occupational health

lyndylou63

I have received this email from my employer. Do I need to do what he asks?

As your absence has now become long term and we do not have any visibility as to when or if you might be able to return to work we would like you to attend an appointment with an occupational health practitioner.  The purpose of this appointment is so that we can understand whether there are any further adjustments we could make to your employment to facilitate your return to work and when it is estimated that you might be able to return to work in the future. 

 We appreciate that you may wish to take someone with you during this appointment and we will also look at providing you with transport to get there.  If you could please just confirm your agreement in principle to this I will look into the logistics of the appointment and will then liaise with you over those.  We would also need you to sign a medical consent form in due course.

There are no further adjustments he can make as I cannot go out anywhere on my own as I use a wheelchair.

Geoark

Hi @lyndylou63 you do not have to agree.

Your employer will then have to make a decision based on what information is available. If they do decide to terminate your employment the DWP will likely ask for the reason for this and potentially they could mention that you failed to co-operate and this could potentially affect your claim. You need to seek advice on this aspect.

OH will look at your case with you in mind, your health and health and safety at work. If there conclusion is you are not fit to work or being in work would be of further detriment to your health, or there is nothing else that your employer can do to facilitate your return to work they will report this.

You might find it useful to read the following: http://www.occupationalhealthltd.co.uk/blog/2013/june/employee-engagement-with-occupational-health

You will need to scroll down a few paragraphs to the section that starts with 'Refusal to attend an Occupational Health Referral Appointment.'

lyndylou63

Thanks for your help with this

Tricia1912

Hi @lnyndylou63 A similar thing happened to me, because l did the injury at home l had had one shoulder operation, physio, another operation to come and because l couldn’t do my job and they couldn’t offer me something else and didn’t know how long l was going to be off. They gave me a severance pay which wasn’t much. But there are welfare groups that specialise in these cases get their help. But look as though you are being as helpful as possible don’t give them room to pick holes.  Good luck. 

lyndylou63

Thanks for the reply.

i have emailed him back to say I have 2 appointments to attend with my consultant and rheumatologist so I am not going to fit another appointment with an OH just now. So I will get to him after I have attended the others. This gives me chance to ask my consultant about it.

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