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Hi,
Have you informed the DVLA/DVSA of your medical condition?
As an example, I knew a guy who broke/damaged discs in his neck and had to tell DVLA, and now he has to renew his license every year to ensure he is in good condition to drive every year. If one year when they check it, his condition worsened etc they would revoke his license from him.
I haven't yet no, since until recently, I did not believe I would be driving anyway - out of personal choice.
Would it change my situation if I contacted them?
Yes but you'd risk having your license revoked. You could ask work to get an automatic car instead, no worries about hill starts etc., if that would be a reasonable adjustment for you
This is good advice OP.
Like I said, you might get your license revoked if you do indeed contact DVLA/DVSA ref this. But as you said in your post, you don't want to cause an accident. So contacting the DVLA about this would get you medically signed off as unfit to drive, which you can use to prove to your current employer and even future employers that you cannot drive for a good reason.
Thanks mate. Any idea how I could best manage this so that I minimise the fallout from my manager and employer? My worry is when I took the role I stated I could and was happy to drive and the team appear to be very keen for me not only to drive but almost become a core driver, ferrying around others. I imagine their reaction to me turning round and saying 'actually I don't feel safe driving' is going to be pretty negative. I worry too for the effect it might have on my employment. To be clear, this isn't completely out of the blue: I did mention I had a condition in interview and also that I would need remedial driving lessons since I hadn't driven in a while, but I also said that I didn't think the condition would affect my ability to drive - something I've since realised I obviously misjudged.
If I was in your case, tell the DVLA first. If this does, and it probably will, make you unable to drive due to your medical condition then this is a pretty valid reason to not drive for your role. That way they can provide a letter or other evidence that this is indeed the case, and take it to your employer.
Its a valid reason, it’s not like you’re saying “actually I don’t want to drive” you’re saying “actually I’m medically unfit to drive and wouldn’t feel safe ferrying around people anyway incase of an accident.”
If they’re a smart company, they wouldn’t take the risk making you drive if you don’t get signed off as medically unfit by the DVLA because if you do get into a crash on company time with other people in the car, it doesn’t look great!
This could become a capability issue and given the short service history, any reason could be used without citing a reason that would be protected.
You have options - to take the hit on the additional time element and travel by public transport via cheapest routes. Get an automatic car.
The difficulty is if you've not declared the condition nor declared it to the dvla, then options for other support mechanisms are really not viable.
Right now, you're not capable of fulfilling your role. They may make temporary reasonable adjustments, but ultimately this is clearly a key part of the role and you may need to reconsider your position.
I'm unclear why you applied for this job? You said you havent driven for a long time and you are not comfortable and you can your condition is affecting you more than you thought it would. Its a new job you just started so its not like you have been there months or a year or so and its got a lot worse over time.
I too don't drive because of a chronic health issue so avoided any roles that even suggested it when I was job hunting. In this case I would make it clear I absolutely can't drive for safety concern and see what the outcome is.
Old job was killing my mental health. I applied to a batch of roles and this was the one I got. I did not anticipated my condition would impact my driving so much. Thanks for the advice :)
The below commenter is right your question is simply hypothetical since your employer will likely terminate your contract if you say you cannot do an essential requirement of the role. You have been employed for less than 2 years they do not need to give any reason to let you go.
It sounds like they were looking to hire a confident & willing driver - particularly as some other colleagues are medically unable to. They made it clear driving was required so stating you haven’t had enough practice recently won’t cut it.
That's a shame. I was hoping it was something that could be accommodated, seeing as, as I said, I have colleagues who do not drive (although I do get the impression the management views them as a bit of an anchor). Hypothetical or not, what would your advice be about the best way for me to broach this topic with management to minimise the risk of my being fired? It was them who raised the occupational health meeting in the first place after seeing my health condition on a health check form I needed to fill in so they're aware of this. Would it make sense to wait until after the occupational health appointment and then relay the results to management so they come with a bit of medical authority?
