Hi Dawn attached is my RTW strategy though I doubt it is useful to your current situation.
I feel you may have been let down by the OHP. The employee is right in regards to he should not have been passed unfit without a report UNLESS that was the way the OHP worded the report i.e. on the evidence I cannot pass him fit because I do not have the report from the GP which may change my opinion.
As he has already tried 3 consecutive days working and this failed to prevent relapse you already have the evidence that this isn't likely to work.
You don’t have a lot of evidence that everything else will or will not work so some cautious experimentation could happen. Pain is pain is pain and it needs to be managed - get thee to a pain clininc. Where is the physio functional capacity assessment in all this. GPs and OHPs are not as good in this regard. Someone could redesign the way he does things to enable him to do it. What about Access to work especially if he could lose his job over this.
Its not the days or the hours it’s the activities and the repetitive nature of them the lack of control over how to organise them and how to impose that on someone who doesn’t necessarily work in in his best interest.
If the adjustments are reasonable he may be on tricky ground if he refuses but if he is off with stress and not his back, did it not get better and are there any adjustments around stress that need to be made. If he wont participate in a timely manner you can probably tell him goodbye anyway because he is forcing you to act on the information you have available which is that he is fit for some work and that work has been organised.
Good luck and I wait with interest to see the other posts.
Sue
Susan Gorton | OH Nurse Manager | Occupational Health Department | Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Level 3, Ormond House, 26-27 Boswell St., London WC1N 3JZ |020 7405 9200 Ext 0247 | DD to OHD 020 78138554 | Direct Fax 020 78138355 | Mobile 07833294568
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-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of DAWN
Sent: 14 November 2012 18:38
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [OCC-HEALTH] RETURN TO WORK PLANS
Dear All,
I am after two things please. One is does anyone have any good literature that they can share regarding what a return to work plan is and guidance on how it can be put together. I know that somewhere we had in the past a good document that gave an excellent guide for HR/employers and what it is and how it is set up and why....I think it was a Great Ormond Street doc but anything that has good rationale would be ideal with some theory base.
The reason I ask is a case that I have been asked to advise on.
Man in early 50's has poor attendance over several years with 'bad back'. He had had his role adjusted so he only worked 3 days a week (Wed,Thurs and Fri at his request as the Employer suggested Mon,Wed and Fri to allow recovery days) and they changed his duties to avoid aggravation by stopping him climbing ladders etc He worked this for a few months and then had an absence early 2012 and was signed off for a couple of weeks again with bad back. Company asked him to be seen by OHP who based on his role as a 'Handyman' declared he was unfit as he could not fulfill his role ie climb ladders,work at heights carry anything over 5kgs etc. Man then continued to be off sick but changed his absence to work related stress. He had a meeting with the company with a Union man in attendance and stated that the OHP was wrong and had not got a report from his GP. So he was re-referred and a report from GP was requested. He continued to remain off sick for 3 more months as the GP continued to sign him off with stress and the reason the company could not move forward was that the GP , although chased, did not write the report for the OHP. Eventually when the Company said they felt enough time had passed and that if the report was not forthcoming they would have to make a decision suddenly the report arrived. The OHP reviewed it and reconfirmed that he still felt that he was unfit. Throughout this the man was uncontactable as he would not consent to being rung etc. Eventually a meeting was held and he was offered final adjustments based on the Business needs as well as considering his health needs. These were to work Mon- Fri but only 4 hours late morning to mid afternoon. A full risk assessment of his role was performed and any activities that he has been advised he should avoid have been removed.
He does have wear and tear of his back and it is unlikely to improve. However now he has anxiety as well.
Questions are-
1-If he refuses the new adjustments what would happen?
2- Do you need to give any notice of the change of hours etc as he is changing his contracted hours?
3- Is there anything more the employer can do that they have not considered?
4- If he presents too anxious to work does his employer have the right to send him home as he operated drills and small handtools etc? Apparently he was shaking at work today...
No OH on site and HR are 200miles away.
Manager really struggling. He wants to ensure he meets his legal duty of care and not to aggravate his health but feels very isolated. In fact I feel the manager has work related stress due to trying to manage this with poor HR back up. HR want the man to RTW on 2 hours a day on his old days for 2 weeks. He is due to have a meeting with HR as he has appealed to the changes to his role and hours.
I am concerned for Manager and Employee.
I remember an OHP who posted on here a while back who's view was if a person could not work 4 hours a day he was not fit to return to work. Not sure if their was any theory behind that...Is there? Also man has run out of sick pay to add another dimension.
The change of hours to Mon-Fri was to break down his exposure and allow more recovery time ( but as a business they need someone on site daily as well). The duties were reduced based on the limitations for his back. Man wants to work 3 full days one after the other but Employer feels this leaves them more liable of aggravation and increased sickness based on precious sickness absence.
Any ideas???
Thanks Dawn
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