Seeking experiences with the Occupational Health referral process

Rule reminder please take care not to breach rule 6 No medical of legal advice

You are very correct, this is personal and sensitive information

The employer generally needs the functional conclusions, rather than all the underlying medical detail: for example, whether the person is fit for work, whether work is affecting their health, what adjustments may help, and whether a return is medically sustainable. The ICO says that, as far as possible, the OH professional should hold the medical information and provide management with the results of the assessment, with access to medical details kept to the minimum genuinely necessary.

 The meeting is not automatically inappropriate. It could be a sensible attempt to ensure the referral asks the right questions. But its proper purpose should be to agree the factual context and management questions—not to interrogate the employee medically, predetermine the cause, or persuade them to accept the employer’s account. if its work related anxiety, perhaps related to symptoms of ADHD and or ASD, this is it, what else do they need? Your partner has disability, and he is struggling!, He need somebody there with him! And I would insist on AI transcript, you probably have capacity for this on your phone,voice to text. 

Sounds like your employer has done all the right things for you. I’m glad you have adjustments agreed after the process. :)

Thank you. It has been a long, painful, frustrating and heart breaking experience. It feels like they might be hoping my partner would just leave? and they weren’t expecting the OH request somehow? So much energy spent in chasing it with more and more anxiety build up. It really isn’t fair for someone need support for a very long time. :’( But we’ll keep trying. :)

Although I had support from OH, I do sense that a lot that is done by the employer is to protect them. After my first long period off, at the advice of a helpful professional I joined a union, as I discovered that was the only way if I had.to attend a meeting that I would be able to have someone to support me and have a note of what was said. Weekly meetings with a manager are because they believe that gives a greater chance of an employee returning. However when I was suffering from burnout this made it difficult to switch off and recover.  It also took a long while for them to consider reasonable adjustments. I was not able to consider returning until they were agreed.

No worries at all. Thank you for the further information. I’m at a loss and couldn’t believe my partner has to try so hard keep asking for the support that should have been provided in the first place. :’(

From experience my manager contacted HR who arranged OH. I think that was before I had the first meeting with manager on the phone on one occasion, then I think meetings were weekly to see how I was. The second time I think OH was after a month and I probably had a meeting with my manager first.

I have googled ACAS and it says employers are not obliged to use OH. Our policy states they become involved after 4 weeks. I guess employers may consider the cost, but if his policy states it should have happened, then it is difficult to understand why they haven't. For me, OH stated there was a need for adjustments, but I told work what I considered would help. They considered these and put in writing that they agreed. There are suggestions on this website.

Thank you. May I ask if you were ask to do anything before being referred for OH? E.g having a meeting with your manager for a discussion?

I haven’t been through this myself, but I’d keep chasing it, especially if the policy says an OH referral would normally be made after four weeks. I’d send a short email to the manager or HR asking whether the referral has been submitted and, if not, when they expect to do it. Having everything in writing is helpful too.

It also seems worth checking if he can contact Occupational Health directly or if HR can arrange the referral instead of waiting for the manager. I’d be interested to hear what others have experienced because this sounds more difficult than it needs to be.

This is a huge problem for so many people, even more so for people like your partner or me with ASD,  face what now turns out to be a national problem not only entering employment, but staying well and supported at work. Recently UK government relesed The Keep Britain Working Final Report https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/keep-britain-working  identifies three persistent failures: fear that discourages early disclosure; fragmented support; and structural exclusion. It reports a disability employment rate of around 53%, employer costs of approximately £85 billion a year and societal costs from health-related economic inactivity of £212 billion.Access to help is unequal. In 2024, only 45% of workers had access to Occupational Health, ranging from 92% in large employers to 18% in small employers. Support is divided between the individual, manager, HR, Occupational Health, healthcare and other services. Each may address one part, but nobody helps the person navigate the whole situation.      

I have so much to say about it as I have my self experienced it first hand, and it makes me furious! - In the positive sense:) Basically this should have being picked up far earlier, at this stage the person involved feels surrounded by towering institutions all coming with very polite helpful tome, that brings no resolution, with each new email, As harsh as it sounds and its not to say that Im accusing anyone of anything, but HR is mainly focused on long term well being of the Organization, their goals are different than the single worker. Meanwhile the worker is expected to be at his best while at his worst. Its just so unfair! 

Luckily something is happening, because the cost of the long term sickness is so huge, that this cant be simply seeped under the rug. 

Sorry for venting like that, take care.

The article is worth reading, however its boring as hell. 

My experience was that work arranged an OH referral who stated I was not currently fit for work. When I had improved I was referred for a further one before returning to work and reasonable adjustments were then discussed.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and the useful information. Hope my partner can actually be referred to OH soon. 

From my own experience, you hav eto remember that person with ASD has a right to ask for reasonable adjustments, before the meeting, and before anything else happens, its all legal and each step has legal consequences, even if it sounds casual, And I would serch exactly what dose he want from work, what he want to acheve by the OH!   I always say this 

I have diagnosed ADHD and dyslexia and ASD . These can affect working memory, sequencing, processing multi-part information, verbal recall under pressure and the accuracy of written expression. They do not affect the depth of my understanding or commitment to the work, but I may need additional time to organise and communicate my thoughts clearly.

When assessing my application, I would appreciate the following:

• Please focus on the meaning and substance of my answers rather than minor spelling, grammar, repetition or differences in expression.

• Please provide requests, deadlines, decisions and next steps in clear written form, with separate actions where possible.

• If clarification is required, email is preferable to an unexpected telephone call, and a reasonable period to process and respond would help.

• Please allow the use of assistive technology to organise and proofread my written communication.

If my application progresses to a panel, I am likely to benefit from receiving the main questions or themes in advance where possible, being asked one question at a time, additional processing time, permission to pause or request rephrasing, and a short opportunity to provide written clarification afterwards.

• These adjustments would help me communicate my ideas accurately and participate on an equitable basis.  This way he dont have to answer immidiately, and get everything in writing, I personally would insist on using AI for the transcript, don't assume they will hive you accurate hand written notes,or even record it on your phone, Just take any precaution possible,  The workplace dont even have to listen to what OH will recomend, the key is to have everything in writing, after the metting type out the notes, and email back with all important points, And ask all detail questions, You can ask your chatgpt to help you with that.  All the detail will only be important if you enter a legal battle territory, 

Hi Nicola

Thank you for your reply and the useful links. After sending multiple emails, my partner has finally received a response that they need to have a meeting to discuss the reasons so they can align the purpose of the referral and talk about the cause. Not sure if this is appropriate for discussion as that should sit with OH confidentially and provide their independent clinical judgment? 

Hi there, and I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties your partner is facing at work at the moment.  I'm sure he isn't alone in this, and that our community members will have some advice for the both of you.

In the meantime, I'd like to direct you to our NAS advice and guidance pages on Requesting reasonable adjustments and Having trouble at work, in case they contain any information you haven't already come across and that might be useful to you.

Wishing you and your partner all the best, and please feel free to post again and let us know how things are going.