Sacked for not risking my life

[Just_My_Opinion]

Can royal mail sack sum one on the grounds of abandonment of duty cos they had to leave the floor to take an insulin injection for diabetes?? And is the union going to stand by and let this happen without a fight??... We need help in our office as the union reps r best friends with the Dom n go drinking with him, n don't want to upset him, so we the union members suffer

I know a local man who worked in a factory. Some people hid his insulin as they thought it's be funny. Obviously it wasn't. However he panicked and left the premises to get home to get his insulin. He was sacked as a result as his employer stated there was a nurse on site who could of provided the insulin. He stated he needed his insulin and was very worried and the only thing going through his head was getting his insulin which he knew was at home.

He successfully pursued a case against his employer and 2 years later he received compensation of £35,000.

[opgpat]

If you left your point of duty without permission the line manager is within their rights to challenge u and if they deem it necessary award a conduct penalty, your diabetes is a secondary factor, the point is u took it upon yourself just to leave your place of work. If i was your line manager I would succesfully argue that the fact that u have this condition and left the floor without informing someone put u at greater risk, what If u had collapsed? Managers have a duty of care and u would lose any appeal. And I'd stake my life u already have a penalty on your record!

What a disgraceful answer. What an excuse for a human being.

This is why we need Union representation in the workplace, it says it ALL.

[Himaggen]

If you left your point of duty without permission the line manager is within their rights to challenge u and if they deem it necessary award a conduct penalty, your diabetes is a secondary factor, the point is u took it upon yourself just to leave your place of work. If i was your line manager I would succesfully argue that the fact that u have this condition and left the floor without informing someone put u at greater risk, what If u had collapsed? Managers have a duty of care and u would lose any appeal. And I'd stake my life u already have a penalty on your record!

What a disgraceful answer. What an excuse for a human being.

This is why we need Union representation in the workplace, it says it ALL.

Actually there's nothing disgraceful in that answer at all, it is in fact a correct response to the question raised. Having the medical condition should not preclude you from following basic rules, if you need to leave the point of duty you should have informed the appropriate person before doing so.

You may be able to provide information which could be used to justify why you failed to inform your supervisor, however with the information you have thus far provided, rambo79's response was correct.

[bandit650]

Your right about letting some one know but if they are anything like our managers you would be lucky to find one to let know but i also think that it was very unkind of you to say i bet you have a penalty on your records,he/she might but that should not be used against a member of staff when in trouble,we all know they take it all in but don't you think they have enough to worry over!if a manager is worth anything then they will just give them as ticking off and forget about it.

[stokes11eg]

if you have to take insulin daily at about the same time, surely you Manager should be aware of this fact---? cannot see how
he can penalise you for this.how are things coming along by the way? Is he still trying to get rid of you?

[number one]

If you left your point of duty without permission the line manager is within their rights to challenge u and if they deem it necessary award a conduct penalty, your diabetes is a secondary factor, the point is u took it upon yourself just to leave your place of work. If i was your line manager I would succesfully argue that the fact that u have this condition and left the floor without informing someone put u at greater risk, what If u had collapsed? Managers have a duty of care and u would lose any appeal. And I'd stake my life u already have a penalty on your record!

so does this mean you have to put your hand up and ask to go to the toilet!!!

[rambo79]

U don't need to put your hand up but u must inform your line manager when u wish to leave the floor and anyone who tells u differently is incorrect. Under the h & s at work act Your employer has a 'duty of care' to look after, as far as possible, your health, safety and welfare while you are at work.

Many a conduct penalty had been awarded for failure to inform if u r leaving the floor. Do so at your own peril!

[stokes11eg]

Yes, but if no Manager is around, (and in my office the only time you don't see them is when you need them!)
and if it's a difference between taking insulin to prevent a hypo or wasting time looking for someone to excuse you, then act first, ask questions later. I know my mum, who I look after can slip from being O'k into hypo within seconds.

[number one]

U don't need to put your hand up but u must inform your line manager when u wish to leave the floor and anyone who tells u differently is incorrect. Under the h & s at work act Your employer has a 'duty of care' to look after, as far as possible, your health, safety and welfare while you are at work.

Many a conduct penalty had been awarded for failure to inform if u r leaving the floor. Do so at your own peril!

haha try and conduct code my for leaving to goto the loo if you dare!! I would tie you in so many knots it really wouldn't be worth it!!

[rambo79]

As I said, do so if u wish, many many conduct penalties are awarded for leaving without informing your manager. Ultimatley all u will do is get yourself dismissed, ask any CWU rep that knows their stuff and they'll tell u the same thing.

