Reasonable adjustments

joyg67

Hi I am new to this site so I hope it is ok
i have worked for a company for 12 years 6 of the with reasonable adjustments due to having a stroke 
i have worked from home for 3 years continually due to Covid all has worked well and there has been no problem with my work
now they have decided that my department will come into work 2 to 3 days a month
my problem is I will need a taxi via DWP Acess to work again as I have sight and mobility problem so this is for my safety
the DWP has a backlog and has warned me that there is a 14 week wait at the moment
To be honest the DWP Acess to work have been great

i have asked for reasonable adjustments to work from home as its only a few days and other departments not coming in (due to my health problems)and been told all have to come in and they have a place for me in a downstairs office, so I am worried and anxious as I will have get used to a new area and travel in and I am not sure if this is possible

I have worked from home continually for 3 years so not sure why, this is not possible to continue as we are only expected to come in 2 to 3 days a month then work from home the other days, so it’s not like it’s something different
i am told it’s for health and welfare benefits but it isn’t really for me as I have had many trip bump accidents at work before and the travelling is very tiring for me
i have tried to speak to them but they are not interested just a blanket all are coming in response and a general vote was made and others thought it was OK
But they are not disabled so it doesn’t affect them the same
if I can not get this sorted I will be out of work, I am really anxious about it now
i have contacted the union, but not sure what help I will get if any

any advice?

L_Volunteer

Hey @joyg67. Welcome to Scope's forum. It is great to see you have joined us. How are you at the moment?

Thank you for already finding the courage to reach out to us. I appreciate the courage it can take to reach out, especially when you are new and finding things difficult.

Unfortunately, what is classified as 'reasonable' varies between employers so we cannot be certain what help you can or will get   

Nevertheless, we are here for you to listen to you and support you throughout this process 

joyg67

Thanks for your reply, sorry I am just upset at the moment. I work for a large organisation that works with disabled people, so you would think that it wouldnt be so difficult to get reasonable adjustments for 2 days a month especially when there are plenty of office worker not having to come in, they just seem to want to put up barriers to me staying at work. I will have to see what the union says

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community 

Is your issue that you are unable to get to the office in a taxi or that you are unable to pay the cost 

Maybe suggest you can get in once the access to work is sorted and the adjustment would be temporary 

You can appeal the decision state reasons why you require the adjustments any consequences to your health and safety and your disability is protected under equality act 

However if they have a valid business reason for not applying the adjustment then they are not required to do so it could come down to what is determined as reasonable 

You can seek advice from acas they have a good website 

L_Volunteer

Those barriers are really difficult @joyg67 and, as you implied, often says more about their attitude! Hopefully, the union can help. 

Please do feel free to keep us in the loop with how things go and if there's anything we can do to support you. We are all here for you and listening to you 

joyg67

Hi all thank you for your advice, sorry this has really upset me, I am still waiting for the union
The reason for not getting reasonable adjustments is that all staff are expected to work from the office on designated days and that he is not aware of any exceptions 

He says that he could go to HR for advice that would include Occupational Health and or a Stress Risk Assessment ( what ever that is)

For the transport problem as I am still waiting, 
He says we can have have a discussion nearer the time for options of ways of getting in to work, but hasn’t given me what option they maybe if I don’t get my DWP taxi sorted
The taxi firm are waiting for my letter to set up my account for insurance purposes, so I can not see that things will be in place for my safe travel for a March return

On the plus side they now have a fire lift, so I will be able to join in on the fire drills, rather than before being left in the office as I was unable to safely leave the building

 ACAS say the reasons for reasonable adjustments that they give are not correct, and the gave me the list of the 8 reasons that they can use
But to be honest they are making life so difficult that I think for my safety I will have to leave, I have had too many accidents,there, that I worry that the next one will be life changing, as I have had to go to A and E from other accidents there in the past

Alex_Alumni

I'm sorry to read how upset this is making you @joyg67, it's understandable as you are not being given any firm answers, a lot of what you need to know is still up in the air. 

Thanks for updating us all, can I ask who you mean by 'He' here: 

He says that he could go to HR for advice that would include Occupational Health and or a Stress Risk Assessment ( what ever that is)

It's positive to hear that your office now has a fire lift, were you given a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) before, when you were unable to leave safely? 

joyg67

Hi Alex thank you for your reply
Sorry I just put he ( my senior and line manager)

and yes i did have a PEEP and it said I would have to walk down the stairs, after waiting for everyone else to leave as the noise made me disoriented and not being able to see the steps it made it dangerous, I did this twice and got hurt, once quiet badly and the third time the person designated to help me was off work the next person forgot an left the building without me ! 

So I was left on my own in the building thankfully just a drill

so my next PEEP before Covid said that I would receive an email to let me know that they would be having a fire drill and I was to stay in the office at my desk, so not to take part in the drill. This happen twice and everyone else in the building left an I waited in the office. Thankfully there was never a real fire, this was arranged by my manager and been OK,d by HR

Alex_Alumni

That's pretty awful @joyg67 I'm so sorry that happened! It does make me feel quite angry in these situations where there's a very real danger to life, and you are quite literally forgotten about. It's not acceptable.

Perhaps this is something you could raise with the union if possible? You've mentioned you've been in contact with ACAS, did you talk about what happened with the PEEP?

joyg67

Thanks Alex, yes I am going to have to pull myself together and get this sorted, hopefully will have meetings with the Union early next week 
fingers crossed

Alex_Alumni

We'll definitely be crossing fingers here @joyg67, keep us in the loop as and when you can!