Industry: Logistics (Warehousing and Delivery UK Nationwide)

Employee Role: Delivery Driver

Case circumstances:

• Employee had frequent absences over 3 year period

OH Policy Application and Intervention:

• Depot Manager referred for Absence Management assessment
• High level of HR involvement due to disciplinary procedures being applied

Risks to employee:

• Various medical conditions reported as reasons for absences
• Potential exacerbation of conditions due to work

Risks to employer:

• Delivery deadlines missed
• Pressure on co-workers to cover or employment of agency staff

OH Assessment:

• OH assessment established that the medical conditions reported did not merit absence level
• Further information was obtained for his GP to ensure that all case history had been reviewed

Results:

• Company proceeded to disciplinary final stage – dismissal due to non-attendance
• Employee claimed discrimination due to his knowledge of a colleague who worked for the same company in a different depot. Colleague had worse levels of absence but had not been managed through the OH and disciplinary process.
• Company had to retract disciplinary proceedings and begin process again once it had applied the Absence Management policy across the whole workforce

Moral:

• Companies must have an agreed OH policy applicable to all worksites and apply it consistently