Rights of the employer to determine whether someone is fit for work

[Moz]

Can employer force an employee to go part time on health grounds (stress, anxiety attacks and dangerously high blood pressure), or do they have to wait for them to have a stroke or a heart attack?

This is a particularly difficult situation where someone has returned from maternity leave and is clearly not coping, but is determined to work full time.

[CHankins]

You will have to request a fitness for work statement from a treating doctor. As an employer, you are not in a position to make health assessments. Even Doctor as employers aren't, they need to take a 'common person' perspective. This process is normally conducted when an employer is returning from an illness or injury, in these cases it is a lot easier as the employee is already seeing a doctor and the doctor will normally do this the next time the employee gets a check up.

There may be implications however in terms of your right to ask this employee for a fitness for work statement. There may be issues surrounding discrimination however i do not have the confidence to answer this aspect fully, I have only dealt with cases where the employee has a pre-existing or defined illness or injury. I know at times it can be problematic to request an employee produce a fitness for work statement, and not place that same requirement on other employees.

You mention that you kow the employee has high blood pressure? That may be grounds to act, hopefully someone here will know more than I do.

An alternative is to performance manage and subsequently cousel the employee. Providing the employee with the option to work part time until these aspects change.

[Moz]

Originally Posted by CHankins

You mention that you know the employee has high blood pressure? That may be grounds to act, hopefully someone here will know more than I do.

An alternative is to performance manage and subsequently counsel the employee. Providing the employee with the option to work part time until these aspects change.

Part time was suggested/offered when the employee came off maternity leave, but it was declined.

The "grounds to act" in certain circumstances is the crux of this issue for me (not that I am involved in it personally).

To my mind, having an employee with blood pressure which is acknowledged to be dangerously high, in a job with lots of variables where stressful situation are a possibility, isn't very different from other hypothetical scenarios, such as an employee's hearing becoming impaired when they work in an environment where personal safety is dependent upon them having good hearing.

I suppose one could argue that the employer should not expose the employee to stress, but in some jobs a certain amount of stress is unavoidable, or at least situations which some people might find stressful. Nursing would be a good example.

I gather the issue has been resolved now as the employee in question has resigned, but I would really like to hear from others who have some expertise in this area.