Hey, welcome to my blog – this wasn’t how I thought a new chapter of my blogging life would start but here we are, I’ll do an introduction post soon if you’ve got zero idea of who I am or why you’re reading this!
This week has been a difficult one, and I’m not sure if I’m fully processing what’s happening, or if I’m missing something but it’s just felt unnecessarily unfair and unjust (from my perspective).
On Wednesday I had to attend a Stage 1 absence meeting with my employer, which I know and understand is something that is there to protect businesses from constant or patterned absences, however I was also told that absences related to my disability/disabilities (recently received a diagnosis for a physical disability and I am diagnosed with ADHD – and awaiting an Autism referral) were allowed to not be included in the measurements used to track absence (Bradford Factor).
The absences that I have had, bar one in March 2024 for a headache (one day), are all related to my disabilities, I was off for a longer period in September/October that wasn’t used in their calculations, however the others have all been included in their calculations for my absence, even though during the meeting I specifically requested consideration to be taken regarding these.
The most recent absences were due to me having to go to A&E relating to my physical disability, for a day and a half and a 3 day period for recovery following an emergency biopsy that I needed to rest and recover from.
I have been very open with them about my disabilities, I have never been someone to take long periods of time off of work, or short periods, I even shared in the meeting that I’ve often worked when unwell as I understand the impact this has on everyone. Put simply, I don’t take the piss and I have a fairy robust work ethic.
I’m not sure where I stand from a legal perspective – my manager has shown supportive behaviours and actions and have made some reasonable adjustments (not all though), however them including selective disability related sickness in their calculations makes me feel like they’re starting to build a case against me to “manage me out” – I don’t want to say constructive dismissal but it’s really hard not feel that when you’re told one thing and then they pull another.
An odd element of the meeting is that they said they would consider not recording further disability related absence if I needed surgery or something, but then why wouldn’t it be included now considering getting a diagnosis for my physical disability took over a year to obtain. They also didn’t mention this in the official letter and haven’t provided me with the minutes for the meeting, I am going to ask for all future meetings to be recorded and transcribed going forward.
I’ve been given seven days to appeal the decision so I’ve reached out to see if a union might be able to help me, I used to be part of one in the past, but I was never made aware that my current employer had the option to join a union, I only discovered this when I was invited to the Stage 1 meeting, they also worded the Stage 1 meeting as an “ill health capability meeting” however the warning was given to me solely on the basis of absence and the written warning is for absence, not my capability, so the wording seems a little off, but I’m aware that could also be paranoia and my justice sensitivity kicking me in the face.
Surprisingly my mental health is still ok at the moment, but I do feel like this could impact me if I let it, so that’s kind of why I decided to blog about it, to get it out of my brain and not let it fester and metastasise!
Anyone else been through anything similar to this? Feel free to comment on this post!
Sorry that you’ve been through this experience and I hope you’re now getting the medical treatment required to minimise the impact your disability is having on you living your life. A couple of things I would suggest regarding your employer – firstly are you a member of a recognised union, if so I would definitely engage with them as they should be able to help advise you on company policy and represent you going forward if you would like them to do so. The next thing I would recommend is keeping a record of any communications you receive. Take a note of the date/time, who it is that contacts you, and a brief summary of what they say. This includes both formal and informal communications. If any actions are agreed as a result of these communications make sure you keep a record of who’ll carry out the actions and the agreed review period. If you are unhappy about the outcome of any communications or review meetings then make sure you state that at the time and follow it up with a documented grievance or formal appeal. Your HR department should have a formal process in place for dealing any grievances or appeals that you raise. Again make sure you document the outcome. The last thing I would do for now is get some clarification that your disability is covered by the Equality Act 2010 – you can speak to your union, Citizen’s Advice, or take a look at the Gov.UK website. Assuming that you are covered by this act then your employer has a duty of care to make reasonable adjustments for your disability. This would be expected to include things like physical adjustments to your work environment but also include things like a higher than average absence level, especially during the diagnosis of a condition and during the initial phase of an ongoing treatment. It sounds like you’ve raised this already but it not clear if your employer has agreed to that or not. If the case is not then make sure you get them to clarify their reasoning in writing. I know this is a lot to take in and I’m happy to discuss it with you further if you want to send me an email about it. Hope it helps anyway.