[rambo79]

Your right about letting some one know but if they are anything like our managers you would be lucky to find one to let know but i also think that it was very unkind of you to say i bet you have a penalty on your records,he/she might but that should not be used against a member of staff when in trouble,we all know they take it all in but don't you think they have enough to worry over!if a manager is worth anything then they will just give them as ticking off and forget about it.

Sorry, what I meant by hving a previous penalty was that it would be far to severe to be dismissed simply fr leaving the floor once without telling someone. As usual it's probably half of the story.

[numan]

If you left your point of duty without permission the line manager is within their rights to challenge u and if they deem it necessary award a conduct penalty, your diabetes is a secondary factor, the point is u took it upon yourself just to leave your place of work. If i was your line manager I would succesfully argue that the fact that u have this condition and left the floor without informing someone put u at greater risk, what If u had collapsed? Managers have a duty of care and u would lose any appeal. And I'd stake my life u already have a penalty on your record!

If RM management were adhering to their responsibilities in the first place, they would be aware that diabetes is covered by DDA and therefore reasonable adjustments should be made for any employee diagnosed with the condition. These adjustments would undoubtedly include time allowed for extra breaks when required for insulin injections. Reprimanding such an employee for not asking permission would be taken an extremely dim view of if the case ever got to an ET, especially as them vacating their duty would be highly unlikely to put other workers at risk.
This is typical of the obtuse attitude of many RM managers, their distinct lack of understanding of Employment Law (many of them don't know it even exists) and their woeful ineptitude at performing their job.

[rambo79]

If you left your point of duty without permission the line manager is within their rights to challenge u and if they deem it necessary award a conduct penalty, your diabetes is a secondary factor, the point is u took it upon yourself just to leave your place of work. If i was your line manager I would succesfully argue that the fact that u have this condition and left the floor without informing someone put u at greater risk, what If u had collapsed? Managers have a duty of care and u would lose any appeal. And I'd stake my life u already have a penalty on your record!

If RM management were adhering to their responsibilities in the first place, they would be aware that diabetes is covered by DDA and therefore reasonable adjustments should be made for any employee diagnosed with the condition. These adjustments would undoubtedly include time allowed for extra breaks when required for insulin injections. Reprimanding such an employee for not asking permission would be viewed in a very dim light if the case ever got to an ET, especially as them vacating their duty would be highly unlikely to put other workers at risk.
This is typical of the obtuse attitude of many RM managers, their distinct lack of understanding of Employment Law (many of them don't know it even exists) and their woeful ineptitude at performing their job.

This condition may be covered under the dda and I'm sure everyone knows that reasonable adjustments hve to be made (state the obvious!) but what is unreasonable is to leave your work area without informing your manager. Individuals with this condition follow the same rules and regulations as everyone else.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Can royal mail sack sum one on the grounds of abandonment of duty cos they had to leave the floor to take an insulin injection for diabetes?? And is the union going to stand by and let this happen without a fight??... We need help in our office as the union reps r best friends with the Dom n go drinking with him, n don't want to upset him, so we the union members suffer

This condition may be covered under the dda and I'm sure everyone knows that reasonable adjustments hve to be made (state the obvious!) but what is unreasonable is to leave your work area without informing your manager. Individuals with this condition follow the same rules and regulations as everyone else.

Just a couple of things to add to this debate.

1. If a worker had to take insulin on a regular basis, as both by brother and father do, then they are taken at the same time every day. The reasonable adjustment would be for the employee to take time away from the floor at the same time every day/shift. If so then there is no need to request they leave the floor as the Manager would already know about the condition and the adjustments.

2. If their diabetes was controllable through diet but they carried insulin for emergencies then leaving the floor because of an onset of symptoms to take the insulin would IMO be acceptable as long as the individual informed someone as they left the floor. Even if they did not then as long as the business has been informed of the condition a reasonable person would allow someone to leave if they were preventing a possible medical emergency arising from their condition.

Of course this does impose 1 absolute responsibility on the employee - If you have a medical condition that may affect your employment. TELL YOUR EMPLOYER.

[numan]

[This condition may be covered under the dda and I'm sure everyone knows that reasonable adjustments hve to be made (state the obvious!) but what is unreasonable is to leave your work area without informing your manager. Individuals with this condition follow the same rules and regulations as everyone else.

That last sentence would be laughable, except as it's from somebody supposedly in a position of responsibility it is actually deplorable. The whole point of DDA is that individuals with disabilities are not bound by the exact same rules as everybody else. As long as the employee didn't openly abuse the situation they would be excused without having to inform a manager every single time. In any case, it wouldn't be too difficult to prove that in most offices workers are allowed to go to the toilet (within reason) without informing their managers. Most people would agree that injecting insulin is more important than going for a piss, end of case. It is no wonder that RM have such a notorious reputation and poor record at ETs with these flagrant displays of disregard for DDA.