Does anyone have any experience of reducing their hours at work on the basis of chronic illness?

Hi all,

I am looking to reduce my hours at work on the basis that I never feel well. I struggle a lot of the time, and my employer knows this, although sometimes I may look okay but I'm not. I have a letter written from my endo to GP saying that it would be beneficial to reduce my hours, but I talked to my managed about it today, and she laughed, and sarcastically said no one wants to work weekends. It's not so much the hours that I work but the fact they are spread over so many days. Over an 11 day period I only get one day off, and this doesnt fit well with healing or resting. Since I've signed my contract they have added days that we are open, so I had no idea that my timetable was going to be so intense.

Does anyone have any experience of reducing or compressing their hours on these grounds? I feel like it is going to be a battle.

Thank you in advance

[Rapunzel]

These posts may help.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Hidden in reply to Rapunzel]

thank you!!

[LMor]

Hi. I’m not sure if I can help but I had to cut my hours down due to constantly being ill. I now only work three days a week. I work one day, have two days off, then I work two days and have another two days off. It has made a world of difference to the amount of sickness I’ve had (I haven’t been off sick since August last year.) Just in case you don’t realise, thyroid disease comes under the disability act so your company have to make adjustments. I’m sure there are many others who can advise much better. I am just speaking from my own experience. Good luck 😊

[Minimouse1 in reply to LMor]

Hi LMor, I also need to look into this. I have a 15yo son who is disabled (autistic, learning disabilities & epileptic). I'm finding him difficult to care for alongside my own thyroid problems. I didn't know thyroid conditions came under the disability act! This may help me in terms of getting Social Care to listen & give me help to care for my son.

[healthmatters1 in reply to Minimouse1]

Wasn't aware thyroid came under disability ,as I had looked into this but drew a blank

I struggle financial y as can only work part time as of the condition

When I looked into it there was no help .

Can a person diagnosed claim disability?

[Minimouse1 in reply to healthmatters1]

Hi there, I think other people are referring to employment rights, but as I'm a carer for my son I'm now struggling to meet his needs as I can't even look after myself! I don't know if you can claim disability, but maybe you could speak to citizens advice if you need help? I intend to speak to our Social Worker & see if they can help us as my son is still a minor.

[MiniMum97 in reply to Minimouse1]

Thyroid disease is NOT one of the conditions automatically considers a disability under the equalities act. However if your illness is causing a “substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.” Then it could be considered a disability

If this is the case then your employer should be looking to make “reasonable adjustments” such as reducing your hours.

Have a look at this and the links at the bottom of the page:

citizensadvice.org.uk/law-a...

[MiniMum97 in reply to MiniMum97]

And in answer to your question my employer has been amazing. They have reduced my hours, changed my role to a less stressful one, changed my location so it’s easier for me to get to work and have encouraged me to get an Access to Work assessment.

[Minimouse1 in reply to MiniMum97]

Hi MiniMum97, yes I've read the care act. There's conditions that automatically apply of which thyroiditis is not one, but it seems it may come under the autoimmune disorders which lists other conditions, plus impairments of the endocrine system. It's useful to know though as we all know how debilitating this can be & this certainly impairs my ability to look after my son. Fingers crossed 😯

[MiniMum97 in reply to Minimouse1]

It's the equality act 2010 that legislates against disability discrimination, defines disability and outlines the requirements around reasonable adjustments. I can't see where you are looking in either act where you are seeing "it seems it may come under the autoimmune disorders which lists other conditions, plus impairments of the endocrine system". Can you link to this content? Thanks

[noenergy]

I reduced my days worked due to health. I feel employers should be prepared to adjust your hours for your health and well-being but they may chose the days they prefer to be worked, so you may need to work week ends but have a week day of. Actually the first time I changed I had Wednesday off which allowed a rest day in the week. Good luck

[Gambit62 in reply to noenergy]

I also have Wednesday as my day off - but I'm an office worker so don't have to go in at weekends and don't work shifts.

[Gambit62]

Does the company you have have an HR department - if so I would suggest you talk to them? You could also try talking to the local citizens advice bureau - or contact the CAB on line.

You have a long term medical condition that affects your ability to do things on a day to day basis. As such you are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act which means that your employer needs to make reasonable adjustments in light of your condition. It sounds as if your manager needs to be made aware of this.

Your employer would need to demonstrate a good operational reason why they could not accommodate your request for reduced/compressed hours - to me it sounds extremely unlikely that they could, though you might need to get an employment tribunal involved. If they have an HR department they are going to be keen to ensure that doesn't happen.

[LMor in reply to Gambit62]

Excellent advice

[Essexmum]

I reduced my hours when I was first diagnosed as I was struggling working full time, travelling and having a son aged 8 months at the time. At the moment I work less hours over 5 days and Occupational Health put in place the option for me to work one day from home which helps enormously. I am hopeful that one day I can increase my hours and no longer need to work from home, although I do like the working from home.

I remember explaining I was concerned in maintaining my level of accuracy and attention to detail and was worried I was not carrying out my role as effectively as I was before being hypothyroid.

If your employer has occupation health support, it would be helpful for you to see them and as someone else suggested HR. My doctor at the time would not support me in my request for reduced hours as he said it wasn't necessary to reduce my hours. I'd like him to experience what we go through.

I know I couldn't manage 11 days with 1 day off. Good luck and I hope you manage to get the support from your employer that you need.

[Aurealis]

As advised Gambit62, you need to use the phrase ‘reasonable adjustments’ in your request for reduced hours as this is the term used in the Equality Act (2010). Hypothyroidism is a long term condition which is significantly affecting your capacity to work full hours.

[Hidden]

So sorry to hear your employers are so unsympathetic. Even when well I would have struggled to do 11 days in a row. In fact I had to retire partly because the hours had increased and I was finding it difficult to concentrate well enough to give my best. In the end it became dangerous because I often had to drive through the city in the rush hour, or take vulnerable folk on an outing.

I couldn't complain because of already being over retiring age, but it wasn't until a couple of years later that I discovered that the symptoms of tiredness and lack of concentration were due to my thyroid rather than old age!

[Babette]

ACAS was very helpful when I was expected to travel to London and back for a meeting, leaving before 6.30 am and getting home around 10 pm. I had work the next day too! Their number's 0300 123 1150.

It might be worth checking the EU working time directive (unless you've opted out and while we're still part of the EU) to see whether you're working excessive hours: gov.uk/maximum-weekly-worki...

This mght also be helpful: atlanticchambers.co.uk/news...

Good luck.