Good morning

I am just seeking some advice if at all possible.

A person who I work with has recently broken their ankle and is currently on a return to work scheme on light duties.

The incident happened outside of work last October.

The person is still receiving physio but the powers that be are becoming impatient with his 'slow' recovery (although I think he is recovering well) and have requested a physio report in order to determine if they will terminate his contract.......he is a warehouse operative but is on light duties in different areas of the building at the moment.

1. What is the process of terminating contracts and would he receive any severance package?
2. If he feels under pressure what can he do?
3. If he were to return to the warehouse should this begin another phased return?
4. Would you ask to conduct a risk assessment on him before he returns to the warehouse?

He has asked me for my ideas which is why I am writing here as there is no HR department so I cannot speak with them.

I am just seeking any info or experiences that you guys might have had.

Many thanks

Dave

You don’t say much about the nature or severity of the injury. Whether or not you have an HR department, if your employer is considering dismissal then they need to follow the correct procedure to avoid the likelihood of an unfair dismissal claim (if the IP has acquired those rights), and they should therefore seek ‘specialist’ advice on how to proceed.

It is highly unlikely that he will be entitled to any ‘severance package’ but they might get some pay in lieu of notice or if they are members of an occupational pension and there may be provisions within that.

Disciplinary or redundancy are NOT the only routes for dismissal. I would suggest that the most likely route is that the employer can reasonably seek is to dismiss on the grounds of medical incapability bearing in mind the sort of timetable you suggest; now approaching 12 months. This is neither redundancy or disciplinary. I would have thought that they need to get written medical advice on whether the IP is likely to be able to return to full duties, if so when, if not what can they do and what can’t they do etc. You might also ask whether the injury/condition might be classed a s a disability under EA and then determine whether you can or can’t make the reasonable adjustments.

I would normally agree (with the IP and sometimes OH/GP etc) a phased return with the intention that this would result in a return to full duties.

What can the employee do if they feel under pressure? It’s a difficult one isn’t it? The employer probably wants him back doing his job or if he can’t someone else. I suspect the employee wants to be back doing his job. If that can’t be accomplished in a reasonable timescale (and some would argue that time is running out) then there may be little more that they can do to save their job.
You might well do an RA but the more immediate issue is the timescale and whether you can get them back up to speed or not.

In summary, I think the employer can dismiss but will need to follow the proper procedure, and for that they will need some employment advice.