Hope the anonymous posting is OK for this:-
My work is refusing me time off to attend a medical appointment for my MS. I'll have to take unpaid leave.
Can they do this?
Refused time off work for hospital appointment
Refused time off work for hospital appointment
22 Sep 2011 at 6:20PM
This comes under clause 6 subsection 3 (f) allowing him to be absent during working hours for rehabilitation, assessment or treatment. It’s rather sexist only referring to him so women are not allowed; lol.
This is the DDA 1995 but presume this is still a ‘reasonable adjustment.’
George
22 Sep 2011 at 6:43PM
That was my understanding too.
It's not as if I've chosen to make an appointment for a check-up at the dentist during work hours.
Timings of doctor's appointments are out of our control, aren't they.
22 Sep 2011 at 6:50PM
Hi, do you have a union on occupational health? The reason I ask is because I had a similar problem with an unsympathetic manager early in the year. The OH went mental and told her off on the phone because of the above mentioned act. Haven't had any problems since. Suz xx
22 Sep 2011 at 7:01PM
Anonymous wrote:
Hope the anonymous posting is OK for this:-My work is refusing me time off to attend a medical appointment for my MS. I'll have to take unpaid leave.
Can they do this?
Unfortunately, this is quite a grey area of law, so it's not as simple as saying "No they can't!"
As a general rule, employers don't have to grant time off for a doctor's, dental, or hospital appointment. They can insist you arrange it out-of-hours, take it out of annual leave, or make the hours up later.
BUT, if you have a disability (which MS would be), and your appointment is in connection with that, it may be discriminatory if they don't allow time off for it. But notice it's only "may" - it's not automatically against the law. So I think you'd need specialist advice.
Some employers and employees work out a compromise, that doesn't result in either having to resort to the letter of the law. For example, if you are having to go to the hospital a lot, you might propose: "How about you give me time off for half of them, and I make the hours up for the other half? That way we're sharing it equally."
Sometimes, negotiation is better than the stress of a grievance procedure.
Tina
22 Sep 2011 at 8:39PM
Hi, I tend to agree with Tina, although I am not legally qualified. The thing that Tina says that I most agree with is about compromise. Would you really want to carry on working in a place where there was bad feeling over a grievance about time off to attend a hospital appointment. I rely on quite a bit of goodwill in my workplace which I get and I feel a grievance about something like this might take some of that goodwill away. Cheryl:)
