Reasonable Adjustments.... has my employer failed in their dury under EA2010

[dori2o]

I work in a contact centre taking inbound calls.

 

I have done the same job for over 10 years. I work on the top floor of an office block and i have chronic pain and severe mobility issues (I also suffer from depression as a result of being in pain 24/7).

 

The same business occupies all the floors of the buiklding. The works OHA has on more than one occassion expressed their opinion that due to my conditions and the fact they are degenerative, it is likely I am covered under the EA2010

 

In February my employer moved me to the ground floor (temporarily) due to health and safety issues with evacuating me from the building. There isn't enough people trained to be evac chair operators to evacuate me from the building to cover my working days, there is no other form of evacuation.

 

Despite their attempts nobody else has volunteered to be trained.My employer has now told me that I will not be able to return to the top floor where the contact centre is located. They have said they will look at options to relocate me to another floor but not doing contact centre work.

 

I know that there is at least one of the floors that has the telephony system available for me to take contact centre calls and to do the contact centre work.My employer has said they are unwilling to have people doing contact centre work outside of the contact centre.

 

My issue is that the employer is refusing to consider moving me to the other floor with telephony access that would allow me to do the job I have done for the past 10 years.The job they want me to do disn't as intensive as the contact centre work and as a result as I won't be concentrating so much on work I will feel the pain in my leg more, which affects my mood, etc etc.

 

The Contact centre work has me thinking all the time so it is a great distraction from feeling pain.There are no costs involved in having me work on another floor. All the technology is in place, the PC services, the telephony service, everything, all my stats etc would still be automatically directed to my team leader.

 

Can anyone advise whether the employer could be considered to failed in their duty to implement a reasonable adjustment?

Edited April 22, 2014 by honeybee13
Paras.

[Emmzzi]

I am positive I have read this before - did you have another thread or posted on another board? I don't want to repeat advice or questions you have already been given.

[dori2o]

I've had issues in the past with my employer and being messed about being moved from the contact centre to the ground floor, but this is the first time they have said I can not return to my normal duties.

 

Here is my understanding.

 

There are 4 tests for reasonableness.

 

1. The effectiveness in preventing disadvantage

How much will a reasonable adjustment reduce the disadvantage?

 

Allowing me to perform my current duties on different floor prevents the disadvantage. i.e. I am able to continue doing the job I have done for 10 years.

 

 

 

2. The practicality of the step

It is more likely that an employer will be expected to take a step that is easy than to take a step that is hard.

The systems/services/technology is already in place.

 

3. The financial and other costs and the extent of any disruption caused

When trying to decide whether an adjustment would be reasonable, the cost of the adjustment and any disruption it might cause should also be considered.

 

Cost is not just about the price of making physical adaptations, for example, but also in terms of:

 

how experienced and skilled the employee concerned is;

the cost of replacing that employee;

how long the employee has been with the company (it is more likely to be reasonable to make an expensive adjustment for a permanent member of staff than a temp); and

whether the adjustment may be of benefit to other employees (disabled and non-disabled).

The services are already in place so no cost with regards to putting telephony in place.

 

I have 10 years experience in the job

The number of contact centre staff is continually dwindling. There is a shortage of contact centre staff

I have been with the employer 10 years and I am a permanent member of staff with a very good knowledge base, high quality and productivity scores.

It would benefit the contact centre to retain all the staff they can.

 

4. The extent of an organisation’s financial and other resources

An organisation with lots of money would be more likely to have to make a reasonable adjustment than one with fewer resources.

 

I work for the biggest employer in the UK.

 

 

Therefore, as I understand it, and in my opinion, such a move to another floor lower in the building which has telephony systems in place allowing me to continue doing the job I enjoy and have 10 years experience in should be reasonable

 

Thoughts?

[Emmzzi]

In my opinion your employer should tell someone to get trained on evac chairs.If the staff aren't willing the managers have to pick up the slack! That or get refuge points in.

 

However this may be moot if the ground floor job could be called "comparable." Is it? I know you don't like it as much but would it be about the same difficulty etc on balance?

 

ETA:in my experience of contact centres the team being "together" is quite important.