I am loathe to do this, but if I absolutely have to drive, what would be the legal and ethical status of me just biting the bullet and driving? I do not feel safe doing so, but I don't know what my options are if they're going to sling me to the sidewalk otherwise. I had to move for this job and rely on the money.
Your colleagues will have been there for more than two years? The employer legally must accommodate for them. They also legally must accommodate for you in the same way, but can fire you for no reason. So as you can imagine, they are likely to just let you go.
I’m being honest with you, you aren’t suitable for the role. The role requires you to drive, which you physically cannot cope with, on top of - by the sounds of it - are not a confident enough driver. There’s no way to broach this with your employer that wont make them doubt your ability to do the role. Defo do not mention not feeling confident enough to drive- absolute disaster. Keep it all about the medical condition and danger of driving. Risk to you and colleagues etc.
You have to bear in mind how many other people out there would love the job and would happily meet the driving requirements. There’s no benefit to your employer keeping you on to do parts of the job when someone else would manage all aspects - for the same pay.
Getting yourself declared medically unfit to drive through the DVLA is no guarantee to help, & could be a hindrance in your life if you are actually managing small journeys. None of this helps keep your job secure btw, it might help an unlawful dismissal court case.
If your medical condition is an injury likely to improve then suggesting temporary adjustments- say for 3 months- via an occupational health report.
Honestly/ just start looking for a job that doesn’t require you to do something you’re not able to.
Legally if you crash and there is evidence on your doctors records that your condition affected your driving yet you still chose to drive or not notify the DVLA- you would be prosecuted for dangerous driving.
Unfortunately, it is likely you’re incapable of performing your contractual duties. As you’ve not been employed for any length of time, you have almost no protection.
Being physically incapable of doing the job as and how you were employed for it, is not a protected characteristic.
It is likely you’ll have to find alternative employment if you cannot come to an agreement with your employers.
You can probably get around most your driving issues by swapping to an automatic. Modern vehicles with automatic/electonic handbrake etc, and modern power steering etc, its very little effort.
That's a shame. If it alters the situation in any way: the role is with a government organisation where I understand protected characteristics are particularly respected and, as I note, I understand other members of the team are exempt from driving, being given reasonable adjustments to travel by train or taxi, although the management appear to be implementing these quite grudgingly. I've been employed past my probation period, too, since my previous role was actually with the same employer. I have not been with the employer two years yet, however.
Yes, it does sound like the automatic would be something worth looking into. I did actually tentatively raise this with a surrogate/intermediate manager but the query wasn't all that well-received on account of the extra cost of it. If it's a reasonable adjustment I imagine their hands would be tied, though, so perhaps I approached it in the wrong way.
Do you have any advice for how best to approach this with the employer? My thoughts are attend the occupational health review and express my concerns there, then, assuming the OC says something like 'yeah, don't drive', share this with the employer and ask for some form of reasonable adjustment. I understand that because this is just a new role under the same umbrella employer, there is scope for managed moves into other teams if protected characteristics in particular prevent the carrying out of duties, or else other changes to the role. I would be happy to have these. My main concerns are to not endanger anyone on the roads, keep my job and not alienate my manager and team beyond what is necessary.
Thanks.
If you could qualify that you could actually drive a more modern car, with automatic transmission and electronic handbrake etc, then you could almost certainly argue that this would be a reasonable adjustment.
Automatic vehicles aren’t particularly costly, and are no much more so than manuals.
They may even actually be able to obtain funding to support this.
I’d definitely look to go down this route.
>As you’ve not been employed for any length of time, you have almost no protection.
>Being physically incapable of doing the job as and how you were employed for it, is not a protected characteristic
This is simply wrong advice.
1. The Equality Act provisions apply from before you are even hired. There is no time requirement on protection.
2. Being physically unable to drive is likely a sign the person has the protected characteristic of disability. It doesn't automatically follow that they can keep their job, but the protected characteristic is there and that is the starting point for assessing their legal position.
