Hi and thanks in advance. I have been absent from work for a while and have been diagnosed with chronic depression and anxiety the depression has been related to a previous diagnosis and treatment for cancer. I have made some strides mentally and feel that I am now in a position to return to work and have been advised by supporting organisations that I should be entitled to certain reasonable adjustments. I have formally requested certain adjustments from my employer but they have all but declined my request and seem to be following their sickness process which does provide some short term adjustments e.g phased return. I had an appointment with OH and provided them with a supporting letter from my Psychologist along with a return to work plan detailing adjustments I had requested. During the appointment I got the feeling that the Occ Nurse was simply following what my employer deems as reasonable and her suggestions more or less mirrored their adjustments. I decided to retract my consent for the report to be sent to my employer until I had the opportunity to read it. They have now declined this request and simply stated that they don't have to show me a copy of the report before it is sent to my employer and that they would inform them that I had not consented to the report being sent. At no point during the call was I told of the consequences of retracting my consent. My questions are: 1) am I entitled to see a copy of the report before it is sent to my employer the session was carried out by a nurse. 2) I would have thought that Occ Health would assist with suggesting reasonable adjustments based on my disability and needs but there didn't seem to be any interest from nurse in this regard. How do I get medical support for the adjustments I feel will give me the best chance to return to work and be productive. I simply want to give my employer the opportunity to arrive at a fair decision based on my needs in line with any processes they have around treating disability in the work place. Many Thanks

Received a computer generated letter from Halifax stating that as my monthly S/O to pay my rent had been returned they were going to add to their extortionate profit pocket and charge me £10 for doing sweet nothing. So I looked at the online banking, to see that my S/O had been set up to pay four weekly? Strange as I had set it up to pay on the 25th of every month, I had never seen this 'four week' option in the drop down menu before. So I changed it to pay on the 25th of the month thereafter, thinking it may well have been a genuine mistake on my part? (fat fingers!) Then looked at the letter, which claims it tried to pay on the 19th of the month, so checked my on-line statement, which showed it had in fact been paid on the 25th, and a little further down it showed the 19th failed payment. A bit peeved, but in the grand scheme of things a tenner is nothing compared to ten years ago when I owed considerably more than that! Checked my on-line statement again the day after, and lo and behold, the standing order date had changed AGAIN! to the 26th of the month, and there was no record of the failed payment on the 19th?? Done the obvious and changed the PW, but it can only be an issue with the bank, as they're surely the only ones with the facility to change the bank statement?

Hello Everyone, I have been suffering from a physical impairment, which occured a little over 12 months ago. I have difficulty walking and suffer chronic pain because of this. I am also having tests for other possible damage to my body, which could have serious consequences for my mobility in the future, if the tests show what the doctors are looking for. Nevertheless, the state I am in now is bad enough and I will be like this for the rest of my life. When this first occured, I was absent from work for 9 days. I could have been absent for longer but felt compelled to get on with things. There was then a period of 5 days and then 1 day a few months later for the same thing. When the pain flares up I simply cannot move without great difficulty. After the last 1 day absence, I was called in for a 'welfare meeting'. However, rather than see how I was doing, like the letter I received stated, it was more of a warning that if I am absent again for this condition I will be subject to disciplinary procedures and I should be looking at it "from their point of view". I was offered no support. They also wrote to my GP, with my permission, and I also received a copy. My GP confirmed everything that I had already told them. I made a Reasonable Adjustment Request, but HR said that I needed to submit a Flexible Working Request, which is not the same thing. I submitted the Flexible Working Request. I was called to a meeting to put my point across. I felt that if I was able to do my job from home during the pain flare-ups, then the company would not lose out and I would not lose out either. My request was denied on the grounds that it would cost the company too much money to provide a laptop and my manager would not be able to monitor me as I work. Why I need to be monitored is anyone's guess. I appealled the decision and said that I was told that this was the only way to make a Reasonable Adjustment Request and they should be looking at it as just that, not a flexible working request. Although, in hindsight, I feel that they may have wanted me to submit it as flexible working for their own purposes. I appealled and was invited to another meeting. This time I felt that the attack on me was harder than the last time. I was told that I should expect to be paid less if I worked some days from home, as I would have no travel expenses. I was also told to take annual leave if I cannot get into work! The company offers 4 weeks paid sickness, of which I have only used 1 day of this year, I do not feel it is right that I have to use my own annual leave if I am unable to get to the office. Again, I asked for support and received none. When the decision came through it was denied, as I knew it was going to be. They said that they do not agree with anything on the doctor's letter to them, nor do they agree with the doctor that I am now disabled. I use a walking aid to get around! Also, it was the same things as before; It would cost the company money and my manager cannot monitor me. the letter also told me that I will be invited to a meeting with HR to discuss my GP notes. I feel that they are setting me up for constructive dismissal, it is really upsetting me and I really don't want to go back into that place. They are making it extremely hard for me. I am trying to come up with solutions and they don't want to know. What can I do?

