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Northern Ireland civil service / disability discrimination / facing dismissal


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Hey folks

 

I am posting to see if I can gain any help with an issue I'm having with my employer, the Northern Ireland civil service.

 

Quick recap, I was off back in December 13 with my mental health condition. As I had a more or less mental break down my psychiatrist had me heavily medicated where I was sleeping 14 hours a day.

 

I returned work in early January 14. I was then issued with a written warning in March 14. I had asked that any sickness absence to do with my disability be disregarded for management attendance purposes but this was ignored. I appealed the issue of the written warning and the decision was upheld. I then contacted the equality commission NI and I'm in the process of taking my. Work up for disability discrimination over the written warning.

 

Due to the stress of all this and social stressors my mood and mental state greatly deteriated and once again I had more or less a mental breakdown/psychotic episode and again I'm off sick from work. My psychiatrist again is heavily medicating me and I'm on 10 tablets a day including anti psychotics, anti depressants, anti anxiety, beta blockers and a mood stabiliser.

 

I have been off sick from June 14. Today my line manager gave me a heads up that he was having to send me out a letter from attendance management saying more or less that if I don't return to work by a certain date that they will be starting proceedings for dismissal. Even though I recently seen the OHS who said I would be unfit for a further 6 weeks and my own GP has given me a sick line for 4 weeks and my psychiatrist has advised that I don't attend work until my mood is stabilised as I run the risk of being a danger to myself or others.

 

So my questions are this. Is this legal? Is it discrimination? Are they out to get me as I already have a tribunal in against them? Can I amend my tribunal claim to include the threatening and bullying behavior by my employer? I'm just stuck to what I'm meant to do next and any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

 

Thanks

 

Chris

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Hi,

 

Not the answer you are going to want, but at some point the employer has to ask "are we going to get any work out of this chap"? They are a workplace, not a charity, and they aren't there as a replacement for disability benefit - ad there is still work to be done.

 

Giving you an attendance warning while you are on long term sick isn't bullying, I am afraid. This is perfectly legal.

Never assume anyone on the internet is who they say they are. Only rely on advice from insured professionals you have paid for!

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The employer will want to know several things such as is the person going to recover in the near future? If not, are they likely to recover at all? If you OH person says you are going to get better in 6 weeks then they will be happy with that and continue to monitor or place you on some phased programme to get you back up to full steam. If the liklihood is that you never recover them they will be lookingat ill-health retirement and send you off the see another OH doctor to give their opinions on that. If the OH prognosis is that you will continue to be the same as you are at present, unfit for long periods followed by periods where you can work and there is not a pattern then they will be looking at your capability to do your job over the year and if they decide you are incapable of doing the job you are employed for and it is not possible to find you a role where your charateristics allow you to perform the duties required they will most likely dismiss you on capability grounds. Having a disability does not automatically keep you in a job, especially when improvements can be made or it is likely that recovery will happen at some point in the future. Even if they have not followed procedures at present there is nothing to say that they have to employ you, just analyse their procedures to ensure that they have followed their policies correctly and rewrite any flawed ones.

How your case goes will be decided on what is the degree of permanence to your mental health condition.

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