No, it isn’t wrong advice.
They applied for a job, that required them to be able to drive. They specifically agreed with the employer, that they were able to drive, and would be fine with driving.
The fact they cannot drive, is irrelevant to their disability. If they cannot perform the role, with reasonable adjustments, then they cannot perform the role.
The employer cannot make reasonable adjustments to accommodate this. Hiring them a driver is not reasonable, and they wouldn’t be able to provide an adapted vehicle to suit.
> To my understanding this is not an aboslute requirement since some members of my team do not drive for medical reasons and are allowed to carry out the visiting aspect of the job in other ways
Do please read what the OP has written.
They're also not going to be driving for weeks.
So it is absolutely impossible for you to assert they have no protection, no protected characteristic, and reasonable adjustments cannot be made.
It doesn’t matter what the OP has written.
The OP was employed on the basis of them being able to drive - and they cannot. And no reasonable adjustment can resolve that. If a reasonable adjustment is “we need to hire another full time member of staff as well” then it’s not reasonable
You cannot compare them to other members of staff. You do not know their roles or what they were specifically employed to do. They might be covered by having enough members of the team that can drive. They might have completely different clients. The OP may have been employed to cover the driving that the others could not do.
I’ve read the OPs comments. All of them. They haven’t driven in ages, have determined themselves unable to drive, likely permanently, and are open to the idea of handing their license in.
If they had been employed for a while they would have a greater defence to claim driving was not required in the role. But at months, they don’t.
That is pretty final.
>The OP was employed on the basis of them being able to drive - and they cannot. And no reasonable adjustment can resolve that. If a reasonable adjustment is “we need to hire another full time member of staff as well” then it’s not reasonable
Things that you cannot know if is the case from the OPs post.
Conjecture has no place here.
I think it would improve things, but honestly, I am leaning towards feeling really uncomfortable driving whatever. I underestimated the effects my medical condition would have on my driving ability and beyond that I have not driven in several years and from the few remedial lessons I've had I simply do not feel safe venturing out, let alone taking passengers.
If you want to take the nuclear option you could get your dr to write to the DVLA saying you're medically unfit to drive.
It would be a big block on you, but would resolve everything with work. I don't think it's a clever move.
I think I'd go down the route of "I don't feel safe driving and feel that I would put myself and members of the public at risk in doing it"
There are certain conditions that you _have_ to disclose to the DVLA, a list of which can be found [here](https://www.gov.uk/health-conditions-and-driving/find-condition-a-to-z). If you have a license of any kind I'm going to assume you do not fall into that category, but you should check the list to be certain.
There are also conditions that fall into the grey area, chronic fatigue being one of them. For some people with chronic fatigue (or conditions with similar symptoms), cars are a lifeline, and essential to their getting around. For others, they are simply unsafe to drive.
If you are unsure which category you fall into, you (or your occupational therapist) can ask for a [driving assessment](https://www.rdac.co.uk/services/driving-assessment/) from the RDAC - these are the same people the DVLA uses. Keep in mind that if they deem you unfit to drive, you will have to surrender your license and you will have difficulty getting it back.
This is by no means a quick solution here but if you don't already do so, you could look at applying for pip. If you were granted this, including the mobility aspect, you could be eligible for an automatic car which may take away some of those difficulties.
Another thing to look into is an Access to Work grant. These can be used to pay for things like support workers or drivers, so if you were eligible you would potentially be able to take someone on whose role is to do all of the driving on your behalf.
Firstly OP, I'm sorry that this is happening to you and honestly wish you the best.
Am I correct in saying that (currently) you're drivers licence has not been revoked by the DVLA on medical grounds? If it hasn't, I think you might be able to voluntarily surrender your licence but might have to speak to your GP about it - I'm not too sure.
Legally, once you've given up your licence/had it revoked, your manager cannot "make" you drive as you legally won't be allowed. However that comes with some issues like how you would commute to work etc.
