Comments by Jenny Piggott

Jenny Piggott - Workplace Law Network
Online advisor - 9 posts

Hi Dave,

Rob Castledine has provided the following answer to your question:

An employer has no duty to make available WC facilities to the public unless they offer cafe/restaurant or other licensed premises. However, if they do provide them they need to be kept in a reasonable condition.

The Council also needs to consider that if it is a public building where the public can attend public meetings, provision of WC facilities is adviseable (but not a legal requirement) A sensible approach would be to post signage for users of the building only, however it would be quite hard to enforce this.

Reasonable condition includes - daily cleaning or more freq if the need arises, disabled facilities, H&C water, soap, hand drying and kept in good order (decoration)

Quite a few Local Authorities publish standards for public loos ......See egs at ....

http://www.cheltenham.gov.uk/libraries/templates/ourservice.asp?URN=2581&FolderID=0

http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/home/conf-worcs/wdc-market-toilets-standards

Also looks like one university has a paper of loos - no pun intended.

www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/~cdeyw2/adobe_acrobat_files/A_Code_of_Practice_for_Public_Toilets_in_Britain.pdf

Rob Castledine MCIEH CMIOSH
Associate Director
Workplace Law Group

Jenny Piggott - Workplace Law Network
Online advisor - 9 posts

I would suggest amount involved not significant, plus Fire Safety Order does not apply to vehicles with licence under motor vehicle regs. Therefore suggest just follow good working practiced, no smoking etc and leave at that.

Jenny Piggott - Workplace Law Network
Online advisor - 9 posts

Dear Chris,

You need to meet with the employee when she returns to work to discuss the reason for her recent absence.

As morning sickness was on her certificate then it is reasonable to ask if she is pregnant. If so then it would be difficult to dismiss her for reasons of absence. If you are considering redundancies then as she is likely to be very early on in her pregnancy then you can still include her in the selection pool. However it must be very clear that her pregnancy is not the reason for selection.

Jenny Piggott - Workplace Law Network
Online advisor - 9 posts

Lisa,

You cannot count absence that you have reclassed as holiday.

You do not indicate whether you know if there is an underlying reason for the sick leave. I would advise that you ask the employee to sign a consent form to allow you to get medical advice as to the employee's problems, how this relates to work, and whether any adjustments should be made. You are able to dismiss an employee for capability reasons (ill health) but you need to be careful about dismissing without obtaining medical advice as the employee could come under the DDA.

Jenny Piggott - Workplace Law Network
Online advisor - 9 posts

Minimum wage is worked on hours physically worked (which won’t include sleep in hours). The employees gross weekly pay should be divided by the hours worked in that week to give the hourly rate. So for example if the employee physically worked one of their sleep in hours the calculation would be as follows:

£395/36 hours= £10.97 – well above minimum wage.

You will always be paying more than minimum wage even if the employee physically worked all of their sleep in hours.

Jenny Piggott - Workplace Law Network
Online advisor - 9 posts

Hi Lou,

This really depends on the purpose of the operation. If the operation is a necessity rather than choice the employee’s GP will be able to issue a doctors certificate to cover the two weeks rest. However if the operation is voluntary, perhaps cosmetic surgery, then it would be more reasonable for the employee to take annual leave for the recovery time.

Jenny Piggott - Workplace Law Network
Online advisor - 9 posts

You do not need to disclose the subject of the test, however you are required to make reasonable adjustments if someone taking the test has a disability. In the example you gave, someone with dyslexia might require extra time to take the tests.

The Code of Practice associated with the DDA says you would need to "revise the tests, or the way results of such tests are assessed – to take account of specific disabled candidates". However, you are only obliged to do this, and can only do it effectively, where you have been provided with appropriate information from the candidates in advance. This will allow time to make arrangements as necessary or to seek further advice on how best to adapt the test or questionnaire for the candidate.

You might want to include a paragraph in your invite to interview regarding notifying the company in advance if adjustments are required. It might be helpful for candidates if at this stage you include some information on the format of the test, e.g. on screen/paper, number of questions, type of answers.

Jenny Piggott - Workplace Law Network
Online advisor - 9 posts

Richard,

I can see you are in a difficult position. Unfortunately there is no clear guidance as to how employers should deal with staff undergoing treatment. There is no statutory right to time off for fertility treatment, and the laws that protect pregnant women don't apply to those who are trying to conceive.

I would encourage you to firstly try to address the issue informally, have a chat with the employee to see if there is any way you as an employer can help. It might be that the employee is not aware of the conduct you describe and it could be a result of preoccupation. The discussion might refocus the employee and resolve the issues.

If the above has no effect then you will need to take further action. I assume you do not have a fertility treatment or IVF policy, so you need to tread carefully and find the balance between being a reasonable employer and not allowing employees to ‘swing the lead’. Clearly this employee’s performance is not up to the required standard. I would recommend that you ask for a medical report from the employees GP, or an independent medical adviser, to establish whether there are reasons why the employee cannot carry out the duties you list. If there are reasons, and these are linked to the IVF treatment, you could consider reallocating work for a short period of time while the treatment takes place.

A Fertility treatment is not a 'deemed incapacity' for statutory sick pay (SSP) purposes. However, the treatment can affect people in different ways. An employee may well be ill due to the treatment, for example through depression or stress. If this is the case, it is up to the employer whether or not to accept the incapacity as stated on any medical certificate or form, to consider SSP entitlement.

The problems she is experiencing may centre round particular times in the fertility treatment – so you may wish to suggest that she takes some annual leave around those times and that you will cope with short notice. You may also allow some unpaid leave if necessary.

The main advice here is to communicate clearly with the employee so that there can be a constructive discussion around the problem. You need your work done and she wants her fertility treatment. Both of you have strong desires and these need to be aired and a compromise reached.