Disciplinary Hearing via Phone / internet

Starkey77

Hi
I have been asked by my employer to take part in a disciplinary hearing via phone / internet. I am waiting for a OH appointment to discuss reasonable adjustments. I am profoundly deaf and would really like face to face meeting. Can I request that the discipline meeting is postponed till such times this virus goes away and face to face meeting can resume?

Thank you

poppy123456

HI and welcome,

All you can do is ask, if you don't ask then you'll never know. Good luck.

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @Starkey77, how are you getting on?

Starkey77

Hi Chloe. Disciplinary hearing was postponed as I had not had the appointment with OH. They are looking to set up a video consultation in the very near future. 

I feel I will be needing advice from discrimination experts as there are, in my opinion, reasonable adjustment shortfalls that my employer is just not addressing or acknowledging. 

Thanks for touching base, Chloe. ?

Abs_Scope

Hello @Starkey77 - I am sorry to hear about this and the barriers you are facing as a deaf person.  May I ask, do you lip read only or can you use sign language? The reason I ask is that I am also deaf and use sign language. In my experience, the meeting needs to accommodate you and make reasonable adjustments for you to be able to fully participate in a meaningful way. This might be providing a loop system, holding the meeting in a quiet room and provision of British Sign Language Interpreters or a Lipspeaker. This would be dependent on your needs and it may also be provided via an Access to work grant at no cost to your employer. 

During this unprecedented time, I believe that most organisations would be understanding about the need to defer any meetings until after this coronavirus emergency subsidies.  Especially, as due to your deafness it is imperative that you are allowed the opportunity for a face to face meeting to allow for clear communication and full participation in this disciplinary meeting. 

As a sign language user I am able to use remote interpreting over the internet but dont think it would be of help to you if you use lip reading.  The best option would be to ask HR to defer until Government restrictions are lifted. 

I have added a few links that might be worth looking at below:

Access to work for support for interpreters and lipspeakers: https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work

Summary of equality act and reasonable adjustments: https://www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/live-well/your-rights/the-equality-act-2010/ 

Employers guide to help deaf people thrive in the workplace:

https://www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/how-we-help/information-and-resources/publications/employers-resources/employers-guide/ 

I hope that things work out well for you and do feel free to reach out to us if you need anything else.

atlas47

Hi @Starkey77

Would highly recommend you seek advice from ACAS, for some assistance.

You have a legal right, that such a meeting is able to accommodate you.

Keep us informed.

Chloe_Alumni

Not a problem @Starkey77! I hope the advice from others has been useful and please do let us know how you get on.

Starkey77

An update...
I’m still suspended and have been since Aug 19. I have had a further OH assessment and the report was unequivocal in stating that reasonable adjustments MUST have been considered at the outset of my employment, even during induction training. Access to Work have also recommended a number of adjustments from speech to text software to training of staff around equality.

I have been asking for email access (this was taken away from me when suspended) for the last year so that I could form a defence to the allegations and support my claim for lack of reasonable adjustments. I have received an email from HR stating that my IT account has been deleted and can not allow access to emails. This has hit me hard. To me, it clearly shows that they had not intended me to return to work.

I am in bits. They clearly are ignoring the OH report and Access to Work recommendations. They haven’t even discussed the contents of the reports with me. Yet without access to my IT account and availability of emails they are asking me to attend an online grievance appeal hearing on Wednesday. 

I am at a loss of what my next steps are? I am so angry that my IT account has been deleted. Should I be raising a grievance in relation to this or should they just realise that this is unacceptable and take a different tack?

Thank you for any forthcoming advice.
?

Starkey77

Sorry, I didn’t add that I initially raised a grievance around the lack of RA's. This wasn’t upheld, hence the appeal hearing.

Cher_Alumni

@Starkey77 I'm so sorry to hear this is still going on, it must be emotionally tiring for you.  I hope you have support from friends and family.

The Equality Advisory and Support Service specialise in all matters around disability discrimination and you can refer yourself via their website for support.  Also, as mentioned before, ACAS will be able to provide excellent advice if you haven't already contacted them.  

Good luck and you know where we are should you need us.

janer1967

Hi I am sorry to hear this is still going on
It is normal for IT access to be taken away while you are suspended as usually you are instructed to not have any contact with other people in the company

You should have been suspended on full pay and should be contacted about when you should attend a meeting

Why have you been suspended ?

I would advise you contact ACAS who will be the best to assist you

Starkey77

Hi Janer
Spurious allegation of falsifying an official document. When suspended other aspects of my work was highlighted which was arising from disability and could have been mitigated with RA’s which has been confirmed by occupational health.

Regarding IT access. Yes, all IT equipment was taken back. What has happened is that my employee log in has been deleted (as if I no longer work for my employer)

Starkey77

Cher_Scope said:

@Starkey77 I'm so sorry to hear this is still going on, it must be emotionally tiring for you.  I hope you have support from friends and family.

The Equality Advisory and Support Service specialise in all matters around disability discrimination and you can refer yourself via their website for support.  Also, as mentioned before, ACAS will be able to provide excellent advice if you haven't already contacted them.  

Good luck and you know where we are should you need us.

Thanks, Cher. 

ACAS have been consulted throughout. They advise the grievance route again, but I’m losing the will after so long.

I will give ECHR a look..

janer1967

This is nothing unusual having you log in suspended it foesnt mean they dont expect you to return to work it is all just a security protection and compliance

You should have been suspended for a specific reason mainly constituting gross misconduct and the reason should be clearly stated in your suspension letter 

Starkey77

Janer,
They have told me IT has deleted my employee ID and log in details, not suspended it. They were allowing me to have email access but couldn’t find my account and email address. It’s because it no longer exists.

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @Starkey77, how are things going?

Starkey77

Hi Chloe. I have raised a further grievance around the deletion of my account and they just say that the previous IT contractor deleted it and now a new IT company has the contract. I have a my grievance appeal related to the lack of reasonable adjustments over the past 2 and a half years next Tuesday. They have asked me to raise this complaint then and they don’t seem to want to investigate how an employees IT details were deleted whilst suspended. Seems they were not expecting me back. ?

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @Starkey77, it sounds really stressful! Have things been?

Tori_Scope

Hi @Starkey77 I'm going to make your comments here into a new post. I know that they're related to your post, but it might help our other users to find and answer your question more easily.