only three months.

Does the fact that the accident happened neither at work, nor as a result of it make any difference?

Is there any kind of time limit that an employer has to wait before they can legally dismiss someone with injuries that are fixable but prone to long NHS waiting lists?

Any advice on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

Jal.

leespot

Are they offering cash pay off, or cash lump sum with a pension package?

Check his contract for long term illness clauses, for example my employer is 6 months full pay, 6 months half pay (although I have no idea what after that, and hopefully won't need to ever find out! )

David_e

Jal. wrote: »

Any advice on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

Get advice from the union. Whatever the rights and wrongs, it doesn't sound as if they have gone through a rigorous process. As leespot say, what are the employment terms and conditions?

Is the retirement offer on the basis of an enhanced pension?

BobQ

You do not say how old your partner is or how old the colleague was as this may affect any offer they make. Also remember that the approach may have changed since privatisation.

Ultimately they cannot force "medical retirement". Its your partner's decision on when he retires. But any employer can decide after due process that someone is incapable of doing their job and terminate their employment in accordance with whatever rules they have in place. In this case, they may be weighing up his current ability to work, the cost of long term sickness, the likelihood of him being fit to work and his closeness to retirement.

They have offered a cash sum but he does not have to accept it. However, it could be a good deal or a bad deal we cannot judge from the information.

If your partner is a union member they will be able to advise what sort of deal it is and perhaps negotiate a better deal. If they are offering a good deal based on an existing medical retirement deal (immediate payment of unreduced pension, redundancy compensation etc) the union will be able to advise him. Or maybe you can get employment advice from a legal service related to an insurance policy?

Its worth noting that if they used the term "medical retirement" those employed in public sector jobs or jobs that still retain public sector like terms can get good deals that make it worthwhile to accept. There is usually a requirement to prove (independent medical assessment) that you cannot do the job in the future period to normal retirement from the pension scheme.