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Silas Denyer
Member - 5 posts
Jeff, yes, it was re yours. That seems an excellent pragmatic solution, since it mirrors what an employee might do in, say, their own dark drive. I'm quite a strong believer in the idea that what employees find acceptable in their homes should be at least relevant to what they should accept at work!
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Silas Denyer
Member - 5 posts
Slightly Devil's advocate... if the car park is dark and "dangerous" (not suggesting it will be), and women refuse to accept the conditions but men do, can the women not make a claim under equal pay legislation that a benefit is being denied to them due to their unwillingness to compromise their personal safety due to threats predominantly affecting only women?
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Silas Denyer
Member - 5 posts
John, many thanks for your comments. Your views align strongly with mine at both an instinctive and purely business level!
However... I'm also aware that the actions, problems etc. are essentially caused by illness. She was an excellent worker before becoming pregnant, and the deterioration in her behaviour directly correlates with the deterioration in her health (both physical and emotional - lack of sleep plus profound reaction to hormonal changes has led to emotional and arguably psychological changes, whether temporary or permanent).
That being so, my initial reaction was to sign her off as sick / unfit to work on medical grounds. But I'm unsure as to the actual grounds upon which I can do this - I am not a doctor, and her own doctor tells her she can go into work whenever she feels well (she doesn't exhibit the emotional problems when at the surgery, it seems).
In a nutshell, if the emotional problems are an illness due to pregnancy, I can't see how I can discipline her for those without falling foul of anti-discrimination measures (and have been advised as such). Yet I'm genuinely unclear how I can "force" her to be signed-off - I can't see any provision for using workplace democracy as the test of whether she is medically unfit!
Thanks again
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Silas Denyer
Member - 5 posts
Out of interest, having some professional interest in recruitment, were your complaints related to the lack of registration or to the conduct of said recruitment firms?
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Silas Denyer
Member - 5 posts
Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me? I'm sorry about the long-winded post...
I have a female employee who is 17 weeks pregnant. She has been experiencing severe pregnancy-related illnesses - constant nausea, pelvic difficulties affecting walking, headaches, lack of sleep leading to tiredness and irritability. She is already morbidly obese (technical term).
Her behaviour when she is in the office is now unacceptable - missing deadlines, snapping at people, forgetting to do important jobs to make sure others know about them.
Her attendance in the office is completely unpredictable. She will let us know by about mid-morning if she is attending on any given day, will commonly arrive late, and leave early - again, often without warning - on the grounds of illness. It is impossible to book cover for her, because there is no predictability nor notice.
So far she has cost us 2 clients irrecoverably, and damaged a number of important internal and external relationships.
Our understanding is that we cannot refuse to allow her to work if she attends. There are no other duties she could carry out, by the way.
We cannot afford to have her here if she does attend. We are a small, busy company - only 8, fully-occupied people - without any spare capacity to cover this situation. We do pay full sickness pay, on a purely discretionary basis (i.e. over and above SSP is at the discretion of the Directors). Our policy is that injuries or illness arising from any action or activity resulting from personal choice carrying risk are not covered - if you go skiing and break your leg, or go camping on a glacier and catch flu, we won't pay the discretionary part of your sickness pay - and nor will discretionary sickness pay be paid beyond 4 weeks. Since pregnancy is personal choice, the policy would encompass this (all workers treated equally), but we believe that withholding such pay could be be considered discriminatory.
Other workers in the company are complaining at the behaviour of this individual. Morale is low, and some other workers may leave over the situation, as they feel it is grossly unfair to all concerned. If we were unionised, I would have expecte a strike call by now.
I have once before, after considerable legal advice, made a woman on maternity leave redundant (it was a start-up, she was one of only two employees, the other employee left and therefore there was no revenue and no money to pay her). However redundancy would not be appropriate here - the post is not redundant.
I'm obviously concerned that, if I even start disciplinary proceedings, I will be held liable for discrimination. Equally if I send her home (alleging unfitness) then likewise, or perhaps constructive dismissal.
Am I allowed to "decree" that a worker is medically unfit to work based upon observable evidence? At least that way I can organise cover and try to get some sanity back in the workplace. If so, and if I am consistent with my policy, can I elect not to pay the discretionary component of sickness pay under the policy outlined above? We have already paid about 4 weeks worth in the last 16.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
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