We had a chat with Ed Jenneson, Head of Employment at Rollits, to gather some useful information for small businesses as the UK leaves the pandemic.
Having joined Rollits back in 2002, Ed Jenneson is a Partner and also the Head of Employment at the local law firm, making him a fount of knowledge when it comes to practical advice for employers and employees alike.
“Rollits has a very impressive status in our region, as it’s the only Hull firm to be ranked in the top band of Chambers UK (North & East Yorkshire) and remains in the highest tier of the Legal 500,” said Ed. “We appear to have moved on from Covid-19 queries although the matter of employee health and wellbeing continues to be an issue for many employers. In particular, a current trend appears to be dealing with issues in relation to long-term ill health.
“Many organisations have employees who are absent for weeks or even months, and there can be some nervousness around this type of scenario due to the complex problems that arise. That’s where we come in, as Rollits can provide expert advice and support, helping business owners to better understand how to undertake a fair process whilst guiding clients through the Equality Act 2010.”
Ed told us that it’s often not particularly challenging for a worker with long-term ill health to qualify as disabled under the Act, which is why employers need to be careful and treat each case not only with fairness at the forefront, but also understand medical issues and how they may impact upon an employee’s ability to perform.
“To qualify as disabled, the impact of the health concern needs to be substantial,” explained Ed. “This means that it will impact daily life at home as well as at work, such as making it difficult to do everyday things like getting out of bed and carrying out household chores. If a mental or physical impairment affects you in this way, it can be considered a disability.
“There are a number of challenges which an employer faces in determining an employee’s disability. For example if the employee is taking prescribed medication, an employer needs to see how the employee would be affected by their condition without the medication and assess the person on that basis. Whilst some conditions such as cancer are recognised disabilities, so-called invisible disabilities like depression, anxiety or ADHD can be difficult to spot, which can lead them to being inadvertently overlooked by employers.”
If an employee is disabled within the meaning of the Equality Act, there are many obligations that employers need to meet, which includes the requirement to make reasonable adjustments. These unique adjustments to their role or surroundings will be designed to alleviate or potentially remove the disadvantage that they face.
Ed also told us how Rollits can help employers and employees with multiple types of situations connected to an employee’s health condition. These can include absence management, accrued holiday leave, GDPR issues and obtaining medical evidence, which each need to be approached in a responsible manner.
“We analyse the individual’s illness to find out whether there are red flags relating to disability,” said Ed. “We also check their absence history and sick notes, determine the cause, help them with documentation, give advice around what steps they need to take to ensure Employment Law obligations are met, and explain to the client what kind of consent needs to be given by the employee in order to move forward.”
Whilst this type of service could seem like it’s reserved for large companies, Ed assured us that this isn’t the case:
“It could be anything from a small independent business to a PLC with multiple sites, as the Equality Act applies to businesses of all shapes and sizes. We help many smaller organisations on a one-off basis and for others we act as an extension of their HR team, managing day-to-day issues and providing more in-depth advice when required. It’s a highly flexible service that anyone can access.”
To find out how Rollits can support your business, please visit their Employment section.
As part of Humber Business Week 2022, the firm is hosting a Resilience Workshop with leading resilience coach Josh Connolly. For more information and to book a place visit Eventbrite.