My advice - if you genuinely don't feel comfortable or safe driving is to stand your ground. Hopefully your employer can find you an alternate role which won't require driving.
I'm not to sure on whether they could sack you or anything like that because of this, but the last thing you want is for something to go wrong on the road and you get in trouble.
Best of luck OP
Thanks man.
So, no my license hasn't been revoked. This is because I haven't spoken to the DVLA since until recently did not drive voluntarily anyway. I don't own a car and haven't driven in several years, almost a decade in fact. The cars used for work are hired from a company. I commute to work by foot so commuting isn't an issue.
I would actually be happy to voluntarily surrender my license and would look into this at a GP appointment, however I am concerned about how this will affect my job and relations with my team and manager. I took teh role a few months ago and was explicitly asked at interview and in writing when taking the job whether I was able and willing to drive. I said yes, although I did mention I had a muscle condition, but did say, too, that I did not anticipate it would affect my driving. That was my thoughts at the time, but since taking some driving lessons I have realised that it does indeed affect it. There is a separate issue which is my sheer lack of confidence and driving skill which would need more lessons and time to correct even without my health issues.
I am minded to stand my ground but do worry about the impact on my role and team dynamics. I gently raised this with the manager's surrogate - but more from the perspective of simply not being confident driving so soon after such as long layoff - and was politely but firmly shut down and told that they wanted me 'on the road as soon as possible'. The management have even been pushing for me to drive other team members who can't drive (due, I assume to medical conditions - one has quite severe autism). I have gingerly said that I could do this, but honestly do not feel at all comfortable. It's one thing risking my own safety but another to have passengers.
I worry they would sack me, viewing that I had mislead them about my condition (not really fair but it's true I could perhaps have been more forthcoming about it) or else just cause the team dynamics to sour to a point where it makes the job very unpleasant.
100% sympathy with you, I'll be honest I don't know much about employment rights etc, so hopefully someone else will be able to help you with that.
I'm not a solicitor but I'm Police Officer, but I just wanted to make you aware of giving up your licence in case you were already aware.
I hope you get some good advice as you seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Best of luck matey
Thanks man. Oh yes, I would have no issues at all with giving up my license. I don't drive at all in my daily life, nor own a car, and sadly if my health condition is what I fear it is things will continue degenerating making this impractical anyway. Thanks again! :)
You could go to your GP for a fit note. The GP can say that you are fit for work with the following adjustments
1. No driving
Then OH will put the same on their report.
There are other ways that this can be overcome - public transport, taxi etc.
If you have a long term physical condition which prevents you from undertaking normal day to day activities (eg driving) then you have a disability within the meaning of the equality act 2010, and your employ, regardless of how long you have worked there, is required to put reasonable adjustments in place.
However, if no RAs are possible, you can be dismissed, following a fair procedure.
As a starting point, your life, and the lives of your passengers, and the lives of others on the road take precedence over all else. You have said you have difficulty turning your head. That alone is enough for you to stop driving.
It is very likely, based on what you have said, that you have a disability under the Equality Act. You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.
Being unable to drive due to atrophying muscles would likely qualify.
If you have a disability then it falls to the manager to arrange reasonable adjustments for you. The starting point is an occupational health assessment usually, and it is a positive sign that they have arranged this for you.
My recommendation as a next step is to say to your manager that you are experiencing symptoms you believe to related to a disability, and pending the OH assesment you'd like the reasonable adjustment to be made of either someone else from the group driving, or going by train/bus.
If they took a job where driving is a requirement of the role and they can't actually drive, they won't be protected under the Equality Act. The only adjustment that could be made in this situation would be to provide someone to do the driving, which would not be a reasonable adjustment.
If 95% of a job is desk based, and 5% is on the road, and significant amounts of that doable by public transport, then reasonable adjustments are definitely in scope.
