Reasonable adjustment at work

[nekochan]

I've been working from home for the past year and a half because of COVID-19, and although I enjoy the various benefits of it (more time in bed amirite?), one thing I'm not liking is the temperature. My whole house became a furnace last week, which made it very uncomfortable to work.

Back in the office we'd have air conditioning, but I don't have this luxury and I can't afford to shell out £300+ for a mobile unit.

I asked my employer to book afternoons off as annual leave, but I'm wondering, would asking to stop working above a certain temperature a reasonable adjustment?

I can tolerate up to 26 degrees, anything above I'm really struggling - my pacemaker is ticking much louder than usual (hate the feeling!), I find difficult to breathe comfortably, I feel lethargic and strangely enough I almost don't pee despite taking water tablets.

Has anyone with heart failure or heart conditions ever asked for that sort of adjustment?

[Alessa_]

Hi nekochan, I can't answer this on a personal level but your workplace should consider this and any other reasonable request to help you do your job.They may come back with options for you to start earlier to get the work done or reduce hours but I don't think they can refuse. They could potentially purchase the conditioning unit for your use but it all depends on their position as a business.

I hope you can get something sorted out, it really has been unbearable!

[nekochan in reply to Alessa_]

Thanks for your input Alessa, somehow the 'sliding my shift' option didn't even cross my mind, even though I've been up at half 4 the whole time!I've just bought some proper blackout/thermal curtains, hopefully that'll help during the next heatwave.

I think Britain ought to start adopting shutters, I grew up in France and I miss having the option to close the shutters when it's too hot!

[Alessa_ in reply to nekochan]

Your employer may have some other creative ideas too on how to support. You could definitely make that work for you for now, I should imagine you could do with the annual leave you've been using so far!I like the shutter idea too, it could help reduce further global warming as we use electric devices to cool the air

Good luck and I hope the new curtains work well too

[Hidden]

Hi there , my husband is currently working from home as well. We also have patio doors in the living room area and the sun belting in them from 11 am until 6 pm, it’s basically an oven , what we do is plurge the whole house, open all windows and doors and let the air flow through. Also have some fans in the living room and in the bedrooms . It is like a furnace but all that makes it a tad more bareable . Maybe buy a couple of fans from Argos for now and see how you get on

[francesw47]

Assume your employers know about your heart condition? I would talk to your line manager and think creatively about how to manage both working/your heart health. You may need to ask for reasonable adjustments - and that may involve a contract change. Think creatively first - can you alter your hours (work earlier in the day/later in the evening), do a hybrid model of working from home some of the time/office other part of the time...and so on. Its important to be safe - its also important to be comfortable!! No harm in talking to them..after all the heat may be extreme but in UK its short lived (so far!).

[Joliv61]

Regarding temperatures st the workplace, I believe there’s a minimum that it has to raise up to within a certain time of your arrival but don’t think there’s a maximum set.Obviously high temps make it almost impossible to work so have you tried the following.

If it’s hot outside keep the windows closed once the sun comes up and curtains shut on the sunny side of the house.(keeps the hot air outside) Use a fan blowing across a bowl of iced water or a damp towel. Put damp towels on tiled floors if you have tiles( dogs loved that one).

Open windows once they have been in the shade for a while.

Keep cool 😎😎

[HM24]

It would be perfectly reasonable for adjustments to be implemented due to underlying heart condition. I would suggest reduced workload during very hot spells and flexible start times.

Your heart is having to work a lot harder to regulate your body temperature.