Disability Access

[Galway Girl]

My partner's office was relocated to an upper floor without any disabled access. He has a disability (DDA) and cannot now get to the new office to do his job - they knew he had a disability when they refurbished the building. Prior to the office move he worked with 100% attendance. Can they now make him accept a lower paid job (minus 30%) on the ground floor or force him into ill health retirement? If he takes the ill health route to minimise he losses can he then claim constructive dismissal?

[inline66]

What is the relationship between staying on the ground floor and being paid 30% less.

 

What job is he required to do on the upper floor and what job is he doing on the ground floor.

 

Are any other staff remaining on the ground floor

[Galway Girl]

His office and all of his colleagues were all moved upstairs. He was previously doing a supervisory/office work job.

 

Just trying to find his rights out if they offer him an alternative position on the gound floor in a completely different department doing admin/clerical tasks but they are all on much lower grades.

 

hope that helps

[GlasweJen]

if your company still own the ground floor and they have an area that he could do his work from there then it is reasonable to allow him to remain on the ground floor. It is not reasonable to give him a lower level job without pay just because the higher up people have high up offices, it wouldn't be reasonable to expect the company to accommodate him on the bottom floor if they no longer own this floor or if there is not a suitable area for him to work from there.

[Galway Girl]

No the Company own the whole building and there is office accommodation on the ground floor. They knew before they moved the department that he needed adjustment but ignored his requests.

 

I think what is at question here is what is reasonable?

[inline66]

To help give an opinion on what might be a reasonable adjustment please answer the following

 

1. What disability does he suffer

2. How is the disability preventing him from working on the upper floor. Is it a mobility issue and the building has no lift?

3. What does the supervisory/office work involve.

4. What resources are available to the company, is it a large/medium/small company

 

Sorry to ask more questions but the more information the easier it is to pass an opinion

[Galway Girl]

1. Mobility problems

2. No lift or other disabled access

3. general office work

4. Very large employer

 

Hope that helps

[GlasweJen]

sounds to me like he should negotiate work space on the ground floor doing his current job. I can't think why a general office worker would be required to work upstairs if there is no specialist machinery (like factory stuff) on the bottom floor.

 

IMHO he should request this in writing from the employer giving a set response date and see where it goes from there. Remember to keep copier of all correspondance

[Stretchmo]

His employers should make reasonable adjustments for his disability.

If not, then he should have a very good case, using the DDA.

[inline66]

With regard to maintaining his desk on the ground floor. I do not think this is a realistic proposition. The reason I say this is based on your description of the job as supervisory. Of course, your friend will know best about his job description and I can’t tell what the job is from your description. However, I would have thought that he would need to maintain close and regular contact with the staff that he is supervising.

With regard to re-locating him to the upper floor. This would require presumably a lift being installed. This may be an option and I believe the company can get funding to assist in the cost of purchasing and installation. In addition you state that the company is a very large company and therefore this would support the view that the company could fund the lift as reasonable adjustment. However, it is a significant adjustment and I have not come across a case with such a large adjustment.

With regard to re-deploying him and reducing his pay. You should check the company procedures as many companies will freeze the pay for a number of years after re-deployment.

 

As has already been mentioned. In the first instance you need to negotiate with the company with regard to what adjustments they can make for him.