Can you keep your job if ill health retirement is rejected?

tnath
tnath Online Community Member Posts: 2 Listener
edited February 3 in Work

I would like to know more about ill health retirement, please.

Is it possible to still keep the job if the application for ill health retirement is rejected?

Comments

  • Jimm_Scope
    Jimm_Scope Posts: 5,717 Scope Online Community Specialist

    Hi @tnath, welcome to the Scope online community 🙂 I am afraid I don't know the exact answer to that question, but I can direct you to our advice article around Work and Ill Health Retirement: Stopping work and ill health | Disability charity Scope UK

    Can I ask if you've tried to obtain reasonable adjustments yet and how that has gone?

  • tnath
    tnath Online Community Member Posts: 2 Listener

    Thank you for the quick response.
    Yes, the adjustments available for me are limited because I worked in the theatre and my Job required physical activities

  • luvpink
    luvpink Online Community Member Posts: 566 Pioneering

    It depends on your occupational health and human resource departments.

    If you apply for ill health retirement you are basically saying you are no longer able to continue in your current role but they can look at redeployment to a more sutible role with reasonable adjustments or they may agree that ill health retirement is the only option and that is rare.

    If you have a union rep you need to enlist their advise and support.

  • Bydand
    Bydand Online Community Member Posts: 194 Empowering

    Hi,

    Firstly I’ll health retirement isn’t something to apply for lightly. Most folks will have had years of medical issues, long term sick absences, breaches of pay points, numerous back to work plans, contact with OH and likely reasonable adjustments already put in place for them if needed.

    IHR is absolutely the last thing you should be looking for, however it might be the only option someone struggling at work has open to them.

    I worked on for years in my job until I physically could no longer cope. In hindsight I would have started the IHR process far sooner than I did as continuing working was making me even more ill.

    Pension schemes and the rules that surround them can slightly differ so it is always always advisable to get a recent copy of your pension policy that applies to yourself. Have a good read through it, then read again several more times and familiarise yourself with the specific wording used……be very honest with yourself when it comes to matching their very specific criteria to your illness/ condition that you are stating is making your role untenable.

    With ref not being granted an IHR award and staying on at work I would suggest that this would be unlikely. I have looked into this for others and without fail all pension providers will ask your employer early on in the process whether all reasonable adjustments or redeployments have been exhausted. The employer should have no other options available to them to offer you and as such an unsuccessful IHR application would leave them with no other options available other than dismissal.

    Be under no illusion, your pension provider does not want to pay you a pension unless it absolutely has too.

    In most cases, to even progress an IHR application further the employer would have to state categorically to the pension provider that there are no more reasonable adjustments or redeployments that could be made to help you and subsequently they along with OH support your IHR application.

    If the employer stated there might be other things they could try your application wouldn’t progress further.

    So by starting the IHR process you are effectively telling your employer that you are no longer fit for your role. Whether they have tried to accommodate your health issues previously will be something only you will know. If you believe there are other things they might be open to exploring then I would suggest bringing it up with them in the first instance before any IHR application.

    Applying for IHR is scary as there is no certainty that you will receive an award……from others that I know and how I felt myself through the process it is stressful…..but ultimately everything had been exhausted and I had no other choices open to me.

    Make sure that if you do go down the IHR route that you inform your union.

    Please feel free to ask questions and I will help where I can or at least give you insights that you may not have considered or thought about.

    Scott

  • Bydand
    Bydand Online Community Member Posts: 194 Empowering

    Hi

    I have already replied to your question, see above.

    I just wanted too add that the very fact that you are asking this question would really indicate to me at least that you have not yet reached the stage where IHR is appropriate.

    As i have already stated, for those that have gone through the IHR process, it has likely been their very very last option regardless of the possible outcome or consequences ( i definately knew that i would be dismissed if unsucessful).You really are gambling on the fact that you have enough evidenced medical opinion to back up what you are stating and that the evidence highlights a complete and permanent breakdown in your health and how this directly effects your ability to work..if you are not at least 99% positive that you meet the pension providers strict criteria then dont apply.

    If you believe that you could continue to work after an unsucessful IHR application, then you are missing the point of the IHR process and aims.....in effect, you cant have it both ways.

    Scott