Hi just wanted to share this and see if anyone had faced a similar problem. We have an employee with a long term WRULD. The employee tires easily and gets frequent pains in their arms. Our OH contractor carried out a report which suggested a reduction in hours, more frequesnt rest breaks, and more job rotation. All straight forward stuff. A few months passed and we carried out another OH report which then recommended slightly increasing the persons work hours, from 6 hours a shift to 8 hours a shift. (the employee was happy with this) However, when the shift changed back to 8 hours the employee struggled, they complained of increased tiredness and increased pain in their arms. I was asked by the manager the best course of action and i recomended the employee moved back to the orginal reduced hours (6 hours) as it seemd obviious that the increase in hours had caused issues. When the employee was informed that the hours would again be reduced they refused to accept the change saying that there would be financial implications and they were not prepared to accept. (bascially they didnt want to lose any hours and therefore pay) Where do we stand as a business? In terms of duty of care etc, surely the health of the employee should be our first concern, are we able to insist on the reduced hours? Any opinions would be welcome, im trying to decide the next step so any advice anybody may have would be welcome

Having listened to Diana Kloss speaking on this very topic, my understanding (note I am not a lawyer and would always recommend obtaining proper professional advice) is that:- a) provided the alternatives have been offered him and the consequences of each explained and documented, then it is his decision. b) it is then up to him to make a decision. c) should he decide to do the increased hours and as a result suffer increased pain, etc., this is his responsibility, not the employer's. However, as I have said, I would always recommend running this particular case past a legal expert, just to ensure that there are no unusual circumstances. Chris

thanks for the repsonses, very helpful cheers

Davey36147 thanks for the reply, In terms of their duties we would struggle to give them "lighter duties" as the person already has been taken off any type of really demanding work, and they only do the most light of duties anyways (works within a post room/ low level scanning type area) I will probably ask the employee to go back to the GP and see what the opinion of the GP is. Sometimes i wonder if the employee is actually fit for work as they are one of those people who finds almost every task a problem.