Dismissed due to bad performance & Mental Health

Habib2342

Hello,

As some may have read my earlier threads, I've a family member who suffers from schrizophrenia. Unfortunately he has been dismissed from his job today due to bad performance. This caught him and me off guard as I met with him a few days ago and he said everything is fine. Then 3 days later I find out through our mother he's been fast tracked to the final stage of his company's disciplinary process.

Not too sure what to make of this to be honest. I know because of his condition, he sometimes has trouble focusing and keeping on top of things. Back in October after coming back from holiday, he was displaying some symptoms which indicated he may be having a relapse. However these symptoms seem to iron themselves out as the clinic where he has his quarterly depot injection confrimed he has received his latest injection and noted it may take up to six weeks for it to have full effect. From what he's told me , he's been accused of gross neglience. His job is a customer service rep for a housing association so his job consists of logging requests for tenant repairs on their computer system. I think what has happened that he , either knowingly or unknowingly, forgot to log the job requests on the system, somebody has made a complaint and here we are. I've told him to keep all paperworks given and I'll meet with him on Sunday to discuss ways forward.

THink its important not to jump the gun or overreact because I'm obviosuly not there to see what has gone down. My question is would he disclosing his mental health condition before signing the employment contract upfront gone in his favour and might have encouraged his employers to take a less severe disciplinairy route ? Apparently he was warned about his performance at the beginning of December but kept quiet about it as he throught he could handle it. Clearly he couldn't and things came to a head last week. 

I've had previous communication with his HR rep and line manager and both have repeatedly pressed me for more info about him. I refrained from disclosing his mental health condition as I'm unsure as to whether it will work in his favour or not . Him disclosing it now during the capability meeting I think would make him look more dishonest but disclosing it when the red flags started to appear might have made his employer take a more compassionate response. I've got the phone numbers of both his HR rep and line manager, should i call them and explain matters ? Guess its too late now and he's been dismissed so they're not going to change their mind now.

Going forward, I guess he has to consider more carefully what jobs he applies for and whether his employer will make alllowances for potential applicants who have specific mental health issues. He just has to avoid applying to jobs to those who take a more a dispassionate approach to these matters.

I personally think its better to be honest and upfront with a potential employer about any health condition. They can request medical reports to assess the severity of the condition and then take a view whether to employ this person or not. If they discriminate and say no, we're not taking you on, ok it sucks , move on to the next opportunity. its better that than the health condition flagging up during the tenure and getting sacked later on.  At least this way everyone knows upfront and no time/money is wasted on both sides. 


As always thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,

MattMattMattUK

Habib2342 said:

I personally think its better to be honest and upfront with a potential employer about any health condition. They can request medical reports to assess the severity of the condition and then take a view whether to employ this person or not. 

I would say it depends on what level of job he is going for, entry level or very limited responsibility then probably not initially, something more senior then they will balance up the skills against the issues an it will be a minor factor. 

Undervalued

Habib2342 said:

Hello,

As some may have read my earlier threads, I've a family member who suffers from schrizophrenia. Unfortunately he has been dismissed from his job today due to bad performance. This caught him and me off guard as I met with him a few days ago and he said everything is fine. Then 3 days later I find out through our mother he's been fast tracked to the final stage of his company's disciplinary process.

Not too sure what to make of this to be honest. I know because of his condition, he sometimes has trouble focusing and keeping on top of things. Back in October after coming back from holiday, he was displaying some symptoms which indicated he may be having a relapse. However these symptoms seem to iron themselves out as the clinic where he has his quarterly depot injection confrimed he has received his latest injection and noted it may take up to six weeks for it to have full effect. From what he's told me , he's been accused of gross neglience. His job is a customer service rep for a housing association so his job consists of logging requests for tenant repairs on their computer system. I think what has happened that he , either knowingly or unknowingly, forgot to log the job requests on the system, somebody has made a complaint and here we are. I've told him to keep all paperworks given and I'll meet with him on Sunday to discuss ways forward.

THink its important not to jump the gun or overreact because I'm obviosuly not there to see what has gone down. My question is would he disclosing his mental health condition before signing the employment contract upfront gone in his favour and might have encouraged his employers to take a less severe disciplinairy route ? Apparently he was warned about his performance at the beginning of December but kept quiet about it as he throught he could handle it. Clearly he couldn't and things came to a head last week. 

I've had previous communication with his HR rep and line manager and both have repeatedly pressed me for more info about him. I refrained from disclosing his mental health condition as I'm unsure as to whether it will work in his favour or not . Him disclosing it now during the capability meeting I think would make him look more dishonest but disclosing it when the red flags started to appear might have made his employer take a more compassionate response. I've got the phone numbers of both his HR rep and line manager, should i call them and explain matters ? Guess its too late now and he's been dismissed so they're not going to change their mind now.

