Wife injured at work, company want her out

thinisaz

My wife has worked in mental care her whole life and is well qualified in the sector. Unfortunately there was an incident at work 6 months ago where she got quite a serious injury to her hand restraining an aggressive resident.

At first she had her hand in a brace, then a pot, has had physio and is just awaiting the results of an ultrasound scan.

Today she had a meeting with work and they have informed her that they only pay sick pay for 6 months (last month this month) and that they don't believe (from there doctor and records) that she'll be able to return to work.

They have stated that they would let her go with owed holiday pay and that's it.

I'm annoyed as hell as this incident has ruined her whole career, the only thing she's trained for. Financially we will also be in a mess.

What course of action can be taken as I'm reluctant to contact these conning injury lawyers but surely she does have a case against them for loss of future earnings, unfair dismissal (maybe), or something.

She's absolutely gutted as she loves her job and this will potentially follow her around stopping her getting employment at other places?

Please advise.

nicechap

thinisaz wrote: »

My wife has worked in mental care her whole life and is well qualified in the sector. Unfortunately there was an incident at work 6 months ago where she got quite a serious injury to her hand restraining an aggressive resident.

At first she had her hand in a brace, then a pot, has had physio and is just awaiting the results of an ultrasound scan.

Today she had a meeting with work and they have informed her that they only pay sick pay for 6 months (last month this month) and that they don't believe (from there doctor and records) that she'll be able to return to work.

They have stated that they would let her go with owed holiday pay and that's it.

I'm annoyed as hell as this incident has ruined her whole career, the only thing she's trained for. Financially we will also be in a mess.

What course of action can be taken as I'm reluctant to contact these conning injury lawyers but surely she does have a case against them for loss of future earnings, unfair dismissal (maybe), or something.

She's absolutely gutted as she loves her job and this will potentially follow her around stopping her getting employment at other places?

Please advise.

What is the nature of the serious hand injury?

Does her role include being trained in & use of allowable restraint techniques? Was it an allowable restraint technique?

Is this a NHS organisation?

What has her union said about the management stance (is it in writing etc)?

Does your wife believe she will be able to return to work? - What does her doctor say as opposed to the organisations?

Normal NHS sick pay is 6 months full pay, 6 months half pay.

Are there no other duties she could do as part of a phased return?

Is there a job description that says employees must have 2 functioning hands? - I would imagine that would fall foul of equality act.

Brynsam

This really does sound like one of those instances where a claim for personal injury should, at the very least, be investigated - and loss of earnings, both actual and potential, could be included depending on the nature and circumstances of the incident. Don't assume it will automatically succeed, but from what you say, there seem to be grounds to get some advice from a solicitor (not one of the ambulance-chasing brigade you see touting their dubious no win/no fee services, but someone who knows what they're talking about).

thinisaz

nicechap wrote: »

What is the nature of the serious hand injury?
It's looking like she's torn the tendons in her thumb and will require surgery

Does her role include being trained in & use of allowable restraint techniques? Was it an allowable restraint technique?
She's trained in restraint but not sure of the exact circumstances. I believe they were in the process of trying to restrain.

Is this a NHS organisation?
No

What has her union said about the management stance (is it in writing etc)?
No union and nothing in writing yet

Does your wife believe she will be able to return to work? - What does her doctor say as opposed to the organisations?
The doctors reports are wishy washy, she wants to return to work. Unfortunately we don't know if or when that will be possible.

Normal NHS sick pay is 6 months full pay, 6 months half pay.
Not nhs

Are there no other duties she could do as part of a phased return?
She's requested other duties, admin, driving, kitchen but they say they're unable to ensure her safety at work.

Is there a job description that says employees must have 2 functioning hands? - I would imagine that would fall foul of equality act.

Not that I'm aware of, I'll ask her to look in to it.

She told me she burst in to tears in the meeting as she wasn't expecting this as they have her doing some medicine courses at the moment while she is off so thought they were increasing her training ready for her return.

TELLIT01

I agree with the reluctance to go to ambulance chasing lawyers, but they aren't all like that. I'd suggest making an appointment with a local solicitor, many offer a free initial appointment, to see if there is any basis for a claim against the employer.

Les79

Speak to a solicitor. Lots of intricacies here which are hard to judge. The poster below advises to avoid the no-win-no-fee ones, but I wouldn't mirror that advice as you have to pay for solicitors and the main difference is that one is "pay now" and the other is "pay later" (and I've often thought that I'd take comfort from being accepted by a no-win-no-fee one because they do most of the leg work "for free" initially, so they have a higher threshold for taking you on).


Just a few initial thoughts:


1. Was the employer negligent in any way at all? Or was this a risk associated with the job?


2. Could the employer not simply keep your wife on the books indefinitely, refuse to pay further company sick pay as per the contract, and effectively "starve" your wife of money that way? They technically won't be dismissing her there, but if she (as per the reports you mentioned) is a long way off returning from work then it could well harm her more than, for example, cashing in unpaid holidays and seeking alternative employment.


3. Depending on point 1, did your wife not have some sort of insurance either privately or with the employer which could be claimed on?

Comms69

thinisaz wrote: »

My wife has worked in mental care her whole life and is well qualified in the sector. Unfortunately there was an incident at work 6 months ago where she got quite a serious injury to her hand restraining an aggressive resident.

At first she had her hand in a brace, then a pot, has had physio and is just awaiting the results of an ultrasound scan.

Today she had a meeting with work and they have informed her that they only pay sick pay for 6 months (last month this month) and that they don't believe (from there doctor and records) that she'll be able to return to work.

