QLD Husband Not Allowed Back to Work - What to Do?

[kimsland]

Work has refused to let him go back to work but not officially, just over the phone saying they are discussing it and will let us know.

Tell him to go back to work, and present his doctors certificate clearing him to work there. If they throw him out, they better get ready for an unfair dismissal claim

An employee (full time or part time) has a right to work. No employer can stop you from coming in, unless you are casual or the business closed (redundancy in that case) or some other drastic employer reason.

Go back to work. See if they throw him out, which I doubt they will. Mind you the longer you wait to do this, the more difficult it may be. ie It is nearly looking like you have been forced to quit. (Same as unfair dismissal BTW).

Last point, look up the requirements for his job description. If it says heavy lifting involved (doubtful) then you may need a lawyer

 

[Ergery]

Tell him to go back to work, and present his doctors certificate clearing him to work there.
If they throw him out, they better get ready for an unfair dismissal claim

Am employee (full time or part time) has a right to work. No employer can stop you from coming in, unless you are casual or the business closed (redundancy in that case) or some other drastic employer reason.

GO Back To Work,
See if they throw him out, which I doubt they will. Mind you the longer you wait to do this, the more difficult it may be. ie It is nearly looking like you have been forced to quit. (same as unfair dismissal btw).
Last point, look up the requirements for his job description. If it says HEAVY lifting involved (doubtful) then you may need a lawyer

Thanks kimsland.

His work is 3 to 4 hours from us so not an option to just go to work and hope for the best unfortunately, his job description is operator but labouring is required and there is no description of light, heavy etc but with what he usually does it would be in the heavy category. We are looking for a good HR lawyer, they are pretty rare in our neck of the woods, while waiting on a workcover decision.

I did receive an email from the "independent consultant" that included a lot of interoffice correspondence (joys of people who love to use the reply function on email), which does have me a little concerned as it says they were having a meeting to discuss the financial risk to the company if he pursues this. Unfortunately until we get a definitive answer from workcover we are in a bit of limbo - still.

 

[Rod]

Have you made the suggestion that the employer is doing the wrong thing in not allowing your partner to work when he has been cleared for work?

BTW, make sure their refusal to allow him to work is in writing. If it isn't, recommend it is worth the time driving to work and say here I am, ready to work, as suggested by kimsland. Then if he is refused work, record what was said by whom, and ask for the reasons in writing before he drives 3 hrs back.

Helps your case later in case they say your partner just didn't turn up for work, he left us.

 

[Ergery]

Hi again Rod.

Yes, hubby suggested to them that after speaking to industrial relations - as he is full time and that they are the ones refusing that they should be paying him - hence the email mentioned above. It also includes mention of the recommendation that he not return to work until post surgery from all the people in charge.

There has been no official response to the request for pay - payday is tomorrow so we will see - I'm not holding my breath though. They have also sent an email with a list of the events but they have altered the timeline so it appears that there was an extra event at home prior to returning to work, and an implication that Jim had a diagnosis prior to returning, which is not the case.

I'm debating whether or not to forward these emails to workcover and raise my concerns that they are attempting to alter timing to suit their purposes as this is the same information they gave to their dr prior to hubbys appointment and is reflected in his recommendation as persistent and recurring instability. I'm just unsure if this really relevant to their decision making process. I think it shows intent, but then I'm biased.

Hopefully I can find a good I/R lawyer soon and workcover makes a decision sooner rather than later, then there will be a clearer path to follow.

 

[kimsland]

It also includes mention of the recommendation that he not return to work until post surgery from all the people in charge.

Is this like a text book case or something?
I suspect tomorrows post will be he didn't get paid, you called up in a rage and they hang up on you but not before saying, 'actually don't bother coming back'

For others (including yourself) going through matters such as this, the 1st choice is to go back to work and at least arrange a meeting (with independent witness included) with your employer.
In your specific case it looks like the employer has already set themselves up to fail. I'm still unsure if you find this a good thing or bad thing especially with the previous YEARS of travel to and from work without issue.

I will say that IR matters be them as clear cut as this one or not, such promises as

workcover makes a decision sooner rather than later

aren't an order under judgement and will wear off a lot more quicker than surviving paying bills, mortgage and food! Can usually withstand. These matters can take anywhere between 1 year to 3; and a simple reasoning with the employer under doctor certificate recommendations of work performance is usually the most valuable suggestion for all. Even a role as operator(laborer) can expect to receive at least around 40's to 50K PA, which is in anyone's understanding, a loss of around 100K after an average 2 year wait.

This is why those commercials exist on TV. Coming back to work even in an arm sling (as per one commercial I saw) is more beneficial to all concerned, especially with the psychological government push of you get better at work. Taking all this into consideration, a bird in one hand is worth more than 2 in the bush

Good luck.

 

[Rod]

I'm just unsure if this really relevant to their decision making process.

Assume it is. You need to issue a correction if you haven't already done so.

re: Independant witness. This is a good idea.

Like kimsland, I suspect you are being setup for a dismissal, an unfair dismissal. You need to keep doing things the right way to avoid jeopardising your own legal rights. If you give them any kind of excuse to terminate his employment you risk diminishing the size of a payout. Suppose we'll know more tomorrow wrt pay.