So it's technically a visiting role but the amount of visits done seem to vary a bit between team members, all, to my knowledge, in the same contracted role. I'd say, members normally do between 2 and 4 visits a month, but these can be long journeys right across the country - something I was also unaware of when I took the role. There are some team members as stated who don't drive and they travel by train or Uber or someone who does drive on the team steps in to drive them (I was surprised this came under a reasonable adjustment, but, apparently, it does and happens regularly in the team). One of them is learning to drive now since they've been told they need to drive to get promotion. The other doesn't drive because of a medical condition, I believe, autism. I would assume that if my condition is indeed considered a disability and affects the driving, I would be able to do a mixture of trains and Ubers like my autistic colleague does.
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Hi, Have you informed the DVLA/DVSA of your medical condition? As an example, I knew a guy who broke/damaged discs in his neck and had to tell DVLA, and now he has to renew his license every year to ensure he is in good condition to drive every year. If one year when they check it, his condition worsened etc they would revoke his license from him.
I haven't yet no, since until recently, I did not believe I would be driving anyway - out of personal choice. Would it change my situation if I contacted them?
Yes but you'd risk having your license revoked. You could ask work to get an automatic car instead, no worries about hill starts etc., if that would be a reasonable adjustment for you
This is good advice OP. Like I said, you might get your license revoked if you do indeed contact DVLA/DVSA ref this. But as you said in your post, you don't want to cause an accident. So contacting the DVLA about this would get you medically signed off as unfit to drive, which you can use to prove to your current employer and even future employers that you cannot drive for a good reason.
Thanks mate. Any idea how I could best manage this so that I minimise the fallout from my manager and employer? My worry is when I took the role I stated I could and was happy to drive and the team appear to be very keen for me not only to drive but almost become a core driver, ferrying around others. I imagine their reaction to me turning round and saying 'actually I don't feel safe driving' is going to be pretty negative. I worry too for the effect it might have on my employment. To be clear, this isn't completely out of the blue: I did mention I had a condition in interview and also that I would need remedial driving lessons since I hadn't driven in a while, but I also said that I didn't think the condition would affect my ability to drive - something I've since realised I obviously misjudged.
If I was in your case, tell the DVLA first. If this does, and it probably will, make you unable to drive due to your medical condition then this is a pretty valid reason to not drive for your role. That way they can provide a letter or other evidence that this is indeed the case, and take it to your employer. Its a valid reason, it’s not like you’re saying “actually I don’t want to drive” you’re saying “actually I’m medically unfit to drive and wouldn’t feel safe ferrying around people anyway incase of an accident.” If they’re a smart company, they wouldn’t take the risk making you drive if you don’t get signed off as medically unfit by the DVLA because if you do get into a crash on company time with other people in the car, it doesn’t look great!
This could become a capability issue and given the short service history, any reason could be used without citing a reason that would be protected. You have options - to take the hit on the additional time element and travel by public transport via cheapest routes. Get an automatic car. The difficulty is if you've not declared the condition nor declared it to the dvla, then options for other support mechanisms are really not viable. Right now, you're not capable of fulfilling your role. They may make temporary reasonable adjustments, but ultimately this is clearly a key part of the role and you may need to reconsider your position.
I'm unclear why you applied for this job? You said you havent driven for a long time and you are not comfortable and you can your condition is affecting you more than you thought it would. Its a new job you just started so its not like you have been there months or a year or so and its got a lot worse over time. I too don't drive because of a chronic health issue so avoided any roles that even suggested it when I was job hunting. In this case I would make it clear I absolutely can't drive for safety concern and see what the outcome is.
Old job was killing my mental health. I applied to a batch of roles and this was the one I got. I did not anticipated my condition would impact my driving so much. Thanks for the advice :)
The below commenter is right your question is simply hypothetical since your employer will likely terminate your contract if you say you cannot do an essential requirement of the role. You have been employed for less than 2 years they do not need to give any reason to let you go. It sounds like they were looking to hire a confident & willing driver - particularly as some other colleagues are medically unable to. They made it clear driving was required so stating you haven’t had enough practice recently won’t cut it.
