Posted By Mark Mace We have an employee who was injured at work, after 12 months he wishes to return to work. Unfortunately he is not now capable of continuing with his original job. I have suggested an alternative job at a branch closer to his home and we have met on site with an outside occupantional therapist, we are all in agreement that he can carry out the tasks involved. However a director of our company is not happy with his pay as it is higher than other operatives on the site in question. what i require is some advice in pointing me to legislation that either allows us to reduce his salary to that of the other employees or specific legislation that requires he keep the same salary as before. Also in the event that the director is still not happy with the outcome could we make him redundant on medical grounds. reagrds

Posted By Alexander Falconer Mark Check out http://www.drc.org.uk/em...29_frequently_asked.aspx You have to ensure that you remain within the guidelines of the DDA. There is a question in the above web link that will answer your question "There may not be a legal requirement to continue to pay them at the higher rate if they are being redeployed to a role at a lower grade. However, you would need to be able to show you had fully investigated alternative forms of reasonable adjustment to retain them in their previous role and that: no such reasonable adjustment was possible there was no other role, at the same or a senior grade, to which they could have been reasonably redeployed. Should redeployment to a position at a lower grade be the only option, then good practice would suggest that it would be a reasonable adjustment, depending on the size and resources of the employer, to maintain their salary or at least to phase the reduction in salary over a six month period. This will help the employee to plan for their change in financial circumstances. In addition, it may be useful to provide the employee with some additional time off to investigate entitlement to tax credits or additional benefits that could make up the shortfall in income" Regards Alex

Posted By Mark Mace Thanks for your help folks, Regards PS what HR department

Posted By Paul Leadbetter Mark This is an HR problem which has to be handled carefully, as has already been said. If you have no HR people of your own, it would surely be worth hiring a consultant to make sure you resolve the situation amicably (hopefully) and legally. Paul

Posted By St Amour Mark Well done for seeking alternative employment for this person. Others have already corectly advised you that there is no automatic legal requirement to find a job, or to keep him on his old salary. They have also pointed you in the direction of the Disability Discrimination Act requirements to make reasonable adjustments. As in all of these matters, things are not black and white. For instance, the employee's condition may not be one which falls within the definition of a 'protected' disability, in which case there will be no compulsion on you under this legislation. However, if the condition is a 'recognised' disability, then your attempts to find alternative employment point to you seeking to make reasonable adjustments. What is reasonable? If the person had been an airline pilot earning say £100,000 pa and his accident caused him to lose his powers of concentration, would you expect to pay him £100,000 pa for sweeping the floor? The interpretation of the term 'reasonable'rests on the facts. Since your organisation appears to want to do the right thing, have you considered 'Red Ringing' this employee's salary until the rate for his new job reaches his salary as it stands today? This would seem to me to be equitable. Somebody has already said "this is one for HR". I am an HR specialist and would be happy to discuss the matter with you if it will help. For the moderator - I am not a consultant, and I would not be charging for any advice I give. If you wish to discuss the matter feel free to contact me via this site. Regards. Alan

Posted By Mark Mace too answer some of the questions; He has already started legal proceedings to recover lost earnings, injury compensation. His injury is too three fingers on his right hand, crush injury. Has no movement or cyclindrical grip control of the right hand. He can no longer grip the equipment he used with his right hand and the job requires grip from both hands at the same time. Unfortunatley i have spoken to the equipment manufacturers and they can see no way of altering the equipment to make it a one handed operation. The new job i have now found out has better pay than his old position, and also gets him in doors out of the cold weather (which having broken bones is no fun). It is also closer to his home. And from speaking with the occupational health person, i am sure has better promotional prospects for his future (it may be possible to get further training in the new area) I have now sent a memo to the Director pointing out all the good points from the employees point of view and reminded him of not only our legal obligations but also our moral ones. Thanks again for all your advice and help. Regards