Medical Termination

Does your boss want to end your job because they say you are too sick to work?

You may have had an accident at work, or a surgery, or have long-term illness that you are managing.

You may have spoken to your employer and thought your boss knows you are human and is keeping your job safe for when you are well.

Then suddenly you get a letter saying your employer wants to talk about your recovery and wants to know when you will return to work, or else they will consider termination.

In the letter you receive your boss suggests you get a legal representative, and you call us at Advocates at Work. We are contacted by many employees every year wanting to know their rights in medical termination situations. We are here to talk to you and go over what is really going on.

Firstly, we talk to you to find out your situation. Then we want to arrange a meeting with your employer to update them on your recovery progress. If you have not been offered a chance to meet and explain the current status that is a red flag that your employer is trying to short-cut the proper process for retaining your job. If Advocates for Work are acting for you we will always seek a meeting so that you and your employer can discuss current medical advice either in person or over video conference.

A lot of employers react to a worker’s absence for medical reasons without thinking about the impact on the employee. If recovery is taking some time it might be that your co-workers are covering your role and are finding that difficult. Or your employer finds there are roster gaps that can’t be covered with you away and it this is causing strain. We attend a lot of meetings for people facing medical termination conversations where the employer has forgotten you are a human who needs appropriate time to recover. When we remind the employer of this, and reassure them you are on-track with a recovery plan, it can be enough to retain your job.

Employees sometimes think that the medical professionals are updating the employer about physiotherapy sessions, or recovery plans. Mostly, medical professionals are not doing that for privacy reasons.

If your employer wants to call your doctor or specialist directly we suggest you say no for privacy reasons. However, it is legally your responsibility to provide accurate, up-to-date information from your health practitioners so that your employer understands what is happening in your rehabilitation. Sometimes an employer wants your doctor or specialist to fill in a questionnaire about your situation. This is alright if they are asking questions relevant to your current health, and not about your knee operation 10 years ago etc. Advocates at Work check the form for you and make sure your boss isn’t seeking all sorts of nosy information they are not entitled to.

Often when we Advocate for you and provide good information that helps your employer understand your up-to-date recovery and prognosis for return to work that is enough to retain your job. Other times though your employer wants to speed through the process of getting accurate medical information and just wants to get on with a termination. For example, you may have a specialist appointment in a month and the employer is unwilling to wait to hear the results.

When we are acting on your behalf and get the idea that your employer is speeding through things we explain to the employer that they are acting illegally. You have done nothing wrong in your employment, you are just taking time to recover from your ill-health, and the employer must legally take the time to understand your prognosis and most times must give you appropriate time to recover – especially if you were injured or became unwell due to a fault at the workplace.

If your employer ignores us wanting to terminate your job without going through a good process of investigation of your health that is when we can take a case for you based on unjustified disadvantage or unjustified dismissal. Your job is your livelihood and legally you cannot have your employment removed at the will of the employer. We enforce your rights by writing a personal grievance highlighting the problems the situation has caused for you and telling your employer what you want done about the situation. We may ask for you to be reinstated to your position, or we may ask for compensation.

It is important for you to understand that your employer has legal rights too. Legally an employer does not have to hold your position open indefinitely. In the Employment Relations Authority or Employment Court a judge will balance your right to have a job against the employer’s right to run their business effectively. At Advocates at Work we work with you every step of the way during any medical termination situation and analyze with you what is happening (or has happened) so that we have a strategy together to either retain your job, or obtain you legal remedy if your job is terminated unlawfully.

Stay well and stay safe and talk to us about your situation. Every case is different and we are here to help.