Looked at ndis as I need help with disability. The sheer amount of doctors letters, assessments etc required is going to be insane, stressful and probably costly into the thousands. Then there’s the long wait times (over 6 months to get a response) Hardly accessible. Im struggling so hard to stay employed - wfh was so great for disabled people and now the return to office mandates has my job being threatened. It has no actual physical requirement (tech) but they insist that going into the office for “connection” with the internal team (who is across multiple states anyway ) is a “mandatory business requirement”.
Fucking joke at the expense of my health declining even further.
Would it be possible to get a dr’s letter to say you should work from home, do you think? It might be at least a temporary solution while getting the ndis sorted.
yeah our return to office mandate was only for those who didnt have a medical reason or whos contract doesnt state full time remote.
Did that to reduce to 1 day a week. But it doesn’t help during flare ups, at which point they want detailed medical info each time and end dates /durations/return to work plans . It doesn’t work like that unfortunately.
I just want to be productive and work - but at home so I can deal with my symptoms as needed and not be on public display. Plus the exertion of travel and being in an office all day. Sigh.
This is a good idea, to talk to your dr and get a med cert for reasonable adjustments. The reasonable adjustments being WFH full time due to an underlying disability. If you're part of a union, give them a call and talk to a rep for advice :)
NDIS is unrelated to workplace disability laws. If you need accomodations at work due to disability, you can approach HR at your workplace to discuss your needs. Maybe have a look at fairwork Australia website to see what the rules are and how to make a request.
Some info here
I know that- they created a business requirement so now wfh doesn’t meet their job role requirements, so now you’re fired or going into work unwell.
Adjustment means they can make exceptions if your disability requires it. The job requirement part depends on the reasons, eg if being present is an inherent part of the job, (it would be impossible to be a hairdresser via zoom), then the adjustment can be refused. But if it’s only for social reasons, there may be some flexibility. You don’t know until you ask! It’s also possible that the employer can make the adjustment at the workplace. For example if a person can’t use stairs, and building doesn’t have a lift, then make sure they are situated only on ground floor and all meetings are held in accessible rooms etc. I know it’s not always easy to approach employer and some of them might be dismissive of requests. But… if it’s a choice between suffer and maybe have to quit work, or ask and possibly get some accomodations there’s no harm at all in asking.
Have asked and this is where im at - go to work unwell or find another job. They changed the rules after I started working there.
I'm so sorry to hear this is happening to you, especially them changing the requirements after you started there. It's not fair at all, and I hope they come to their senses or that you can find something better.