Employer dithering regarding occupational health referral

cashinhand1974

Good morning,
As per title my sister is currently off work ( since 30/01/2022). 

She is unable to work because has constant pain in her arm due to diagnosed torn tendon.
Since 30/01 she has tried to make an appointment on a number of occasions via her manager and HR to see Occupational Health but to no avail !

The £90 sick pay payment isn’t stretching very far !

Can anyone advise how to speed her employers up.
Many thanks.
James.

[Deleted User]

Does the facility exist for her to pick the phone up to the OH provider herself and make the referral?

trinidadone

Hello Cashinhand1974, sounds like your sister is in alot of pain. So sorry to learn your sister is only receiving SSP. You could explore the possibility of your sister making a self referral? I know your only talking on behalf of your sister, but is she wanting this referral so she can inform the employer exactly what is wrong, or is there something else? You / Your sister could also try ACAS who provide free employee / employer impartial advise (have a google for the number). I wish your sister well.

Savvy_Sue

I'd expect a large employer to have an occupational health policy, but not necessarily a small one. 

https://www.acas.org.uk/using-occupational-health-at-work

What's her expectation of being able to return to work? If it's just that it will take time for the tendon to heal, then what can an OH assessment say different? 

concerneduk2020

Be aware that while OH may be able to make recommendations for adjustments that allow her to return to work, if those adjustments aren’t reasonable for the business it may give them the information they need to end her employment on capability grounds. My company does OH referrals if an employee is off long term sick but it’s really a box ticking exercise so they can show they’ve tried to help the employee return to work in a tribunal situation.

cashinhand1974

arctic_ghost said:

Does the facility exist for her to pick the phone up to the OH provider herself and make the referral?

Hi, thanks for your reply. No , I don’t think so , her manager keeps using various excuses, “ they’re not in atm, off sick with covid” etc. 

cashinhand1974

Hi all,

Many thanks for all your replies and advice.

She is needing OH to confirm that she can’t do her job in her current predicament and give her options on what she should do going forward, but, atm her employer isn’t being particularly helpful. I suppose there’s no real incentive to do so for them.

Ath_Wat

What realistic options does she think Occupational Health will  give her?  The incentive for the employer would be to have her back at work fulfilling her duties, is that possible?

Undervalued

cashinhand1974 said:

Hi all,

Many thanks for all your replies and advice.

She is needing OH to confirm that she can’t do her job in her current predicament and give her options on what she should do going forward, but, atm her employer isn’t being particularly helpful. I suppose there’s no real incentive to do so for them.

Maybe so. However unless her workplace offers staff direct access to an occupational health department (or outsourced agency) she will have to wait until the employer chooses to refer her.

There is some incentive, remember that the cost of SSP (despite the name) falls on the employer, so her absence is costing them c. £100 a week plus any additional costs to get the work done. Ultimately though it is the employer's decision.

purplelady99

Can your sister make a referral to OH or will they only accept management referrals? I can’t understand why the managers are dragging their heels in referring her. If she’s assessed then the OH department can make any recommendations on any reasonable adjustments or if this is a long-term injury possible redeployment to another role. You don’t say how big an employer it is so redeployment options may be limited. 

Undervalued

Jillanddy said:

purplelady99 said:

Can your sister make a referral to OH or will they only accept management referrals? I can’t understand why the managers are dragging their heels in referring her. If she’s assessed then the OH department can make any recommendations on any reasonable adjustments or if this is a long-term injury possible redeployment to another role. You don’t say how big an employer it is so redeployment options may be limited. 

An employer only has to consider adjustments or redeployment in the event of a disability. It is clear that the OP's sister is not in that position. And having had torn tendons myself - in the ankle rather than the arm, but the location is rather spurious - I would never advise someone to attend work, and wouldn't (as a manager) allow someone to work with such injuries. It is very easy to do permanent damage - and an employer would then be liable for that damage. In my case I wasn't allowed to use my leg for nine weeks - and I do mean I wasn't allowed to use it for anything, including walking or putting any weight at all on it. I couldn't allow the foot to touch the ground. If tears in arms are anything similar - and I suspect they are - it would be detrimental to use the arm for anything at all, and certainly not for any work activity.

Indeed.

It is very unlikely, based on what we have been told, that this qualifies as a disability at the moment. In which case the employer is under no obligation to make any adjustments at all. They can simply say, in effect, do your full normal job or stay off sick until you can.