Going forward, I guess he has to consider more carefully what jobs he applies for and whether his employer will make alllowances for potential applicants who have specific mental health issues. He just has to avoid applying to jobs to those who take a more a dispassionate approach to these matters.

I personally think its better to be honest and upfront with a potential employer about any health condition. They can request medical reports to assess the severity of the condition and then take a view whether to employ this person or not. If they discriminate and say no, we're not taking you on, ok it sucks , move on to the next opportunity. its better that than the health condition flagging up during the tenure and getting sacked later on.  At least this way everyone knows upfront and no time/money is wasted on both sides. 


As always thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,

To save hunting through past threads two basic questions.

How long has the family member been employed?

Was their condition formally recognised as a disability for employment purposes?

Habib2342

14 months

No, the employer or ex-employer was not aware of his condition. 

robatwork

To preempt Undervalued's reply to your reply...
Your family member has very few rights given your answers - the employer can dismiss for any (non-protected) or no apparent cause. For the next job, it's important to get any medical or mental condition notified before starting, if they then want to have it taken into consideration for working conditions or adjustments. 

Undervalued

Habib2342 said:

14 months

No, the employer or ex-employer was not aware of his condition. 

As robatwork says.

Unless the disability (if indeed it is legally a disability) was so obvious a "lay" employer should reasonably have been aware, then they had no obligation to consider "reasonable adjustments" and can dismiss for any reason that doesn't amount to unlawful discrimination, (or indeed no reason at all).

Theoretically the employee is entitled to a written statement of the reasons for their dismissal but there is, in most cases, no useful redress if this isn't forthcoming. Most lawyers advising the employer would suggest they don't provide one.

They are of course entitled to a week's notice (or pay in lieu) or whatever their contract specifies if longer. Also pay for any untaken holiday. 

Marcon

Undervalued said:

Habib2342 said:

14 months

No, the employer or ex-employer was not aware of his condition. 

As robatwork says.

Unless the disability (if indeed it is legally a disability) was so obvious a "lay" employer should reasonably have been aware, then they had no obligation to consider "reasonable adjustments" and can dismiss for any reason that doesn't amount to unlawful discrimination, (or indeed no reason at all).

Theoretically the employee is entitled to a written statement of the reasons for their dismissal but there is, in most cases, no useful redress if this isn't forthcoming. Most lawyers advising the employer would suggest they don't provide one.

They are of course entitled to a week's notice (or pay in lieu) or whatever their contract specifies if longer. Also pay for any untaken holiday. 

Not if they have under two years of service.

Habib2342

thanks  i'm about to send an email off to his ex HR dept to see if they're willing to have a chat about the circumstances regarding his dismissal  and see if there's anything to be learnt / how he can better protect himself against any issues going forward . If they are, great, if they're not, I'll leave it there and move on. 

General_Grant

Habib2342 said:

thanks  i'm about to send an email off to his ex HR dept to see if they're willing to have a chat about the circumstances regarding his dismissal  and see if there's anything to be learnt / how he can better protect himself against any issues going forward . If they are, great, if they're not, I'll leave it there and move on. 

Should it not be the employee themselves who contacts HR?
Are you already involved formally with the employer?
(Sorry if you covered this in your OP.)

Undervalued

Marcon said:

Undervalued said:

Habib2342 said:

14 months

No, the employer or ex-employer was not aware of his condition. 

As robatwork says.

Unless the disability (if indeed it is legally a disability) was so obvious a "lay" employer should reasonably have been aware, then they had no obligation to consider "reasonable adjustments" and can dismiss for any reason that doesn't amount to unlawful discrimination, (or indeed no reason at all).

Theoretically the employee is entitled to a written statement of the reasons for their dismissal but there is, in most cases, no useful redress if this isn't forthcoming. Most lawyers advising the employer would suggest they don't provide one.

They are of course entitled to a week's notice (or pay in lieu) or whatever their contract specifies if longer. Also pay for any untaken holiday. 

Not if they have under two years of service.

Thanks, I forgot that bit! So not applicable in this case. 

Habib2342

General_Grant said:

Habib2342 said:

thanks  i'm about to send an email off to his ex HR dept to see if they're willing to have a chat about the circumstances regarding his dismissal  and see if there's anything to be learnt / how he can better protect himself against any issues going forward . If they are, great, if they're not, I'll leave it there and move on. 

Should it not be the employee themselves who contacts HR?
Are you already involved formally with the employer?
(Sorry if you covered this in your OP.)

I've had previous communications with them about him back in October and my brother has given permission for me to speak to them. The very nature of his condition means he is not always honest and truthful about things so I need to go to source to find out what has happened.