Hard of Hearing

dosh1

HR / law expertise required

I am hard of hearing but work in an office as a manager.

My hearing is gradually deteriorating and as a result I am now not able to use the telephone effectively as I struggle with clarity.

I still feel I can do my job but 'the old-fashioned' way of face to face communications which can be problematic in this day and age with teleconferencing and video conferencing

I shall be speaking to my employer about this (HR) and the fact my disability is now preventing me to use the telephone.

Anyone know what my rights are. I do still enjoy my job be it stressful with my disability. What stance can the employer take e.g. they may think if i cannot use the phone then I cannot do the job and as a result release/sack me? Are they able to do this?

I would like to go forewarned into a meeting with them.

Thanks

Takeaway_Addict

I presume hearing aids do not help?

dosh1

No unfortunately hearing aids don't help. I wear them in both ears but they are limited use when the problem is clarity.

Thanks, I was planning on getting further advice but thought I would see if there might be some answers on the forum before I do so.

Takeaway_Addict

An employer has to make reasonable adjustments towards disabilities but the definition of reasonable depends on each individual case and ultimately if the employer feels something isn't reasonable then they only way you can possibly get redress is via an employment tribunal.

If you aren't capable of doing the job then the employer could go through the capability procedure which requires time.

Being realistic though, if your job does require a large amount of time on the phone and this is becoming an issue you might also need to accept that you might need to change job within the company if offered to one that might not need such activities.

Undervalued

dosh1 wrote: »

HR / law expertise required

I am hard of hearing but work in an office as a manager.

My hearing is gradually deteriorating and as a result I am now not able to use the telephone effectively as I struggle with clarity.

I still feel I can do my job but 'the old-fashioned' way of face to face communications which can be problematic in this day and age with teleconferencing and video conferencing

I shall be speaking to my employer about this (HR) and the fact my disability is now preventing me to use the telephone.

Anyone know what my rights are. I do still enjoy my job be it stressful with my disability. What stance can the employer take e.g. they may think if i cannot use the phone then I cannot do the job and as a result release/sack me? Are they able to do this?

I would like to go forewarned into a meeting with them.

Thanks

If this amounts to a disability (for employment law purposes) which it probably does then you are entitled to "reasonable adjustments".

Ultimately, if you and the employer can't agree, it would be up to a tribunal to decided what is reasonable.

Generally more would be expected of a large organisation than a small business but neither would be expected to make wholesale changes nor ones that are disproportionately expensive.

Within reason, special equipment would be reasonable. Completely restructuring your job or getting someone else in to do part of it may well not be reasonable.

dosh1

Thanks for all responses.

I appreciate the job does require a fair amount of phone work. An alternative is face to face communications however I deal with people at other locations around England so travel is not always feasible and could be seen as costly to the organisation.

Do you know if the Organisation would be required to find me an alternative job (with no phone work) rather than release me? It's difficult to see what other roles could be available without using the phone.

It's all less than positive really as I still have a brain and capable of the job mentally but my disability makes things very tough.

Takeaway_Addict

If a role is available that you are capable of doing then it may be a reasonable adjustment to consider you for it but no, they do not have to make a new job up for you.

ERICS_MUM

Is there absolutely no equipment that your employer could install that would enable you to be more effective on the phone ?

Undervalued

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

If a role is available that you are capable of doing then it may be a reasonable adjustment to consider you for it but no, they do not have to make a new job up for you.

I agree.

They wouldn't however be expected to appoint you to a different roll ahead of a better candidate.

Having you travel to face to face meetings that could otherwise have been done over the phone would, presumably, be disproportionately expensive and very inefficient in time so would almost certainly be more than would be required as a "reasonable adjustment".

That said, some employers do go far further than the law requires to help in these sort of situations. We are just pointing out the worst case / default position which they might lawfully choose to adopt.

dosh1

No unfortunately not. You can get phones that may help but a hearing disability that lacks clarity there is little that can be done.

Another_not_new_user

There was an awful lot of sound advice given to you on the same subject five months ago. Can you tell us which you have followed up so that people aren't wasting time repeating things you have already been told about?