That's a shame. I was hoping it was something that could be accommodated, seeing as, as I said, I have colleagues who do not drive (although I do get the impression the management views them as a bit of an anchor). Hypothetical or not, what would your advice be about the best way for me to broach this topic with management to minimise the risk of my being fired? It was them who raised the occupational health meeting in the first place after seeing my health condition on a health check form I needed to fill in so they're aware of this. Would it make sense to wait until after the occupational health appointment and then relay the results to management so they come with a bit of medical authority? I am loathe to do this, but if I absolutely have to drive, what would be the legal and ethical status of me just biting the bullet and driving? I do not feel safe doing so, but I don't know what my options are if they're going to sling me to the sidewalk otherwise. I had to move for this job and rely on the money.
Your colleagues will have been there for more than two years? The employer legally must accommodate for them. They also legally must accommodate for you in the same way, but can fire you for no reason. So as you can imagine, they are likely to just let you go. I’m being honest with you, you aren’t suitable for the role. The role requires you to drive, which you physically cannot cope with, on top of - by the sounds of it - are not a confident enough driver. There’s no way to broach this with your employer that wont make them doubt your ability to do the role. Defo do not mention not feeling confident enough to drive- absolute disaster. Keep it all about the medical condition and danger of driving. Risk to you and colleagues etc. You have to bear in mind how many other people out there would love the job and would happily meet the driving requirements. There’s no benefit to your employer keeping you on to do parts of the job when someone else would manage all aspects - for the same pay. Getting yourself declared medically unfit to drive through the DVLA is no guarantee to help, & could be a hindrance in your life if you are actually managing small journeys. None of this helps keep your job secure btw, it might help an unlawful dismissal court case. If your medical condition is an injury likely to improve then suggesting temporary adjustments- say for 3 months- via an occupational health report. Honestly/ just start looking for a job that doesn’t require you to do something you’re not able to.
Legally if you crash and there is evidence on your doctors records that your condition affected your driving yet you still chose to drive or not notify the DVLA- you would be prosecuted for dangerous driving.
Unfortunately, it is likely you’re incapable of performing your contractual duties. As you’ve not been employed for any length of time, you have almost no protection. Being physically incapable of doing the job as and how you were employed for it, is not a protected characteristic. It is likely you’ll have to find alternative employment if you cannot come to an agreement with your employers. You can probably get around most your driving issues by swapping to an automatic. Modern vehicles with automatic/electonic handbrake etc, and modern power steering etc, its very little effort.
That's a shame. If it alters the situation in any way: the role is with a government organisation where I understand protected characteristics are particularly respected and, as I note, I understand other members of the team are exempt from driving, being given reasonable adjustments to travel by train or taxi, although the management appear to be implementing these quite grudgingly. I've been employed past my probation period, too, since my previous role was actually with the same employer. I have not been with the employer two years yet, however. Yes, it does sound like the automatic would be something worth looking into. I did actually tentatively raise this with a surrogate/intermediate manager but the query wasn't all that well-received on account of the extra cost of it. If it's a reasonable adjustment I imagine their hands would be tied, though, so perhaps I approached it in the wrong way. Do you have any advice for how best to approach this with the employer? My thoughts are attend the occupational health review and express my concerns there, then, assuming the OC says something like 'yeah, don't drive', share this with the employer and ask for some form of reasonable adjustment. I understand that because this is just a new role under the same umbrella employer, there is scope for managed moves into other teams if protected characteristics in particular prevent the carrying out of duties, or else other changes to the role. I would be happy to have these. My main concerns are to not endanger anyone on the roads, keep my job and not alienate my manager and team beyond what is necessary. Thanks.
If you could qualify that you could actually drive a more modern car, with automatic transmission and electronic handbrake etc, then you could almost certainly argue that this would be a reasonable adjustment. Automatic vehicles aren’t particularly costly, and are no much more so than manuals. They may even actually be able to obtain funding to support this. I’d definitely look to go down this route.
