Any relevant advice pls? Reasonable Adjustments Action Plan

[Littlelostlamb]

Hello all,

I have recently had a first stage sickness meeting and the outcome was a reasonable adjustments (certain things being put in place) action plan- that is described as informal and not disciplinary.

However my rep cites it is not part of the sickness policy- it isn't mentioned.

This plan is a 12 month plan whereas a disciplinary outcome would only stay on file for 6 months.

We need to know the consequences of being ill again within, but these have not yet been stated.

In my mind, this could be viewed in a few different ways. From supportive to coercive; to somewhere in between.

Does anyone have experience of this kind of thing? Or does anyone have any suggestions of things I should be aware/wary of please?

(A quick google didn't give much)

Thanks, LLL x

 

[Pickman's model]

Reasonable adjustments might be under a separate policy / code of practice

 

[Pickman's model]

The sickness policy should say what triggers a formal stage 2 meeting which ought to allay your fears about missing a day or two. But in addition the policy probably says something along the lines of there's training for managers. IME it is unlikely hr or managers have had this training - local conditions may vary. I would say that people who haven't had training should not be enforcing the policy. As well, do you have return to work interviews/meetings in the policy and in reality?

 

[equationgirl]

Reasonable adjustments are a legal requirement of an employer to assist those with a disability as defined under the the Equality Act 2010.

These vary due to employer, industry, disability etc. For example, one reasonable adjustment my employer makes for me is to ensure I have a better than standard chair to sit on.

Also, any absence related to my disabilities is not counted for the purposes of sickness absence management. This is best practice (I think recommended by acas, but I will have to check) but not law. This is especially important if your employer uses a calculation called the Bradford factor - this was designed for short term absences not anything related to chronic conditions.

Another reasonable adjustment could be that instead of the next stage meeting being triggered after (say) 10 working days absence, it would trigger after 15, for example.

I am curious to know why this is a 12 month plan. Reasonable adjustments to the best of my knowledge do not have an expiry date, although some form of regular review can be useful to ensure they are kept up to date. Has your employer just listed things they expect you to do over the next 12 months? If so, that's not a set of reasonable adjustments.

 

[Littlelostlamb]

Reasonable adjustments might be under a separate policy / code of practice

This is a very good point. Thank you, I will try and find it/call HR.

 

[Littlelostlamb]

The sickness policy should say what triggers a formal stage 2 meeting which ought to allay your fears about missing a day or two. But in addition the policy probably says something along the lines of there's training for managers. IME it is unlikely hr or managers have had this training - local conditions may vary. I would say that people who haven't had training should not be enforcing the policy. As well, do you have return to work interviews/meetings in the policy and in reality?

Yes, as the informal reasonable Adjustments plan is not detailed within the sickness policy, I definitely need further clarify about whether I would be back to stage 1 or would go onto stage 2, in the event of sickness.

I did not notice anything in the policy re training for Managers, but I will check this.

Re return to work interviews- I have had a couple but not on every occasion. At one point I was told that they don't really happen anymore at my place of work. Later they did happen, but without any minutes.

 

[Pickman's model]

Yes, as the informal reasonable Adjustments plan is not detailed within the sickness policy, I definitely need further clarify about whether I would be back to stage 1 or would go onto stage 2, in the event of sickness.

I did not notice anything in the policy re training for Managers, but I will check this.

Re return to work interviews- I have had a couple but not on every occasion. At one point I was told that they don't really happen anymore at my place of work. Later they did happen, but without any minutes.

Yeh. Well, without a form or minutes they may as well not have happened and it would be my contention that without information from those meetings no disciplinary action can be initiated or taken as the evidence to support punitive action against the member of staff envisaged by the policy would be absent.

 

[Littlelostlamb]

Reasonable adjustments are a legal requirement of an employer to assist those with a disability as defined under the the Equality Act 2010.

These vary due to employer, industry, disability etc. For example, one reasonable adjustment my employer makes for me is to ensure I have a better than standard chair to sit on.

Also, any absence related to my disabilities is not counted for the purposes of sickness absence management. This is best practice (I think recommended by acas, but I will have to check) but not law. This is especially important if your employer uses a calculation called the Bradford factor - this was designed for short term absences not anything related to chronic conditions.

Another reasonable adjustment could be that instead of the next stage meeting being triggered after (say) 10 working days absence, it would trigger after 15, for example.

I am curious to know why this is a 12 month plan. Reasonable adjustments to the best of my knowledge do not have an expiry date, although some form of regular review can be useful to ensure they are kept up to date. Has your employer just listed things they expect you to do over the next 12 months? If so, that's not a set of reasonable adjustments.

Thank you both - Equation gal and Pickman's Model for your detailed replies.

Yes this was kind of my understanding - that disability related sick leave should not contribute to triggers/be managed under the policy. I guess they are not managing under the policy exactly, but in some ways they are- i.e.- the initial formal stage 1 meeting. But that the outcome - reasonable Adjustments Plan- not being detailed within the policy.

However, as you say, this seems to be best practice but not law. I checked with a top Unison rep I know (not linked to my employement) and he said they can legally use disability related sick time as trigger days.

Thank you for the info re the Bradford factor. I had not heard of this and will read more. Might be interesting to know if my employers are using it.

You suggest reasonable adjustment being around realistic period of sick days, in line with a chronic condition. Under the normal policy this would be defined. When I type up my notes I am going to suggest that it is under the reasonable adjustments. Thanks.

