ILL HEALTH RETIREMENT ASSESSMENTS
From time to time, illness or injury may affect your ability to work. This may require alterations to work, but sometimes such changes are either not effective or not possible. It may therefore be necessary to give up the job. Ill health retirement, involves separate, but often linked, processes. First is the process of termination of employment because of medical incapacity. Next there may be early payment of pension if the company offers this benefit. All early payment of pension schemes require medical evidence in the form of a certificate or report from a doctor before payments will be made. If an employee is no longer able to do their job for health reasons, the first step is to establish the ‘true medical position’. This term was coined by Industrial Tribunals and means that the company must collect as much information as is necessary to understand what limitations the illness is causing. In some cases this can be a very simple process. For example, if an employee has had a heart attack and is very breathless, a simple letter from the doctor and a discussion with you may be all that is needed. In more complicated cases, or where there is a disagreement between the employee and employer, a more detailed process is required. It is important that the employee is involved in all the discussions and is able to put across their point of view. Medical information can be difficult to unravel and the employer may want to use an occupational physician (a doctor who specialises in work related health matters) to examine them, collect any necessary clinical information from the GP or specialist and advise on your suitability for the job. Having discussed the findings with the employee, a different job or changes to the tasks involved in the job might allow them to stay at work. However, the decision may be that they cannot continue at work and this will involve termination of employment. Such a decision should only be taken when all other avenues have been exhausted and the employee should be involved in discussions throughout the process. Once the decision has been made, the employee should then consider what benefits may be paid
See further information at the websites below
International Labour Organisation Paper
Royal College Of Nursing on Ill Health Retirement in Nurses
Other Occupational Medical Services
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