Employer agreed reasonable adjustments and is witholding them

kay159 · December 2020

Partner has highly unstable BP which camnot be medicated. Employer agreed reasonable adjustments, namely a stool to sit when lightheaded or feeling dizzy and a reduction in hours
Finally back at work after being furloughed in March and stool has not been provided despite being told new COVID compliant stools was on site. Despite numerous requests this still hasn't been forthcoming.
Also been placed in a ringfence limited to staff covered by Equality Act as work they do has apparently resuced despite recruiting staff into those posts whilst they were all left on Furlough
Any idea what rights he has as not providing the stool is placing him at higher risk of dizziness due to standing in one place and employer are totally unsupportive despite this being agreed by Management, OH and H&S?
Also ringfence has chosen criteria based on sickness record 3 years ago when was off pending diagnosis and despite him having no time.off sick since then he look like he will not be offered a position or asked to reduce hours by half and travel to another warehouse
Im absolutely worried that the stress this situation is causing coupled with him not sleeping coukd have serious consequences for his health and the employer, despitw bwing aware of this are not being transparent about tbw process and are discriminating those covered by the Equality Act
Thanks in advance

woodbine · December 2020

Hi @kay159 how are you this evening? I take it that in this case BP is blood pressure? We have seen alot of RA threads on here in recent months and in some cases it appears that the situation we are all in has some bearing. I can only suggest he goes back to OH and HS and maybe HR to try and sort this out, only other thought is he a member of a union?
Whilst not wanting to get into a medical discussion i'm surprised that someone's BP cant be medicated.

chiarieds · December 2020

Hi @kay159 - & welcome to the community. May I ask what disorder your partner suffers from? I ask as someone that has low BP; the result of my combination of disorders. I must admit that 'feeling as dizzy as a coot' means that simply sitting down doesn't work, I rather have to squat down. I'm usually able to keep this under control, but there are medications that may help in those in whom this isn't the case. Might your partner discuss this with his GP?

kay159 · December 2020

Hi both. He has issues where his body cannot regulate his Blood Pressure sort of like driving a car and speeding up then slamming on the brakes rather than it being a minimal change. It comes under neurological conditions / dysautonomia. Our daughter has the same. Doctors been trying for years to find something that works for either of them and can swing from 60/40 to 210/ 145 within minutes but generally on the high side. Issue is meds to lower highs arent effective like are for most people and lower lows to dangerous levels. Maintaining a single position is horrendous hence having a stool in a job normally done standing in one place to vary posotion and minimise risk. Daughter has blackouts with adjustments. Partner never has but not sitting is making worse. Chairs in workplace not allowed an if sat on floor would have him in for incapability as have tried this route twice. His attendance is 100%, meeting targets and OH and H&S are supportive but company have a history of finishing staff under Equality Act even before COVID
At 57 with only peoples pension he cannot afford to leave as he worries who else would employ him.
Union have backed Employers in reducing numbers of 'Disabled' staff in the workplace and are unsupportive and assume he will be able to claim PIP and ESA if he can no longer work
He is stressed out, not sleeping and the employer will not give any timescales to offering an alternative job or redundancy and have still not provided the adjustments despite stools being delivered to site
Sorry for the long reply but cannot understand how a major high street retailer can be so unsupportive of disabled workers at a time when the government is about to launch adfitiomal support to improve equality in the workplace

janer1967 · December 2020

I would suggest he puts in a grievance stating under the equality act the company are obliged to consider reasonable adjystments and those recommended have not been put in place

Also could get a fit note from gp stating he is fit to work with recommended adjustments

Also contact ACAS for advice

woodbine · December 2020

@kay159 if the condition gives him care and/or mobility issues has he considered claiming PIP, it can be paid even if working, as for ESA that depends on a number of factors but might be a possibility.

chiarieds · December 2020

Hi @kay159 - thank you for your reply. I understand a little as both my son & I have dysautonomia with orthostatic hypotension (due to having Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome & Chiari 1 Malformation), but as far as BP goes, just tend to have low blood pressure 'normally,' which can plummet. I also have to be careful, as some meds lower my BP too much, & I know how ill that's made me feel.

I've been taking cannabidiol (CBD) for pain for over 2 years. Having heard that it was found to incidentally lower some people's high BP (such that after a while they could reduce their meds for hypertension), I was wary about trying, so started very slowly. CBD tends to help with homeostasis, i.e. getting the body balanced correctly.

''Homeostasis: A property of cells, tissues, and organisms that allows the maintenance and regulation of the stability and constancy needed to function properly. Homeostasis is a healthy state that is maintained by the constant adjustment of biochemical and physiological pathways. An example of homeostasis is the maintenance of a constant blood pressure in the human body through a series of fine adjustments in the normal range of function of the hormonal, neuromuscular, and cardiovascular systems. These adjustments allow the maintenance of blood pressure needed for body function despite environmental changes and changes in a person's activity level and position. Other homeostatic mechanisms, for example, permit the maintenance of body temperature within a narrow range.''

I'm mentioning this, as I wonder if it might help your partner (& daughter). It might be worth discussing with their GP/specialists. It's not a quick fix; any benefits may take 2-8 weeks to be felt.

If after discussing with their Drs, they would like to try, please get back to me, & I would be pleased to say where to buy it at reasonable cost from an ethical company, & how to start taking it. I'm a long-retired physio, who also did a lot of research before trying CBD. I hope perhaps this may help.

[Deleted User] · January 2021

If it was me and they did what they did to the OP's partner I would strongly consider taking the company to the cleaners under the 2010 Equality Act for discrimination, but as you've probably seen on my Blog and on various posts on here I've been saying for years that the Equality Act ain't worth the paper it's printed on because the Tories will never enforce it.

Employer agreed reasonable adjustments and is witholding them

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