As for the reasonable adjustments- we came up with them together. I agree with them. But, I had failed to look at it the way you point out. I.e.- I thought 12 months seemed a long time. However as you point out, it makes no sense that they may end at that point in time. This is really helpful, thanks.

 

[Littlelostlamb]

Yeh. Well, without a form or minutes they may as well not have happened and it would be my contention that without information from those meetings no disciplinary action can be initiated or taken as the evidence to support punitive action against the member of staff envisaged by the policy would be absent.

Excellent point. Thank you. I shall be book marking this just in case.

 

[Pickman's model]

Excellent point. Thank you. I shall be book marking this just in case.

It worked when I represented a member a little while back - oh: think about any pattern of absences, works best if there is none.

 

[equationgirl]

Thank you both - Equation gal and Pickman's Model for your detailed replies.

Yes this was kind of my understanding - that disability related sick leave should not contribute to triggers/be managed under the policy. I guess they are not managing under the policy exactly, but in some ways they are- i.e.- the initial formal stage 1 meeting. But that the outcome - reasonable Adjustments Plan- not being detailed within the policy.

However, as you say, this seems to be best practice but not law. I checked with a top Unison rep I know (not linked to my employement) and he said they can legally use disability related sick time as trigger days.

Thank you for the info re the Bradford factor. I had not heard of this and will read more. Might be interesting to know if my employers are using it.

You suggest reasonable adjustment being around realistic period of sick days, in line with a chronic condition. Under the normal policy this would be defined. When I type up my notes I am going to suggest that it is under the reasonable adjustments. Thanks.

As for the reasonable adjustments- we came up with them together. I agree with them. But, I had failed to look at it the way you point out. I.e.- I thought 12 months seemed a long time. However as you point out, it makes no sense that they may end at that point in time. This is really helpful, thanks.

You're more than welcome, if there is anything else just let me know.

 

[Looby]

This is how it worked in my last workplace. My current one is a total mystery tbh so I've got no idea.

If reasonable adjustments are needed, these were suggested by OH and the employer had the choice whether to implement them but usually did. Any recommendations around absences can then be included in any attendance management action plan. I'm guessing the review period is 12 months, not the adjustments themselves.

So, if the OH assessor says you're likely to have around 10 sick days per year because of a condition then the action plan could agree to automatically disregard 10 days sick leave as long as it's related to that condition. I had panic attacks so I could come in late, leave early or take time out in the day. This meant I wasn't taking a whole day off if I didn't need to.

The review period was usually 6 months but sometimes a year. If you fell below the agreed standard within that time, the action plan progressed to the next stage. This can very quickly progress to dismissal. If you agree that (outside of your expected days they're disregarding) you'll only have 5 days off in 12 months, just think that's one bout of flu or two sickness bugs.

I've seen them work (mostly through luck and taking annual leave to cover sickness) but I've also seen people managed out of their 20+ year careers within 9-12 months so be very careful what you commit to.

 

[Littlelostlamb]

It worked when I represented a member a little while back - oh: think about any pattern of absences, works best if there is none.

I have looked at mine and it's all hit and miss. But I would never have thought to use that if needed

 

[Littlelostlamb]

This is how it worked in my last workplace. My current one is a total mystery tbh so I've got no idea.

If reasonable adjustments are needed, these were suggested by OH and the employer had the choice whether to implement them but usually did. Any recommendations around absences can then be included in any attendance management action plan. I'm guessing the review period is 12 months, not the adjustments themselves.

So, if the OH assessor says you're likely to have around 10 sick days per year because of a condition then the action plan could agree to automatically disregard 10 days sick leave as long as it's related to that condition. I had panic attacks so I could come in late, leave early or take time out in the day. This meant I wasn't taking a whole day off if I didn't need to.

The review period was usually 6 months but sometimes a year. If you fell below the agreed standard within that time, the action plan progressed to the next stage. This can very quickly progress to dismissal. If you agree that (outside of your expected days they're disregarding) you'll only have 5 days off in 12 months, just think that's one bout of flu or two sickness bugs.

I've seen them work (mostly through luck and taking annual leave to cover sickness) but I've also seen people managed out of their 20+ year careers within 9-12 months so be very careful what you commit to.

This is a worrying post, but essentially what I suspected. I am going to take your warning very seriously before I sign up to something/anything.

 

[equationgirl]

Interestingly my employer does not appear (as far as I can tell) to use any kind of written plan to record reasonable adjustments - recently I had to tell the departmental HR rep what my reasonable adjustments as agreed with the company were, as there were no notes on my file. I've never had any kind of review since the first set of meetings 7 years ago. Plus I recently reviewed the sickness absence policy and all mention of management of chronic conditions appear to have been removed from it.

 

[Pickman's model]

Interestingly my employer does not appear (as far as I can tell) to use any kind of written plan to record reasonable adjustments - recently I had to tell the departmental HR rep what my reasonable adjustments as agreed with the company were, as there were no notes on my file. I've never had any kind of review since the first set of meetings 7 years ago. Plus I recently reviewed the sickness absence policy and all mention of management of chronic conditions appear to have been removed from it.

All management is chronick

 

[Littlelostlamb]

Interestingly my employer does not appear (as far as I can tell) to use any kind of written plan to record reasonable adjustments - recently I had to tell the departmental HR rep what my reasonable adjustments as agreed with the company were, as there were no notes on my file. I've never had any kind of review since the first set of meetings 7 years ago. Plus I recently reviewed the sickness absence policy and all mention of management of chronic conditions appear to have been removed from it.

Perhaps we work for the same place

 

[equationgirl]

Perhaps we work for the same place

You never know