Reasonable adjustment removed without consultation. Is this legal?

Hugo51

Hi there, I had a reasonable adjustment at work which was agreed last December, employer removed it without notice or consultation with myself or union rep 
Is this legal? 

Hugo 

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community 

It's not ethical rather than illegal reasonable adjustments should be reviewed in consultation with you and reason given why they can no longer be acceptable 

What is the reasonable adjustments that was in place 

Hugo51

@janer1967 I work as part of a 2 person team, I am recognised as disabled under the equality act 2010 ( mental health issues)
my employer knows I find it hard to work with new/different people and indeed some people exacabate my condition hence reasonable adjustment of a settled workmate was agreed (reluctantly by them I may add )
on a particular day with out notice I was split up from my settled workmate and put with someone new☹️( usual workmate was sent to work with someone else )
This immediately affected my disability and I went home sick because of it and was absent for 2 weeks ( doctor certified )
on return I was issued with a disciplinary for going absent sick on said day and not fulfilling my duties which would seem to contravene companies own absence management policy 

I feel the situation was contrived to get me as my employer have either refused RAs or   delayed RAs until HR advise them they should in the past to the ongoing detriment of my health which they have been made aware of regularly 
They see me as a nuisance 
I am again absent from work ( long term )due to my disability because of the warning issued which obviously was going to affect my disability as they well knew 

Hugo 

janer1967

Hi again

I think I have advised you about this in another thread 

I don't think there is a lot you can do as they haven't actually stopped the reasonable adjustments but changed it and there could be a valid reason why they had to change the person supporting you 

Did you appeal the warning for absence 

If you have concerns I suggest you contact acas for some advice and support 

You need to bear in mind even though you are disabled and covered in the equality act the company can take action for non attendance as they have a business to run and cannot support continued absence.  They can make allowances but you still have a contract to fulfill by attending work on a regular basis 

Hugo51

@janer1967 thanks for your reply but they aren’t still providing the reasonable adjustment, the RA was me working with one particular person 
this was changed without consultation 
so is it  ok to discipline someone for something arising from their disability?? I always thought this wasn’t legal ??

janer1967

Yes you can be disciplined for attendance disabled or not.  It is good practice to allow some discretion for absences due to disabilities eg allow more absences before taking action 

You still have a contractual obligation to attend work on a regular basis and failure to do so could be deemed as not capable to fullfil your contract 

A company cannot be expected to employ somebody who long term is not capable of attending work on a regular basis 

As long as they have followed their own attendance policy , made reasonable adjustments to improve attendance if possible,  then they can take action 

For example one company I worked for 3 absences in 12 month period would start the absence disciplinary process for disabled this was increased to 4 as long as the absences were related to the disabilities.  Absence for other reasons would be treated the same as non disabled 

Hugo51

That’s the point I’m trying to make, they haven’t followed their own attendance policy, and removed the RA put in place to improve attendance.
This was all done by Manager with no HR involved.

thanks Hugo 51

janer1967

I'm sorry we will have to disagree on this 

I don't think it would be possible for them to maintain the same person permanently to support you . What happens when that person is on holiday or sick.  They may want to do something different,  progress with the company or may even leave 

As suggested contact acas for further advice 

I will leave it there 

TheAlien

If the reasonable adjustments involve another person, that persons needs also have to be taken into consideration. 

This is another living human being we are talking about, not a piece of equipment.  You cannot reasonably expect them to put their needs, career, personal life or feelings on hold just because you need to work with them. 

You stated in your post that they weren't happy with the situation, I've worked in situations like that in the past and my mental health suffered because of it.  Your needs cannot be allowed to override those of another human being, its monumentally unfair.

I'll leave that there, but fully expect to be shot down for my opinion.

Hugo51

@TheAlien I totally agree and he is more than happy to do this currently, not being forced into anything against his will , he had the option to say no when asked.
we are actually good friends with a good working relationship,
thanks for the reply

Hugo51

@janer1967 thanks for your input, much appreciated, have spoken to Acas as you advised and received good information 
thanks again 
Hugo51

janer1967

Glad they are helping you and hope everything works 9ut for you and you have a speedy recovery