Work & Long Term Health Condition - Please Help! :(

Lucinda1985

Hi there. I was diagnosed with a health condition in 2016 which posed absolutely no bother to me until Oct of last year. I was on my 6th day into my current job when I was involved in a (non fault on my part) motorway pile up on the 33 mile journey to work and have been in pain and fear of driving ever since. After talking with many doctors and rheumatologists they have advised that this stressful event caused my condition to 'activate' and I'm now suffering with pain and fatigue and feel like i've been hit by a bus daily. I don't get sick pay in my job, live alone, and have a £900 mortgage and 15k in unsecured debt that I'm slowly paying off. Doctors and Acas/Equality Advisory board gave me all the fit notes and forms to give to work to advise/say I can/should work from home to avoid the 33 mile drive through one of Hertfordshire's work traffic spots (it's recruitment), and they now want to call a meeting. I have decided I cannot keep working the 42 hour contract week, even from home. it's far too much for me. If I tell them this, and that I need to go part time, can they get rid of me as that's not what the job was as advertised/what they need to fulfill business requirements? I'm desperately looking for part time jobs near where I live but none cover my mortgage and bills. I didn't have any of this trouble before starting the job and the accident.

Cher_Alumni

Hello @Lucinda19 and a warm welcome to our online community, how's your Thursday going?

I'm sorry the car accident has resulted in an exacerbation of your health condition. It sounds like quite the ordeal and I can understand your wish to work reduced hours to manage easier. You've done absolutely the right thing in speaking with ACAS and the Equality Advisory Service. 

In terms of asking for reduced hours as a reasonable adjustment, Scope's advice page about 'Flexible and part-time working' states:

If you ask for flexible working as a reasonable adjustment, you have more rights under the Equality Act 2010. Your employer has a duty to make reasonable adjustments for you to do your job.
You must say if you're asking for flexible working as a reasonable adjustment. This means talking with your employer about your condition and how it affects you.
Talking to your employer about disability
Employers do not have to agree with all requests for adjustments. But, if flexible working is reasonable and necessary for you to do your job, they have to agree. What is 'reasonable' will depend on what you need and the kind of job that you do.

Therefore, the decision would be contingent on if reduced hours are viewed as reasonable by your employers. Bear in mind, you can get support with any negotiations from a friend, colleague or union representative. 

I understand this must feel quite stressful for you right now, are you getting sufficient support with your health condition? Also, please do lean on our community all you need, we have members knowledgeable in employment legislation and procedures who can offer more wisdom than myself, we'd love to help you get through this.

Take care, and just to note I've moved your thread to our Work and employment category to help make it more visible.

Best wishes.