Disability Discrimination?

[vomitcomit1983]

Hello, My Husband has worked for a small firm for 10yrs. he was Diagnosed with Stage 3 Lung cancer in March this year after having very little sickness history with the company he suddenly was signed of for the from Feb 19th to 30 oct. having chemotherapy. During this time the company took it upon them selves to go against his contract & pay him his basic wage & a % of commission his clients bought to the company. He was signed as fit to work on 30th Oct with a request from his oncologist to return as phased return to work 3hours a day for 3 months gradually increasing. The company requested a onchologist report which he obliged eventually returning after 3 or so weeks stating that my husband has a temporary impairment which is caused by his ongoing chemotherapy treatment which would improve with time which is why the phased return however he is able to carry out his job according to the job description sent to him & it is essential to his recovery.
He has persistently had to pester them for return to work meetings.
He had a meeting with his employers yesterday. They have offered him a £14K settlement to 'terminate employment' before christmas, they stated that they do not see that he is of use to them working only 3hours a day & do not want to hinder him by keeping him on as they believe he can get more benifits if he was unemployed. They stated that the full wage they have already paid him for this year along with the £14K would be a sufficient settlement figure given that they are a small company & should he wish to take them to court they would get significantly less.
They have also told him that as they have been paying for his private health care that they are willing to keep him on that cover as they want him to get better, adding insult to injury they have added, when he is in remission he is able to return to them but when he does he will be on a basic wage & have to work his way up from the bottom again, meaning that all his existing clients will be stripped from him & given to others who have been there less time than him.

He has asked for everything in writing, which they are doing, he hasn't signed anything yet as he wants to keep his job as the people he works with are lovely & he knows he would be hard pushed to get employment elsewhere now he is ill.

Are we covered by anything at all?. are they allowed to do this?

Is anyone able to give us any legal advice.

Kindest Regards

Vomitcomit1983

[mariefab]

Re: Disability Discrimination?

It's discrimination but 'reasonableness' could well come into this.

How small is this small employer? Ballpark <100, <10?
During the months that he was signed off did they employ someone else to cover his work?

[vomitcomit1983]

Re: Disability Discrimination?

It's discrimination but 'reasonableness' could well come into this.

How small is this small employer? Ballpark <100, <10?
During the months that he was signed off did they employ someone else to cover his work?

Thank you for replying,

Approx 30>60 Employees.
They didn't employ someone to cover his work his clients have been distributed between the existing employees, the apprentice he was training has been dealing with all of his small/medium clients while making his own.

Kind regards

[mariefab]

Re: Disability Discrimination?

Has he actually returned to work at 3 hours a day?
If so, on what date did he return?

[vomitcomit1983]

Re: Disability Discrimination?

No they wont allow him to return.

- - - Updated - - -

They have stated that there is nit a role within the company that will suit 3 hours a day despite having a role of cold calling team & direct marketing team within the firm.

[mariefab]

Re: Disability Discrimination?

My advice is to take the deal.

The amount they're offering is in the ballpark of what he could get if he won a Tribunal claim against them, at which point the chances of him being permitted to return to that employer would be seriously diminished.

However, I think that there's a good chance that he could lose a Tribunal claim.

A Tribunal would be considering a very small employer that had already:
Had an employee absent for over 8 months. (This alone could justify termination.)
Paid full sick pay during that period (when you imply that they were entitled under the contract to pay less).
Funded private health care and untertook to continue doing so after termination.
Offered 14K to help tide the employee over during his remaining period of treatment/ recuperation.
Undertaken to permit him to return to their employment when he's in remission (even though he'll effectively be starting from scratch).

In these circumstances a Tribunal could well find that the 'reasonable' in reasonable adjustments has been more than complied with and that any further adjustments would be unreasonable given the size of the employer.

[shegerianlaw]

Re: Disability Discrimination?

No one have right to terminate an employee just because of his illness and at a time when he was able to return work, As their employer forced him to leave job by giving £14K. You can get leaves when you are not healthy or suffering with any diseases. No matter they are big or small employed. You can fire a case against them for discrimination.