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Can I get sacked due to arthritis?
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singhini said:Marcon said:singhini said:Roadtonowhere100121 said:I have arthritis in my ankle and it flares up making it impossible to walk on. I am currently working from home and one day a week in the office but there are rumours office days will increase to three days. Obviously the more I walk, the more chance I have of it flaring up. I am frightened that I won’t be able to make it into the office every week due to my arthritis flaring up
Has it been medically confirmed or is this self diagnosed?
Also is your employer aware of your condition or are they unaware to the extent it impacts you? (I'm assuming they are aware of your condition as each time you have a flare-up you should not be working but should be on sick leave).
Are you saying an employee should work if their ill?
Lets try an exmaple.
I recently had breathing difficulties which may be asthma.
I can work perfectly well from my desk so there is no reason why I should not work from home.
One day it was sufficiently bad that I did not think I could work from the office (walking to the office from car, walking around the office), so I made arrangements to work from home.
Do you think we should all slope off when we have a broken nail? Of course not.
It all comes down to the impact the illness has on the work and the work on the illness.
If you work from home in a chair, sometimes you can work perfectly well without impacting your illness.
In this particular case, if pain relief works and the person can sit in a chair and home then why should they not work from home?
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Roadtonowhere100121 said:I have arthritis in my ankle and it flares up making it impossible to walk on. I am currently working from home and one day a week in the office but there are rumours office days will increase to three days. Obviously the more I walk, the more chance I have of it flaring up. I am frightened that I won’t be able to make it into the office every week due to my arthritis flaring up
Some offer 24/7 GP appointments that don't count as a claim e.g. vitality.
If you have something like that available I would suggest using it.
Even if they concur with your GP and can't offer you anything additional it shows that you have exhausted all options to your employer.0 -
You can't be 'sacked' for having arthritis, no. You can however be let go if your arthritis impacts your ability to do your job. I think you can make a case for being allowed to work at home on days you have a flare-up meaning you can't get to the office but are still in a condition to do your job. Employers have a duty of care for employees who have difficulties due to illness or disability. I think if you speak to them about it you will be OK2
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The OP doesn't say what form of arthritis they have, but being too sedentary can be bad for arthritis suffers.Trying to avoid returning to the office more often because something MAY happen is unlikely to be successful. Anything MAY happen to anybody at some time but only what is actually happening can be catered for.2
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As an arthritis sufferer myself (retired so employment is no longer an issue for me) I was interested in this. I wasn't sure whether arthritis could be regarded as a disabilty but there seems to be plenty of evidence online that it can, such as https://versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/living-with-arthritis/financial-support/Of particular interest in the OP's circumstance may be the sections on Access to Work and Additional support to help with living costs, for instance perhaps to provide help with getting to the office to reduce the distance that needs to be walked.
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TELLIT01 said:The OP doesn't say what form of arthritis they have, but being too sedentary can be bad for arthritis suffers.Trying to avoid returning to the office more often because something MAY happen is unlikely to be successful. Anything MAY happen to anybody at some time but only what is actually happening can be catered for.
I have colleagues who have a smart watch tell them to get up after an hour,
I've been doing physio exercises in the office against a wall.
In most office environments it's going to be ok to take short breaks and do some exercises/stretches/breathing.
BTW - I do know someone who won a case against the local authority for not making the right kind of adjustments for a disability. They cannot disclose their settlement.
If it's a disability then there are protected rights and there are rights to reasonable adjustments.
That's quite subjective but working from home is an example.
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singhini said:Marcon said:singhini said:Roadtonowhere100121 said:I have arthritis in my ankle and it flares up making it impossible to walk on. I am currently working from home and one day a week in the office but there are rumours office days will increase to three days. Obviously the more I walk, the more chance I have of it flaring up. I am frightened that I won’t be able to make it into the office every week due to my arthritis flaring up
Has it been medically confirmed or is this self diagnosed?
Also is your employer aware of your condition or are they unaware to the extent it impacts you? (I'm assuming they are aware of your condition as each time you have a flare-up you should not be working but should be on sick leave).singhini said:Marcon said:
Are you saying an employee should work if their ill?Googling on your question might have been both quicker and easier, if you're only after simple facts rather than opinions!0 -
lisyloo said:singhini said:Marcon said:singhini said:Roadtonowhere100121 said:I have arthritis in my ankle and it flares up making it impossible to walk on. I am currently working from home and one day a week in the office but there are rumours office days will increase to three days. Obviously the more I walk, the more chance I have of it flaring up. I am frightened that I won’t be able to make it into the office every week due to my arthritis flaring up
Has it been medically confirmed or is this self diagnosed?
Also is your employer aware of your condition or are they unaware to the extent it impacts you? (I'm assuming they are aware of your condition as each time you have a flare-up you should not be working but should be on sick leave).
Are you saying an employee should work if their ill?
Lets try an exmaple.
I recently had breathing difficulties which may be asthma.
I can work perfectly well from my desk so there is no reason why I should not work from home.
One day it was sufficiently bad that I did not think I could work from the office (walking to the office from car, walking around the office), so I made arrangements to work from home.
Do you think we should all slope off when we have a broken nail? Of course not.
It all comes down to the impact the illness has on the work and the work on the illness.
If you work from home in a chair, sometimes you can work perfectly well without impacting your illness.
In this particular case, if pain relief works and the person can sit in a chair and home then why should they not work from home?