[dori2o]

In my opinion your employer should tell someone to get trained on evac chairs.If the staff aren't willing the managers have to pick up the slack! That or get refuge points in.

 

However this may be moot if the ground floor job could be called "comparable." Is it? I know you don't like it as much but would it be about the same difficulty etc on balance?

 

ETA:in my experience of contact centres the team being "together" is quite important.

 

Re the evac chair operators, my employer has sent out an email to everyone whose working pattern would match my hours asking for volunteers. Nobody has responded to this email. They have said they will not force people to become evac chair operators. They deny that this issue has identified a fault with the evac procedures and do not accept that it is virtually impossible for a person with limited mobility to work on that floor.

 

The only refuge points in the whole building are the fire escape stair wells themselves. These are safe for over 2 hours but the employer refuses to allow people to choose to stay in the stairwell, or have anything in their PEEP which allows them to seek refuge in the stairwell. In 2012 several people were threatened with Conduct and Discipline procedures as they refused to evacuate during a planned fire drill instead electing to remain on the stairwell landings.

 

The job I am currently doing on the ground floor is helping another part of the business clear a backlog of work. There is no available position for me to permanently move to that team. Some days I have work to do, other days they don't need my assistance.

 

The contact centre manager is currently looking at moving me onto the 2nd floor. This will depend on desk availability. I would have to have all the necessary training to do the new job which I know for a fact will soon become tiresome an boring as I have done it in the past for short periods of time when the contact centre was helping out another area of the business during what used to be known as our quiet time. Such is the current lack of staff in the contact centre we no longer have these quiet periods. This floor has all the necessary telephony equipment needed for me to do contact centre work.

 

Regarding the team needing to be together, it's not that sort of contact centre. Everyone in the contact centre takes the same calls no matter what team you are on. Each person on the team has different working hours, dinners, breaks etc. Management of the team is via weekly/daily stats. These would still be relayed directly to my immediate manager as they always have been.

 

Details of changes/updates/training/knowledge updates/changes to legislation etc are notified via email and training is done at ones own desk by way of powerpoint raining packages.

 

There are other issues also regarding my employer and my disability that I am having trouble with. I'm starting to think that the best way forward, as talking hasn't managed to resolve anything, is to put in a formal grievance.

[Emmzzi]

Do you have a union health and safety rep on site?

 

Having no one trained to use evac chairs, in they are part of the fire plan - and clearly they are, as they exist! - is simply not acceptable. In my place failure to get volunteers = it becomes the managers task, and I believe this is quite common. H&S is where I would begin.

[dori2o]

Do you have a union health and safety rep on site?

 

Having no one trained to use evac chairs, in they are part of the fire plan - and clearly they are, as they exist! - is simply not acceptable. In my place failure to get volunteers = it becomes the managers task, and I believe this is quite common. H&S is where I would begin.

 

Thanks, I will email them tomorrow.

 

It's not that there are no evac chair operators, just not enough to cover my shift pattern.

 

My employers regulations states that no single person should evacuate a person in an evac chair over more than 3 floors and that if the person is being evacuated over more than 3 floors then it must be done in tandem. Therefore I need to have at least 4 people available across all the hours I work (I do a condensed week so full time hours over 4 days which means I work til 6:30/7:00 each night) to ensure there are enough people to evacuate me, plus taking into account the possibility of people being off sick/on holiday etc...

[Emmzzi]

Then they'll be needing a powered evac chair which can be used over more floors with a single operator

 

http://www.swallowemp.com/Stair%20Max

 

http://www.fireandsafetycentre.co.uk/Products/1007/Power_Trac_Powered_Evacuation_Chair.html?gclid=CJHf1bz19L0CFQoYwwodv4UAkQ

[Emmzzi]

or indeed this one which comes with a wheelchair for non wheelchair users

 

http://www.chair-mate.co.uk/chairmate.html

 

there's loads of types!! This looks fixable to me

[blondebubbles]

Did you get anything back from your union?

 

You mentioned your employer is the biggest in the uk. You'd think with who that employer is (according to wiki) they'd be better organised.

