Advice on Disabiity/ capability contract termination

jackal57

Good evening ladies and gentlemen , i have registered in the hope i may get some advice around a curent problem i am having . If you would allow me to as briefly as possible explain the back story maybe someone will be able to guise me as to where to go next.

I have been with my curent employer for 32 years of exemplary service , voted Employee of the Year twice and runner up twice more. I have had 7 working days sickness absence in the 32 years service. I appreciate this information carries no leverage but i thought it useful as background info.

Approximately 5 years ago i was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease , as the symptoms were manageable i continued to hold down my full time role.Last year things were clearly getting worse , although still manageable, i needed to consider my options . I approached my manager and HR representative to see if a day based position or something similar would be available as the shiftss i was doing were making my medication regime hard to manage plus as you will know shift work is detrimenatl to your health regardless of complicating issues like Parkinsons.
My HR representatove suggested i consider the income protection policy running within my employment benefits. The insurance paid out 75% of my full salary until i reached state pansion age and at the time as i was 64 yrs old i felt the decision to stop working would be better for my well being , even though prior to Parkinsons i intended to work on to 67/68.

I am 66 in November this year and as i have reached state pension age the 75% payments will cease. I was called in by HR to have a meeting with them and my senior engineer to discuss "the road map" to my retirement. You could have knocked me down with a feather when they started making statements about terminating my contract due to "Capabi;ity " and starting a disciplinary case based on my Bradford Factor. Basially i thought they where pushing me out the door and after 32 loyal years it hurt, and i am left in a conundrum as to what to do and what i can legally expect . As part of the process my employers arranged a Occupational Health assesment to get some medical feedback as to my condition . When i had the OH assesment i explained to the practisioner i felt as though they were attempting to forcibly retire me or at least persuade me to retire and go quietly. I explained to the OH professional that there were treatments and medications that could possibly render me fit to return to work and i expressed a desire that if possible the employer supports me for a period of time longer to allow me to persue these treatments and see where we go from there and not be pushed onto the scrap heap.

Please accept my apologies fro the "War and Peace" magnitude of my post ,i hope it explains my story and predicament.My initial questions fromall the above are .
1. Can my employers forcibly retire me based on capability ?
2. If as i suspect they cannot forcibly retire me but can terminate my contract based on capability how would this look ? for example a pay off of some sort ?
3. As i had planned pre Parkinsons to work on past state retirement and as i understand it my employers would have to allow me does it not follow that if i would like to "stay on the books" for some time in lieu of getting more effective treatment for my Parkinsons it would be fair to ask my employers to consider supporting me with some form of long term sicknes absensce until all treatment avenues have been explored .

If anybody could answer my questions or have a view on how this should pan out or any other observations for that matter i would be eternally grateful.

Jimm_Alumni

Hi @jackal57, I'm so sorry to hear you're in this situation. Someone very close to me who is disabled is actually going through something very similar regarding their "capability" with their workplace. I'm afraid I don't have all the knowledge but I'm going to find some sources and information and come back this. I just wanted you to know that someone has read this and you aren't alone. It's a horrible feeling that you're being forced out when with just some adjustments you can still work, but there are processes to protect you. 

Let me see what I can find to try and help. I'm also going to move this discussion into our work section so it has more visibility.

jackal57

Jimm_Scope said:

Hi @jackal57, I'm so sorry to hear you're in this situation. Someone very close to me who is disabled is actually going through something very similar regarding their "capability" with their workplace. I'm afraid I don't have all the knowledge but I'm going to find some sources and information and come back this. I just wanted you to know that someone has read this and you aren't alone. It's a horrible feeling that you're being forced out when with just some adjustments you can still work, but there are processes to protect you. 

Let me see what I can find to try and help. I'm also going to move this discussion into our work section so it has more visibility.

Thank you so much for your input.Ironically i received an email today inviting me to an update on my situation for this Friday . I will state my case and see how they respond. 

jackal57

To all who have read this thread please accept my apologies for the numerous schoolboy typos. Parkinsons and typing on mobile keyboard is not the best recipe for clear accurate posting. I have just read my post back and am somewhat embarrassed 😳 

Jimm_Alumni

There's no need to apologise @jackal57, your post was perfectly legible. I'm still looking into collating advice for you.

Do you have support from family or close friends? This situation I imagine is taking it's toll, the uncertainty and anxiety can be difficult to deal with. I just want to know that you have people around you who are there for you during this 

Jimm_Alumni

I've spent some time researching your specific situation and come to one conclusion.

I'm not an employment expert.

But you know who are and who's job it is to inform you have your rights as an employee? ACAS. You can contact them following this link Contact us | Acas. You can also check out their advice pages, such as this one specifically about dismissals What dismissal is: Dismissals - Acas. 

I would recommend speaking to someone if possible though, as the advice pages are very general and your specific situation would most likely be best answered being explained to an expert in employment rights.

If I find anything else I will follow up here. Keep us updated with how you're doing @jackal57, we're not just here to give and signpost advice. We're also here to listen if you want to rant or just have someone to talk to about it all.