Manager discussing details of Granddaughter with Occupational Health Advisor.

My GD lives in London and works for a large retailer and has a disability.

Her GP has been asking for her to be referred to their OH but the manager said no that's not necessary as she has discussed the adjustments over the phone with an OH and the adjustments that she has put in place is OK for my GD.

My question is can a manager discuss medical conditions over the phone about a member of staff instead of sending that member of staff to their OH?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

cashier said:

First of all can you tell us what does GD and OH stand for?

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Sorry about that....GD is grandaughter and OH is company Occupational Health Advisor, GD has been asking her manager to send her to their OH but her manager said no, as she is dealing with everything OK.

Do you know if the manager discussed your granddaughter with anybody? It is quite imaginable that the manager sought the advice of an Occupational Health Advisor on how to meet the needs of somebody with the type and degree of disability that your granddaughter has, but without giving the advisor any personal details.

You didn't say if the arrangements met your granddaughter's needs.

At a meeting with manager last week GD asked why she was not refer to OHA and manager said that they only refer people if they cannot manager to get her back to work. GD has not been back to work and no adjustments have been put in place for her.

There is an government organisation called access to work and they recommended a special equipment for my GD. It was the employer that told GD to apply for this on the basis that they would also paid for the equipment but that did not happened as the equipment is under £500 and the company is large one so the employer would have to pay for all of it, but obviously do not want to do this for disabled people.

So no equipment or referral to their OHA and now the manager is saying that the OHA is happy with the adjustments but they have not made any for my GD.

Surely manager must have told OHA about my GD condition and not made a good job of it. I do not think that manager should be discussing medical conditions over the phone to OHA and refusing to let me GD see the OHA.

It looks to me as if you are worried about the wrong thing. The real issue seems to be that the company did not supply equipment that is necessary for your granddaughter to do her work.

It might be that the manager should be challenged. Whether your granddaughter, or somebody acting on her behalf, should make the challenge is difficult to say.

I worked in the UK for a long time and i am aware that companies are required to carry out reasonable adjustments to the workplace to support an individual being able to carry out their duties.

The word to focus on here is "reasonable" companies would be able to take into account cost etc before agreeing to make these changes.

.....And i agree with padraigP, you are definitely concerned about the wrong thing. Of course managers are going to discuss staff issues be it medical or otherwise with OH or HR etc etc.. as long as its all done professionally, its all part of the job.

If your GD is not happy that the reasonable accomodation is suitable, then maybe she has another form of redress? Maybe she can take a grievance out against her immediate boss?

Many thanks for replies. My GD had osteoarthritis and osteoporosis and this affects her daily, her GP has been asking employer to send her to their OH for about 18 months to no avail.

Her manager has asked her about medication and how does her disability affect her home life, manager also said that they do not have to refer to her OH as she is dealing with her case and get telephone help from OH but as their OH is not inhouse they should have got permission first before going to an outside OH.

This a PLC retailer with large organisation all over UK and Ireland as well and various part of world. GD is has taken out grievance before no avail. Also they keep stopping her salary.

Many thanks for replies. My GD had osteoarthritis and osteoporosis and this affects her daily, her gp has been asking employer to send her to their OH for about 18 months to no avail.

Her manager has asked her about medication and how does her disability affect her home life, manager also said that they do not have to refer to her OH as she is dealing with her case and get telephone help from OH but as their OH is not inhouse they should have got permission first before going to an outside OH.

This is a PLC retailer with large organisation all over UK and Ireland as well and various part of world. GD is has taken out grievance before no avail. Also they keep stopping her salary.
She is now asked to give details of how her osteoarthritis has impacted on her day to day daily life.

This is an Irish website and the quality of discussion ( relating to English employment law and practice) you might get here would not be as good as on equivalent British websites.

Apart from that I think your question has been answered.

sunnywalk said:

. Of course managers are going to discuss staff issues be it medical or otherwise with OH or HR etc etc.. as long as its all done professionally, its all part of the job.

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Hi Kev

As a practicing UK based OH Advisor I wrote a lengthy answer but it got wiped for some reason!

Sunnywalk is incorrect.. there are legal boundaries to the conversations that can be had between employer and employee, employer and OH etc.

There is a brilliant website called WorkSmart that has an whole section on Occupational Health which should answer a lot of your queries. The Manager has no right to block access to OH so I would advise your GD put in a written request for referral.

Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss further

It's so essential that OH remain professional. It's an awful situation for an employee to be in to feel that the manager has all their personal medical information and even worse to feel that the manager may have influence over the OH service. I would agree with Oirishgal that your GD should continue to seek referral to the OH in writing. It would give me cause for concern that acess is being denied. An independent assessment by the OH should detail the equipment needed by your GD. I suppose the obvious fear here is that the OH will tell the employer what they want to hear, regardless of the situation. I hope the issue is resolved soon for your GD.