An Employment Issue. Advice Please.?
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An Employment Issue. Advice Please.?
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An elderly, dumpy, heavy female employee works in a shop.
The shop has a no sitting policy and does not provide seating at the work station.
When she started 2 years ago the then manager allowed her to bring in her own seat which she uses on a daily basis.
Because of her size she has problems if she is standing for any length of time.
The old manager had left a year ago and now
The replacement manager who has been there a year has after speaking to the area manager, told her to take the seat back home as it is against company policy and also against the company health and safety policy as the seat is not provided by the company.
[The seat is in good order and designed to take heavy people]
She has been told from now on that she must stand, and if she cannot then she will be deemed to be braking her contract and subject to disciplinary action.
I repeat that it would be impossibile for this lady to stand for hours on end.
How should this be looked at?
Thanks for any replies.
Additional Details
An elderly, dumpy, heavy female employee works in a shop in the UK.
The shop has a no sitting policy and does not provide seating at the work station.
However when she started 2 years ago the then manager allowed her to bring in her own seat as he told her that she did not need to stand all the time to do the job and that she could sit when not needed to stand. which she uses on a daily basis. She works at and around the checkout area. Because of her size she has problems if she is standing for any length of time.
The old manager had left a year ago The replacement manager who has been there a year without doing anything, has after speaking to the area manager, told her to take the seat back home as it is against company policy and also against the company health and safety policy as the seat is not provided by the company.
She has been told from now on that she must stand, and if she cannot then she will be deemed to be braking her contract and subject to disciplinary action.
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michr
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you did not state where this is so an accurate answer will be difficult to provide BUT...
if you are in the US then this would be covered by the ADA. this was obviously a reasonable accommodation as proven by the fact that this was allowed and worked satisfactorily for almost 2 years. regardless of policy if a reasonable accommodation can be made by the employer it must be. i am sure that in most of the industrialized nations there are similar disability protections.
http://www.eeoc.gov
http://www.eeoc.gov/types/ada.html |
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goshine2
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Would bringing a doctors letter help? |
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gail
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Under UK H&S law her employer is right regarding the chair.
he is responsible for all fixtures and fittings and his insurance would not cover an accident if someone fell off or tripped over her chair and submitted a personal injury claim.
If it is against company policy and the company H&S policy why has it taken this long to inform her ? she is within her rights to be made aware of any changes as they happen she needs to see a copy and can request to do so.
Ask her to look at her employment contract and job description to see if it specifically states that the job requires standing for long periods if it doesn't then she cannot be found to be in breech especially as her previous manager allowed her to sit at her workstation for so long.
She needs to mention the words discrimination harassment and bullying especially since her new manager took over as no employer likes those words, but to be honest she should have looked at her own capability to do the job shop assistants do not normally have chairs (except checkout staff) and as a big lady she should perhaps of seen this problem coming. |
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picon
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one thing stands out to me...the contract! if she signed the contract and it stated that standing be required then she basically has no case. pretty simple, sad but true, wishing her luck! |
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jackie m
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UK she has to follow the company rules, the old manager was just being considerate. It will be against Health & Safety. contact ACAS www.acas.co.uk They will tell her if she is not able to do the job then they have the right to end her employment with them. |
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jobbend
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Without knowing the details of the type of work, state and working conditions, the best advice to give is to look at accommodation and disability laws in the are you live. If you are in the US, the government has a website: www.ada.gov may be helpful. |
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maxhedr00m
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The policy goes against several laws that allow people with disabilities equal oppertunity and her weight problem is considered a disability. The company can be sued for big bucks. Base on the American Disabilities act. |
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g man
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might be worth looking at the disbaility discrimination Act. The DDA covers this sort of this as well as the Heath and Safety laws.
Please do not quote me on this, it is a gut feeling |
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Cindy
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I don't think this has anything to do with American Disabilities Act. Some jobs require being on your feet all day, some require heavy lifting. etc. If you can't meet the requirements for the position then you should not hold that position. I think the company is well within its rights, whether they be kind or not |
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