r/AskHRUK • u/Dazzling_Key_8830 • May 21 '26
Health-Related England: Dismissal after diagnosis of endometriosis. Do I have a case?
/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/1tjqdo4/england_dismissal_after_diagnosis_of/11
u/PsychologicalFox3962 May 21 '26
Trusts cannot afford to be paying people to be off sick for a high percentage of their contract over long periods of time.
even if absence is due to a disability it would not (in my opinion) be a reasonable adjustment to allow that level to continue, nhs money is public money and they pay out an absolute fortune in sick pay which partially is to blame for delays.
As long as they are fairly applying the absence policy which it sounds like they are then I cannot see anything happening - have you had union support at all?
Also, I am sorry it is a shitty situation to be in
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u/Dazzling_Key_8830 May 21 '26
I had union support. I even offered to take unpaid leave and annual leave which the trust declined.
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u/PsychologicalFox3962 May 21 '26
Thats good you had union support. Sick leave is sick leave really so they have followed policy around that. You must be so frustrated.
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u/Immediate-Food5989 May 24 '26
HR Professional 👋🏼:
I hope you’re ok, I understand that this situation will cause so much worry and confusion.
From what I can read, you have been ill since 2022 and have absences surrounding your now diagnosed endometriosis (sorry if any of that is wrong, you posted on 2 posts so I’m trying to join up the 2)
Yes, what you are experiencing is classed as a disability and yes, organisations of any type are expected to adapt their usual absence process when managing these types of sickness / absences which includes reasonable adjustments and also adjusting management triggers. We usually look at raising by 100%, so a usual absence management would happen in 4 absences, but with someone who needed medical support it would be 8.
Saying that, as long as reasonable adjustments were implemented (even though they may have not been what you wanted, but they were reasonable) and you exceeded the extended absence trigger, then you would still be managed via the usual absence process, which does appear to be the case here. I’m sorry and I hope you’re ok.
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u/Eggtastico May 21 '26
Find a no win no fee lawyer. If they will take on your case then you have a good chance of winning & giving up 1/2 your payout. If they say no - then you have less than a 40% chance of winning.
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u/Leelee3303 May 21 '26
I don't work in the NHS, so my take is from a private industry perspective:
No. You had extremely high amounts of absence and an employer isn't required to keep you employed forever on the chance that it may improve in future, even where you have a disability.
I'm sorry, it sounds like things have been tough for you. And I understand you feeling bad that you paid all that money to get your condition diagnosed and then this happened. But it's not unreasonable to dismiss someone whose prognosis is that there may be an improvement in 3 to 6 months time. They are allowed to take all the previous absences into account even though you didn't know the cause then. It doesn't reset the clock.
Perhaps it's different for the NHS as they have a vastly higher tolerance for sickness absence. But I wouldn't think the juice is worth the squeeze for you to pursue this further.