Voluntary ill health retirment advice

[tjacksonpfc]

Hi all

I'm after some advice on behalf of my husband please. Last august he had a massive heart attack and stent fitted and has been off Work since. 2 weeks ago he underwent a quadruple bypass. ATOS have said he will be fit for work in 12 weeks even though it takes that long for the breastbone to reaheal and he cant start cardiac rehab for 16 weeks. His consultant and gp have said he will not return to work ever again as a postman. He has 10 years service under his belt and his dom has told him to write a letter for voluntary ill health retirement. We done that a week ago and as of yet havent heared anything back. How long does this decison normally take as he is now down to half pay which pays or rent and leaves us with £10 a week to live on so things are no desperate and its a stress we can do without. Many thanks

[tjacksonpfc]

Can anyone help as really need to sort this ASAP

[spiderj]

Don't know how much help I can be but here goes.

Is he in the union? If so get him to contact unit rep asap
If no joy there contact branch.
If vr has been offered and submitted he could try contacting hr direct in sheffield

Cash wise have you tried the Rowland hill foundation?

Finally he could contact "just say it"

If go and consultant have said he won't return then they overrule atos.

Don't know how much help I've been but good luck.

[rehabron]

Hi all

I'm after some advice on behalf of my husband please. Last august he had a massive heart attack and stent fitted and has been off Work since. 2 weeks ago he underwent a quadruple bypass. ATOS have said he will be fit for work in 12 weeks even though it takes that long for the breastbone to reaheal and he cant start cardiac rehab for 16 weeks. His consultant and gp have said he will not return to work ever again as a postman. He has 10 years service under his belt and his dom has told him to write a letter for voluntary ill health retirement. We done that a week ago and as of yet havent heared anything back. How long does this decison normally take as he is now down to half pay which pays or rent and leaves us with £10 a week to live on so things are no desperate and its a stress we can do without. Many thanks

Normally would go through in about a month once manager has GP and specialist reports giving the prognosis of your husbands medical condition but OH Assist ( formally known as ATOS ) who are RM appointed occupational health provider who have put the spanner in the works by stating you husband will be fit for work in 12 weeks and they will take this into consideration when assessing if your husband is eligible for IHR.
Your husbands consultant has stated that he will not return to work again as a postman and would expect RM to take a cardiac surgeon report over and above an occupational nurse who more than likely has never seen your husband on a face to face basis and gave their recommendations by telephone interviews.
When OH Assist after a quadruple heart bypass stated he will be fit for work I am again assuming that in 12 weeks he would return on a rehabilitation programme and if not too stressful for you I would suggest your husband asks for a further referral to OH Assist and you instruct OH Assist to contact the GP and the cardiac specialist and with your consent give them the medical reports and enquire how they could have come to the conclusion that your husband would be fit for work in 12 weeks. If your husband is a union member then get his union rep involved.
On the financial side IHR would give 34 weeks + 9 weeks PILON ( Payment in Lieu of Notice) + outstanding holiday entitlement.
At presently RM is handing out VR ( Voluntary Redundancy) like confetti and if your husband is in the Royal Mail Pension Plan then worth considering if approved could be more financially rewarding the IHR pay out.
Again your husbands union rep taking all the factors into consideration should point your husband in the right direction.

[tjacksonpfc]

Thanks for response to say hubbys union rep is useless is an understatment we tried him in august and got no where. Oh assist wont take any other factors into comsideration eg where we live etc we are in a rural area. The text book says 12 weeks and thats what they are going by. Its a shame the textbook is written for a desk job. The stupid part is oh assist have classified him as disabled and said he always will be now. At the moment this is all added stress that we dont need and not getting any help from anywhere.

[rehabron]

Thanks for response to say hubbys union rep is useless is an understatment we tried him in august and got no where. Oh assist wont take any other factors into comsideration eg where we live etc we are in a rural area. The text book says 12 weeks and thats what they are going by. Its a shame the textbook is written for a desk job. The stupid part is oh assist have classified him as disabled and said he always will be now. At the moment this is all added stress that we dont need and not getting any help from anywhere.

As OH Assist has classified your husband disabled he is now covered by the Equality Act and RM would have to ring fence a duty to his disability.
The way things are at present they may not be able to give a duty to match his requirements and this would speed up the IHr process.
Contact his manager to find out what stage his Ill health retirement request is at.
If not satisfied with local rep take the matter to area or divisional rep status.
Once again make sure you get the best advice on VR OR IHR so that you get the severance package that gives the maximum financial benefit.
All the best.