Hi All, I've recently had an issue at work, and was wondering whether anyone could help me with it. I am going to take advice from other sources also. I have been employed less than two years. I have been diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (diarrhoea predominant) for a little over 4 years (and have had symptoms longer than that). I am currently going through investigations to determine the exact cause or alternative diagnosis for my symptoms. Day to day i'm on medication, and the current medication is working well, however I still occasionally have flare ups. These flareups can occur over hours or days, or occur almost instantly. Symptoms that occur are sometimes very difficult to differentiate between normal IBS and potentially any diarrhoea/sickness bugs (besides no vomiting) also - which means sometimes I have had 48 hours symptom free before I begin work again to prevent passing anything on to the public. I declared all of my previous medical history on application. I was recently called into a meeting with management because of my sickness and absence record. I have had a total of 6 absences in the last 12 months, totalling ~8-10 working days. The majority of those absences have been related to my condition. I have previously been referred to occupational health, and the situation is going to be reviewed in 6 months. If I have any more sickness in this time I will have this review meeting instantly and I believe it will also involve HR. So far I have let them follow the standard procedure, however (apart from sending me to occupational health), they seem to have not made any reasonable adjustments to allow for my condition - I will add details from the previous occupational health visit later today. Am I covered under the Equality Act? Previously I didn't consider myself to have a disability (I just got on with life, and my previous employer never had an issue with a similar sickness rate), however having read a bit more into it, it appears I may qualify under the terms that are used. Would a reasonable adjustment in this case be to allow me a "reasonably" higher number of absences to account for my condition? In the past 12 months I have had 6 total absences, not a massively high amount, but the fact they will review me immediately if I have any more sickness in the next 6 months is making me concerned. Thanks for everyones help in this matter. AJP

Hi, I have CCA'd AMEX re a very old card (had been paying token payments of £1 for over 4 years but can't really afford to pay all token payments as on IB so I stopped a few months ago) and I thought that I should CCA all of the CC's to buy myself some time. It was a formal request with £1 PO. Today I received a response, AMEX have returned the fee, and provided a copy of the app form, a bad and barely legible one, with a set of terms of when the card was started in 1999 (unsure if they are a true copy). They have referred me to look back at previous statements for balances! I have been paying RMA for 4 years and not once have I recieved any documentation on the balance etc, I have only ever recieved about 4 emails requesting a new I&e form (ignored each time). My question here, is that as they do not reference any compliance with s78 etc, it appears that this is not a response under the formal request for a copy of the agreement etc. I think they have not responded to the formal request as they should have done, and have the returned the fee so that they 'get away' without responding properly? Should I sent the CCA request has not been fulfilled template letter, and should I resend the payment back to them - just to be sure? I thought they had to provide a statement of account, which in my interpretation, is a balance on the account (balance recieved for other CCA requests). Any advice will be much appreciated as I have not recieved such a minimal response to a CCA yet, and I have sent over 15 in the past few years (for myself and others). Thanks me_too

I suffer a neurological condition for many years. I joined my current employer a little over a year ago, a change of job and on less hours, hoping that this would improve my condition (I previously did a 40 hour week). However, it has actually got worse and been diagnosed as a chronic condition. 6 months ago, I had to take 4 weeks off because of this. I had a phased return (but no other adjustments) but the condition quickly returned and I have been off for 3 months. In this time, I have been prescribed different medications which had severe (and known) side effects that also made me unfit for work. The condition is still not under control, but starting to improve having changed the tablets again. My GP told me that I have to be patient, as its trial and error to find something that works without intolerable side effects. My neurologist wants me to have tried the options for at least 3 months before the efficacy can be judged. I think that I would be covered by the DDA, but have not actually got anything in writing. My employers requested a report from my GP in March but he has not done it yet and is now on holiday. I cannot get an appointment to see him for 2 weeks. I have no idea what reasonable adjustments can be put in place, but have arranged to see someone from "Fit for Work" to identify these– again this wont happen for 2 weeks. In the meantime my current Fit Note will run out. I have to see a locum doctor about this as my GP is away. I'm worried about the (probably inevitable) disciplinary process the longer I am away. Should I go back without any support in place, or do I have to wait until my GP has done his report and I have seen the Fit for Work people? Do Reasonable Adjustments have to be proposed by my GP? When I saw him last, he said that there were none that he could suggest, until I had adjusted to medication and got it under control. I fear going straight back to a very fast-paced environment and having a major relapse within days. I have kept my employers informed at every stage, but have had no contact from them, other than an acknowledgement. Understandably they are becoming agitated at the lack of GP report, but this is out of my control. There is no union or other representation in my workplace. I am only in receipt of SSP – my company sick pay ran out several months back. Any advice would be appreciated.

Doing this for my son't partner. She is a new mother, birth was in November. She was working full time prior to the maternity leave. She knows she will be unable to do a full working week after maternity leave but can manage a 3 day week with babysitting undertaken by myself of other person. She wrote to her employer and asked about them allowing her to drop to a 3 day week and after around 22 days they responded and said no. They made no other alternative arrangement or suggested anything that would be suitable to her. All they said that they could maybe do something if she (she mind you) found someone to job share with her. Now, other staff in the same situation have received favourable treatment and been allowed to come back on a part time basis. One has been allowed to drop a grade and do this and others have been allowed back in their previous position, which happens to be the one my son's partner enjoyed, ie supervisor. I need to be able to build up a case for her as best as I can. I don't really want to sink her boat by being aggressive but want to gently persuade them to keep her on in the capacity she wants. If she starts to wave the law in front of them they may well get their back up, allow her back and then go for her dismissal asap on trumped up charges. So, what I need to do is to first understand what her legal rights are anyway, then try and build a bridge from that knowledge. The law seems to favour pregnant women and has rights on maternity leave etc but as being a mother isn't a disability I don't know if the Equalities Act applies in this scenario. I believe that time scales apply too on maternity leave, time to respond to letters etc. I also believe that the time to respond to her initial written request was way outside of the period allowed but don't know how useful that would be anyway. Input will be very welcome.

If an employer is found liable for disability knowledge because the FHSO new of the disability but did not inform management (vicarious liability? )or undertake a risk assessment is the employer then by default liable for not making reasonable adjustments (obviously they did not as they claimed lack of knowledge of the disability).