They have stated that they would let her go with owed holiday pay and that's it.

I'm annoyed as hell as this incident has ruined her whole career, the only thing she's trained for. Financially we will also be in a mess.

What course of action can be taken as I'm reluctant to contact these conning injury lawyers but surely she does have a case against them for loss of future earnings, unfair dismissal (maybe), or something.

She's absolutely gutted as she loves her job and this will potentially follow her around stopping her getting employment at other places?

Please advise.

I don't see why she would have any legal case whatsoever.


6 months is fairly standard for the NHS in terms of enhanced sick pay. If there is no prospect of returning to her job, they are entitled to dismiss.


Unless you're suggesting they were negligent in some way; but from my understanding she was injured by a patient?

nicechap

thinisaz wrote: »

What is the nature of the serious hand injury?

It's looking like she's torn the tendons in her thumb and will require surgery

Does her role include being trained in & use of allowable restraint techniques? Was it an allowable restraint technique?

She's trained in restraint but not sure of the exact circumstances. I believe they were in the process of trying to restrain.

Is this a NHS organisation?

No

What has her union said about the management stance (is it in writing etc)?

No union and nothing in writing yet

Does your wife believe she will be able to return to work? - What does her doctor say as opposed to the organisations?

The doctors reports are wishy washy, she wants to return to work. Unfortunately we don't know if or when that will be possible.

Normal NHS sick pay is 6 months full pay, 6 months half pay.

Not nhs

Are there no other duties she could do as part of a phased return?

She's requested other duties, admin, driving, kitchen but they say they're unable to ensure her safety at work.


Is there a job description that says employees must have 2 functioning hands? - I would imagine that would fall foul of equality act.

Not that I'm aware of, I'll ask her to look in to it.


She told me she burst in to tears in the meeting as she wasn't expecting this as they have her doing some medicine courses at the moment while she is off so thought they were increasing her training ready for her return.

Torn tendons should have been picked up in first few days after injury and operated on then, not now.

As no one on the internet witnessed the incident I would expect the employer to argue whether the use of restraint was justified, proportionate and applied properly. Any and all of these would reduce any claim.

As she saved union fees (no organisation can prevent you joining a union) she should use the savings to seek proper advice from a lawyer. She should take her contract and all relevant policies along.

As your wife burst into tears, its possible she misheard stuff, so its possible, the employer might have just been saying unless there's a likelihood of a return to work we will dismiss on capability, but that's different to saying you are dismissed now - which is why I asked what was in writing.

6 months full pay, 6 months half pay would be industry practice and I presume the organisation provides services on behalf of NHS. Look at the organisation's sick pay policy. I'm aware of individuals who exhausted NHS policy but were kept on the books and returned after 18/ 20 months or so.

EDITED TO ADD: Many home insurance policies include legal fees - might be worth checking your policy to see if employment disputes/ claims are covered.

TELLIT01

Another potential problem will be any medical reports. Doctors don't always agree about the level of impairment or the period of impairment following injury. Some years ago the wife of a friend was in a similar situation although with a more severe injury. Two reports were supplied, one from the employer's side and one from hers. One report stated long term, chronic damage with little likelihood of major improvement. The other that full recovery might be expected within a year. Reality was probably somewhere in between as she did improve slowly, but not in 12 months or anywhere near. When you get conflicting reports like that it's a nightmare to progress any claim.

Gavin83

It's a difficult situation. If she is no longer capable of doing the job (and it doesn't sound like she is, from your own words) then they've no obligation to keep her employed or to pay extended sick pay. If there was a suitable role available for her to do then she'd certainly need to be considered but they aren't required to create a new role for her. Businesses are required to make adjustments for disabilities but this doesn't go nearly as far as some suspect and this likely wouldn't count as a disability anyway. If there was evidence that she might return to work soon she could potentially fight this decision but it seems everyone, including yourself agree that a full recovery is unlikely to be achieved soon, if ever.

However what other options are there? She can't expect to remain employed there forever on (presumably full) sick pay not working, at some point she'd need to move on. Her best option now is to be realistic about whether she'll still be able to continue in this line of work and if not find something else she can do.

The other aspect of this is regarding any sort of claim for the injury. You haven't gone into this much but for there to be any sort of claim you'd need to prove negligence from the employer, can this be done? It might well be worth talking to a solicitor about this. However even if you won the case she'd be expected to mitigate her losses which includes seeking alternative employment, even if its not in the same industry.

TBagpuss

As Gavin says, if she is not able to do her job, then she can be (fairly and legally) dismissed. Her employers would be expected to follow a fair process in doing so. She would be entitled to her normal notice period but it sounds as though her entitlement at this point would be to statutory sick pay only for that period. She would also be entitled to be paid for any holidays she has accrued but not taken.

It sounds as though this may well be the route they are going down.

Quite separately from her employment or dismissal, she may have a claim for the personal injury she suffered. This would depend on whether she was injured as a result of negligence by the employer. This can be complex, and would involve things such as what, if anything, the employer could have done to stop accidents / injuries of this kind happening, whether there was adequate staffing, whether your wife had received appropriate training and whether she herself was following the correct processes.

IF she were to succeed in a PI claim then her claim would include damages for pain and suffering and also damages for financial losses, which could include loss of earnings including future loss of earnings, if the injury turns out to permanently stop her working.

I'd suggest that she talks to a solicitor who can advise her about her chances of success if she makes a claim. Id suggest finding a local solicitor rather than a big 'claims farm' (it's likely that she will be able to have a conditional fee agreement so she doesn't have to pay upfront)