[dori2o]

Hi, sorry for not responding earlier.The Union don't seem bothered with my case, they're too busy off fighting causes they can't win. (pensins/pay/jobs in the public sector). There are also issues regarding the lack of available reps in our department. The 2 who are usually available are also tied up with their Union work as Delegates/Office Chair and Office Secretary, hence they are out of office quite a bit, plus it's end of year review period and there are many appeals against wrongfully issued end of year markings (These affect payrises/promotion/managing performance issues etc)The last I was told by the Union was to wait for the employer to offer another position on the floor which has telephony and not to push anything (including issuing a letter of grievance)It's now been 6 weeks since my employer started loking for an alternate, permanent, role for me, and 14 weeks since I was moved to the ground floor. As yet they have not been able to arrange anything. I am asking questions daily but I am getting no response.My employer maintains that they do not have to force anyone to be an evac chair operator and will only accept volunteers. They reject my claim that they are restricting the ability of disabled people with mobility issues to work in the contact centre (climing every case is different), they have refused to consider making or discussing changes to the evacuation policy to incorporate changes which IMO would prevent this issue, they have again re-iterated their stance that they do not believe it is 'reasonable' or 'appropriate' for people to be doing contact centre work from outside of the contact centre.I am considering going to see an employment law specialist for a free 30 minute consult.Any advice would be appreciated.

[Atlas01]

ask them for a copy of your personal evacuation plan, if you do seek legal advice a solicitor will want facts not opinions and will then issue advice on the employers written procedure instead of strining you along with if's. but's and maybe's if they think they can get some cash out of you for advice which fits with your view of the situation instead of what the employer has put in black and white.

 

see this guide as it will show what employers should be considering and also may offer some suggestions on practical solutions for you. It isn't law but guidance taken form the (Fire Safety) Regulatory Reform Order meaning your employer would be pretty stupid to ignore it.

 

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/14898/fsra-escape-disabled.pdf

[dori2o]

Thanks,I already have a copy of my Evac plan and I downloaded the PDF you attached back in February when I was first moved.I don't think there is anymore scope to fight to get back into the contact centre.I've suggested improvements to the evac procedures, I've asked for meetings with the relevant people, I've made suggestions as to how to better evacuate someone when using an evac chair, I've pestered my manager about it for the best part of 3 months. The employer simply isn't interested in making these kind of changes.I'm begining to think it may be time to issue an ultimatum. Implement the adjustment I have suggested (working from the 2nd floor doing my normal duties) or I'll take the matter to the ET.

[SabreSheep]

Also if your union rep is not being helpful, you have the right to go above the reps head and speak to the Area Organiser.

Also I know my union had a place that I used to call for "legal and Technical advice" when I as a rep was unsure or needed to check something.

 

Check your unions website and maybe if you get no joy from Area Organiser phone the unions head office and ask to speak to someone about equality and health and safety issues.

[Atlas01]

Why to the ET, the fire service enforce this legislation, your first port of call is to them to see if they have an issue with what your employer has put/not put in place, what if the fire service look into it and say they are happy, no breach has occurred and any claim will more than likely fail, you will be seen to be after compensation not rectification.

 

Apologies if i missed this earlier in the thread but have you contacted your local fire service and asked them to give some "advice" to your employer or you, i would see this as an integral step if assessing a complaint of this nature as if i was representing an employer i'd be saying we have done what is necessary and taken advice from our competent person(s) meaning the burden to prove this is not enough will fall your way again.

 

 

A formal grievance is a must before any complaint to an ET is made, as always i can only advise going off what your view is and do not take this the wrong way but i'd put money on it (not much) that your employer will have a view (and maybe advise relevant people off the record) that you are using this to avoid the job and location they want you at, not that it is true but if you pardon the pun a smokescreen to defend their inactions.

 

I've dealt with people in genuine difficulty who i've never know any hindrance to be forthcoming with in this area unless there was simply no real practical solution, i've also had a few that threw every reason they could not to work on something/somewhere, I do not say this as i do not believe you, anything posted here i take at face value but i could easily paint that picture from an employment side from what you have said here. I do believe your employer may see it this way, having a mobility problem is irrelevant in law if the real issue is your dislike of a role or location, it applies if the actions of your employer have been unreasonable and as it stands nobody seems to agree with your point.

