Thanks Sue and Carr.
Sue, thank for your help. Unfortunately redeployment to something completely different may be unlikely - previous experience has shown me that there are very few other roles at operator level that can be adjusted. Possibly reduced hours, but again the employee is not asking for this. I do feel for him and think he is just trying to grit his teeth and get on with it.
Carr,
Thanks for you advice. I have looked for this FRPs in this area but it seems this type of service is not widely known or carried out yet here. I'm still trying to find out more about services in this area, but at least now following your advice I'll signpost this employee towards a more robust management of his condition via his GP and physio.
I have difficulty around this type of case for a couple of reasons: there is a global (HR) policy for assisting medically restricted employees. It states that basically the onus is on the employee to request medical restrictions and produce documentation to support the request. The employee is assessed, any recommendations made and the process reviewed as per the individual requirements until either the temporary restriction is no longer needed or a more permanent arrangement is in place. So the Manager taking the initiative to refer in the case of this employee would appear to be at odds with this policy.
But then there are the requirements of the DDA (Northern Ireland), the onus being on the employer to "reasonably know" that an employee might have an impairment that might need adjustments etc etc.
In cases such as this one I am just not sure how appropriate it is for OH to recommend changes that have not been asked for by the employee (as per the medical restrictions policy), and then how to balance this with the employer's obligations under the DDA.
I need to clearly understand what my role should be here.
Sorry if this is as clear as mud! I have been mulling this issue over for some time, and this example gave me a good opportunity to float it out to my more educated and experienced colleagues.
Most grateful for your advice as always.
Roisin
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