Threat of sacking over migraines

[Tangoste]

Any advice would be greatly appreciated on this.

my wife has worked part time at a jewellers for the last 4 years works 2 week days & every other Saturday).
she has suffered severe, debilitating migraines for many years, generally at least once per month and each instance lasts for around 3 days during which time she is so ill she remains in bed, can't eat & only leaves the bedroom to go to the bathroom to be sick (apologies for the graphic description). This is something she has gone to the doctors many times, tried all sorts of preventative treatments, has been referred and seen by a neurologist and we have even paid ourselves for acupuncture treatments in an attempt to ease the pain and/or frequency.

Up until recently, her employers have been quite sympathetic and covered her shifts when she is I'll by either using her holiday entitlement or just giving her the day off (unpaid - other than statutory sick pay when she had an un related operation)

Although she she did have a contract, they asked for it back some time ago so they could "make some amendments" but they never gave it her back & they do not, as it currently stands have an official written "sickness policy".

Today, they took her into the office and said that they have been understanding in the past but if she has any further sicknesses from now until the end of 2015 then her "job will be in jeapordy"(see attached picture of the letter she was given following the "meeting")

Where does she stand with this legally? Can they do this despite no official sickness policy and seemingly making it up as they go along & although turning a blind eye to it in the past just suddenly saying they won't accommodate it any more?? Any help or advice would be massively appreciated!

many, many thanks

[Tools]

Re: Threat of sacking over migraines

Hi Tangoste and welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately they seem to be taking the correct formal steps to address the matter. Before I comment let me first relay that I completely understand your wife's illness, I suffer from time to time with mild migraines, fortunately they only last hours not days, however, my mother used to suffer with debilitating migraines that did last for days, and similar to your wife, she suffered the same.

Playing devils advocate, from an employers position,(and I am not questioning your wife's skills or dedication) they need an employee who is able to attend consistently without repeat periods of absence. Despite their lack of formal sickness policy, there is an underlying "norm" for acceptable absence. The steps they have taken so far, meeting, letter to outline their position & suggested improvements are acceptable.

How frequent are the episodes of migraine & absence from work? Usual company procedure is normally between 3-6 separate instances before it raises concerns.

I know it has probably already been suggested & tried, but has she visited an optician, as sometimes it can be down to eyesight issues.

Is there a particular trigger to the migraines? Does she work below fluorescent lighting at work? (I realise that Jewellery display cabinets sometimes use very bright lighting, if she wears glasses, a possible solution could be light reactive lenses to reduce the glare etc.

[Tangoste]

Re: Threat of sacking over migraines

Thanks for your quick response,

she he generally gets a migraine once a month, which the doctors say suggests that they are hormone related although we know stress can also be a trigger. They don't always fall on her work days but I'd say on average once every other month I have to call in sick on her behalf. She has visited about every possible type of medical professional to try and get to the bottom of it from doctors, neurologists, opticians, gynocologists along with alternative therapists such as her acupuncture. It just seems so unfair that she can be disciplined and discriminated against due to a long standing illness that she can do nothing about. The migraines cause her to be depressed as it is and the stress of this letter/meeting will no doubt trigger another one. Her boss appeared to be more "annoyed" this time because her last episode was the day before her boss was due to go away and she had to deal with it last thing, which is why I suspect she has now taken it to an official standing.

[Tools]

Re: Threat of sacking over migraines

Does she take any medication, Sumatriptan for example

[Tangoste]

Re: Threat of sacking over migraines

Yes they have given her various medications to try and treat it and sumatriptan is definitely one of them ....

[Tools]

Re: Threat of sacking over migraines

ok, I obviously can't recommend anything else medical or treatment related that she hasn't already tried, I know it's frustrating not being able to treat it.

Back to the letter and steps taken at work, all she can do now is hope that she doesnt have an episode during shift times, they have taken legitimate steps to address the problem from their side and I'm afraid there isn't a great deal else I can add.

It may be beneficial to speak with ACAS and see what they say

[Tangoste]

Re: Threat of sacking over migraines

Many thanks, I really appreciate your Time & efforts responding to this.

regards

steve

[Tangoste]

Re: Threat of sacking over migraines

Just taken the picture off as I realised it had the business name on it and I didn't want to put that online

[Tools]

Re: Threat of sacking over migraines

No problem, sorry I can't be of more help.

As for the picture, blackout the details using paint or photoshop, alternatively type out the content

[Mabel]

Re: Threat of sacking over migraines

Hi Tangoste,
I'm sorry to hear the news about your wife,
Some thoughts,
As your wife has had a long term condition ( over 2 years) it would be classed as a disability and therefore she would be covered by the Equality Act ( formerly Disability Act)
If a person has a disability , the company they work for, are asked to provide reasonable adjustments to enable the person to carry out their work.
It's difficult, depending on the size of the organization and what they can negotiate as reasonable,
The company your wife works for appears to have been supporting her with her migraines for a number of years,
So I guess one question, within this, is what has changed ? has your wife's condition and absences changed or has something within the company changed?
It maybe worth getting in touch with
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS)

www.acas.org.uk


Who your wife could discuss her case with. they are helpful

If your wife's condition appears to be hormone related, I dont know her age, has she considered taking an oestrogen based pill
which would reduce hormonal spikes.

I wish you well
Mabel

[Tangoste]

Re: Threat of sacking over migraines

Thanks Mabel ... The only thing that's changed is that the shop has recently knocked through into the neighbouring property and doubled its shop floor size. This is one reason her employer said that its time she formalised things as the business was growing. I had thought about whether her migraines would be a disability but wasn't sure what actually determined what is and isn't classed as disability. Then as you say, to be fair they have been understanding until now. I guess we had kind of got the impression that they were okay with the situation as they've always said "it's okay don't worry about it" but now all of a sudden if she's off again (which inevitably she will be) then her job will be in jeopardy.

[Tangoste]

Re: Threat of sacking over migraines

And I guess as far as reasonable adjustments all they could really perhaps do is look at changing her days/hours to that which wouldn't be as critical to the business of she were to be of resulting in one less staff member or something like that???

[Mabel]

Re: Threat of sacking over migraines

Hi Tangoste
It's late
I think it would be wise for your wife to have a chat with ACAS
In terms of reasonable adjustments , Your wife could think about possible adjustments that could be made to enable her to carry on with her job, ( Again it is difficult - reasonable adjustments are based on the size of the organization and what they can negotiate as reasonable )
I do think have a chat with ACAS
Mabel