Fit For Work Test
Can I pose a query to this sub. My wife has a colleague - I’ll try to be as objective about the facts as possible.
This colleague during her time working with my wife has brought her employer to the attention of three separate disabilities. She has:
- ADHD. Diagnosed in childhood and medicated but not addressed on her pre work check, which apparently asks for disclosure of existing disabilities and required accommodations
- Autism. Later adult diagnosis and also medicated
- Endometriosis. Recent diagnosis in process of developing a treatment plan
At present she is by the letter of her contract required 5 days a week in a central regional office. She should be seeing 3 clients a day on average. She has over time been permitted to work from a satellite office alone or with one other colleague at a regional office an hour away.
Since her recent diagnosis of endometriosis she believes that the pain she goes through during her monthly cycle makes working in an office impossible. To that end given her other diagnoses of Autism and ADHD which require certain accommodations in office (dim light, low noise etc.) that it makes sense for her to work predominantly from home. She has applied to receive dispensation to work remotely when and as she needs.
Specifically because of the requirement to see 3 clients per day on average her work has queried whether, given her disabilities and the accommodations she requires, she is strictly fit for this particular role anymore. As such it appears likely they will ask her to undergo a fit for work test.
I’m curious what are the legal parameters on an issue like this. What recourse would the employer and or the employee have? That is, what accommodations are reasonably and legally required by an employer in this situation?