shift work

[Nitenurse63]

Hi all, so glad I found this group.Diagnosed 10 years ago and have always worked night shifts, I’m now being told I must work 12 hour days (7-7.30)as well even though occupational health advise nights only, stiffness and pain in the mornings make it impossible to be anywhere for 7am in the morning, nevermind then working for 12 hours, I was told I was covered by the disability act but my employer (NHS) seem to be ignoring this, I’ve also had two joint replacements, it’s causing me so much stress worrying about it, does anyone have any experience of this kind of thing?

[3LittleBirds2]

Hi NiteNurse

Sorry to read that you are having such a tough time with your Employer, I am going through something very similar at the moment, you would like to think that working for such a large organisation as I do that they would know Employment Law but sadly this is not the case, another lady has recently posted about a similar situation too. Are you in a Union..I am but they were useless so I fought it myself? You do have rights ..but OH advice is just that advice to the Employer but they have to have a VERY good reason as to why they can not allow the reasonable adjustment.

[Runrig01]

I worked for the nhs, and had regular assessments over the years from OH. I was lucky in that all the recommendations were acted on. Re night shifts, my OH dr, said that due to the time sensitivity of meds I couldn’t work nights, and had to do days. That was partly due to taking amitriptyline at night, and taking steroids in the morning, which would have affected sleep after a night shift.

Unfortunately OH recommendations are just that and it’s up to the employer to decide if they are reasonable. I was still struggling despite all the changes, so OH recommended reducing from 37.5 hrs to 22.5hrs, my ward manager thought it was an excellent idea. Unfortunately the matron and senior nurse for the unit refused. I was a ward sister and they feared all sisters on the unit would want the same, even though I said it could be argued that it was due to my disability and covered by the equality act. I had an excellent union rep, who advised me to take it to tribunal. Unfortunately I had a severe stroke whilst this was going on, so ended up having to take ill health retirement. If you don’t have the union involved, I would certainly start that process 🤗

[Cattledog]

You need a good Union Rep. Is your contract to only work nights?

I would’ve thought that forcing you to change your hours so drastically with your medical condition could amount to Constructive Dismissal.

[Sebastian247]

ACAS can be a good source of advice about employment issues. Might be worth contacting them?