If the illness does not prevent the employee working or make their condition worse then they should carry on.
And what if the illness does prevent them? (which is what im saying)
I recently had breathing difficulties which may be asthma.
That's your choice to work while your not totally 100%
You say "Maybe Asthma" have you had this checked out? (in your example you seem to have had a second flare which prevented you from going into the office so you really should have this checked out).
Once you have officially had it checked out, you should also inform your employer so they have an understanding of your condition and to what extent it limits you (different people will be impacted differently so by telling them they will have a better understanding).
Do you think we should all slope off when we have a broken nail?
No, but the OP does not have a broken nail but arthritis which can and does prevent people from working from time to time if they have a serious flare up (to compare arthritis to a broken nail shows you don't understand the condition)
It all comes down to the impact the illness has on the work and the work on the illness.
Exactly. if the flare up impacts the person so they cant work then they shouldn't (they shouldn't be forced to or feel under pressure to)
It all comes down to the impact the illness has on the work and the work on the illness.
And that's also true if working in an office which is the issue for the OP (there not worried about working from home, but going to the office 3 times a week).
In this particular case, if pain relief works and the person can sit in a chair and home then why should they not work from home?
This case is about having to go to the office three times a week and not once a week. Also we don't know if the pain relief works becoz in this particular case the OP never stated if they were on medication. They never stated the type of arthritis, nor the extent it impacts them either. This case is nothing to do with working from home.
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Well of course they should have time off if their illness prevents them from working. If it literally 100% prevented them then it wouldn't be in question at all.
Yes I've had tests for asthma, thank you for asking. There was a delay pre-diagnosis as there always is (in this case machines are required for tests), so I had to work with my employers whilst I was suffering pre-diagnoses.
My team were well aware I was undiagnosed and the reasons why.
I agree it's better to be open.
I do understand a bit about arthritis and I also understand that some conditions don't affect people when they are sitting in a chair (or adjustment can be made/ breaks can be take). I'm also aware that many medical conditions can be successfully treated post diagnosis with very little if any affect on the job (for example asthma, underactive thyroid, diabetes).
I agree people shouldn't be pressured when genuinely unable to work.
It's not about working from home but WFH is an example of a reasonable adjustment that can be made and should be considered (in law) if this is a disability.
I am pretty sure we agree.
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singhini said:lisyloo said:singhini said:Marcon said:singhini said:Roadtonowhere100121 said:I have arthritis in my ankle and it flares up making it impossible to walk on. I am currently working from home and one day a week in the office but there are rumours office days will increase to three days. Obviously the more I walk, the more chance I have of it flaring up. I am frightened that I won’t be able to make it into the office every week due to my arthritis flaring up
Has it been medically confirmed or is this self diagnosed?
Also is your employer aware of your condition or are they unaware to the extent it impacts you? (I'm assuming they are aware of your condition as each time you have a flare-up you should not be working but should be on sick leave).
Are you saying an employee should work if their ill?
Lets try an exmaple.
I recently had breathing difficulties which may be asthma.
I can work perfectly well from my desk so there is no reason why I should not work from home.
One day it was sufficiently bad that I did not think I could work from the office (walking to the office from car, walking around the office), so I made arrangements to work from home.
Do you think we should all slope off when we have a broken nail? Of course not.
It all comes down to the impact the illness has on the work and the work on the illness.
If you work from home in a chair, sometimes you can work perfectly well without impacting your illness.
In this particular case, if pain relief works and the person can sit in a chair and home then why should they not work from home?
If the illness does not prevent the employee working or make their condition worse then they should carry on.
And what if the illness does prevent them? (which is what im saying)
I recently had breathing difficulties which may be asthma.
That's your choice to work while your not totally 100%
You say "Maybe Asthma" have you had this checked out? (in your example you seem to have had a second flare which prevented you from going into the office so you really should have this checked out).
Once you have officially had it checked out, you should also inform your employer so they have an understanding of your condition and to what extent it limits you (different people will be impacted differently so by telling them they will have a better understanding).
Do you think we should all slope off when we have a broken nail?
No, but the OP does not have a broken nail but arthritis which can and does prevent people from working from time to time if they have a serious flare up (to compare arthritis to a broken nail shows you don't understand the condition)
It all comes down to the impact the illness has on the work and the work on the illness.
Exactly. if the flare up impacts the person so they cant work then they shouldn't (they shouldn't be forced to or feel under pressure to)
It all comes down to the impact the illness has on the work and the work on the illness.
And that's also true if working in an office which is the issue for the OP (there not worried about working from home, but going to the office 3 times a week).
In this particular case, if pain relief works and the person can sit in a chair and home then why should they not work from home?
This case is about having to go to the office three times a week and not once a week. Also we don't know if the pain relief works becoz in this particular case the OP never stated if they were on medication. They never stated the type of arthritis, nor the extent it impacts them either. This case is nothing to do with working from home.
However, there may be sound business reasons why it is not reasonable for the firm to make this adjustment. We simply don't know.
In general terms "reasonable adjustments" required by law are nothing like as extensive (generous) as many people fondly imagine. Many good employers, to their credit, "go the extra mile" in this respect but that can give a an over optimistic view.
The OP first needs to get medical evidence for their employer that they do in fact have a disability. Only then is there any obligation for the firm to even consider "reasonable adjustments".2
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