 

As Sabre advised unions can sometimes be in need of some escalation up the tree to get help, it may be your rep isn't comfortable to advise in this area due to it being highly technical with no simple yes/no answers, they may be busy in more collective issues as you said,they may also be bone idle or have taken the view i just put forward above but don;t want to tell you this.

 

Go higher up as advised but i'd personally email it as a verbal complaint is worth the paper it's written on.

 

Good luck but you should get some advice from a specialist then decide if your going to do anything about this or not, no point paddling in circles forever.

[dori2o]

Hi, I've been on hol for a week or so, this is my first opportunity to respond.

 

Why to the ET, the fire service enforce this legislation, your first port of call is to them to see if they have an issue with what your employer has put/not put in place, what if the fire service look into it and say they are happy, no breach has occurred and any claim will more than likely fail, you will be seen to be after compensation not rectification.

Apologies if i missed this earlier in the thread but have you contacted your local fire service and asked them to give some "advice" to your employer or you, i would see this as an integral step if assessing a complaint of this nature as if i was representing an employer i'd be saying we have done what is necessary and taken advice from our competent person(s) meaning the burden to prove this is not enough will fall your way again.

 

 

A formal grievance is a must before any complaint to an ET is made, as always i can only advise going off what your view is and do not take this the wrong way but i'd put money on it (not much) that your employer will have a view (and maybe advise relevant people off the record) that you are using this to avoid the job and location they want you at, not that it is true but if you pardon the pun a smokescreen to defend their inactions.

 

I've dealt with people in genuine difficulty who i've never know any hindrance to be forthcoming with in this area unless there was simply no real practical solution, i've also had a few that threw every reason they could not to work on something/somewhere, I do not say this as i do not believe you, anything posted here i take at face value but i could easily paint that picture from an employment side from what you have said here. I do believe your employer may see it this way, having a mobility problem is irrelevant in law if the real issue is your dislike of a role or location, it applies if the actions of your employer have been unreasonable and as it stands nobody seems to agree with your point.

 

As Sabre advised unions can sometimes be in need of some escalation up the tree to get help, it may be your rep isn't comfortable to advise in this area due to it being highly technical with no simple yes/no answers, they may be busy in more collective issues as you said,they may also be bone idle or have taken the view i just put forward above but don;t want to tell you this.

 

Go higher up as advised but i'd personally email it as a verbal complaint is worth the paper it's written on.

 

Good luck but you should get some advice from a specialist then decide if your going to do anything about this or not, no point paddling in circles forever.

 

According to my employer I have no rights to enquire directly with the Fire Brigade. They say the evacuation proceedures have been drawn up in co-operation with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue

 

I would obviously submit a formal grievance and exhaust that process before heading to Tribunal. That process could be happening today.

 

re your quote;

 

'that your employer will have a view (and maybe advise relevant people off the record) that you are using this to avoid the job and location they want you at, not that it is true but if you pardon the pun a smokescreen to defend their inactions.'

 

My employer has not offerred any alternative permanent positions, I am providing assistance to another department but there is no permanent position available for me to fill in that department, and there is lso ofen no work for me to assist with. Hence why I am able to post on here whilst at work doing nothing.

 

My preference is to remain doing the job I have done for more than 10 years as this job keeps me busy, occupied and therefore distracts from the constant, unremitting severe pain I have in my leg which is part of the disabling condition. However, I will accept another position as long as it is something that keeps me busy and occipied, otherwise the pain takes over, despite the very strong medications I take, this increases the risk of needing to take sickness leave, affects my mood (I already suffer with depression as a result of being in pain all the time) reduces productivity etc etc

 

As I say however, my employer so far has failed to make any offer in the 16 weeks since this issue started, and has rejected out of hand, without making any assessment, any suggestion I have made which I believe would rectify the issue, most of these suggestions are entirely cost neutral and could be implemented in a matter of days.