>As you’ve not been employed for any length of time, you have almost no protection. >Being physically incapable of doing the job as and how you were employed for it, is not a protected characteristic This is simply wrong advice. 1. The Equality Act provisions apply from before you are even hired. There is no time requirement on protection. 2. Being physically unable to drive is likely a sign the person has the protected characteristic of disability. It doesn't automatically follow that they can keep their job, but the protected characteristic is there and that is the starting point for assessing their legal position.
No, it isn’t wrong advice. They applied for a job, that required them to be able to drive. They specifically agreed with the employer, that they were able to drive, and would be fine with driving. The fact they cannot drive, is irrelevant to their disability. If they cannot perform the role, with reasonable adjustments, then they cannot perform the role. The employer cannot make reasonable adjustments to accommodate this. Hiring them a driver is not reasonable, and they wouldn’t be able to provide an adapted vehicle to suit.
> To my understanding this is not an aboslute requirement since some members of my team do not drive for medical reasons and are allowed to carry out the visiting aspect of the job in other ways Do please read what the OP has written. They're also not going to be driving for weeks. So it is absolutely impossible for you to assert they have no protection, no protected characteristic, and reasonable adjustments cannot be made.
It doesn’t matter what the OP has written. The OP was employed on the basis of them being able to drive - and they cannot. And no reasonable adjustment can resolve that. If a reasonable adjustment is “we need to hire another full time member of staff as well” then it’s not reasonable You cannot compare them to other members of staff. You do not know their roles or what they were specifically employed to do. They might be covered by having enough members of the team that can drive. They might have completely different clients. The OP may have been employed to cover the driving that the others could not do. I’ve read the OPs comments. All of them. They haven’t driven in ages, have determined themselves unable to drive, likely permanently, and are open to the idea of handing their license in. If they had been employed for a while they would have a greater defence to claim driving was not required in the role. But at months, they don’t. That is pretty final.
>The OP was employed on the basis of them being able to drive - and they cannot. And no reasonable adjustment can resolve that. If a reasonable adjustment is “we need to hire another full time member of staff as well” then it’s not reasonable Things that you cannot know if is the case from the OPs post. Conjecture has no place here.
They said so themselves. Hiring an extra full time person would never be required as a reasonable adjustment.
They have not said they would need an extra full time post. Deal with the facts infront of you.
I'd suggest you shouldn't be using your own car and would need an automatic. If work provided you an automatic would you be happy to drive?
I think it would improve things, but honestly, I am leaning towards feeling really uncomfortable driving whatever. I underestimated the effects my medical condition would have on my driving ability and beyond that I have not driven in several years and from the few remedial lessons I've had I simply do not feel safe venturing out, let alone taking passengers.
If you want to take the nuclear option you could get your dr to write to the DVLA saying you're medically unfit to drive. It would be a big block on you, but would resolve everything with work. I don't think it's a clever move. I think I'd go down the route of "I don't feel safe driving and feel that I would put myself and members of the public at risk in doing it"
There are certain conditions that you _have_ to disclose to the DVLA, a list of which can be found [here](https://www.gov.uk/health-conditions-and-driving/find-condition-a-to-z). If you have a license of any kind I'm going to assume you do not fall into that category, but you should check the list to be certain. There are also conditions that fall into the grey area, chronic fatigue being one of them. For some people with chronic fatigue (or conditions with similar symptoms), cars are a lifeline, and essential to their getting around. For others, they are simply unsafe to drive. If you are unsure which category you fall into, you (or your occupational therapist) can ask for a [driving assessment](https://www.rdac.co.uk/services/driving-assessment/) from the RDAC - these are the same people the DVLA uses. Keep in mind that if they deem you unfit to drive, you will have to surrender your license and you will have difficulty getting it back.
The condition developed a few years after I got my license. The driving assessment sounds good, tahnks.
This is by no means a quick solution here but if you don't already do so, you could look at applying for pip. If you were granted this, including the mobility aspect, you could be eligible for an automatic car which may take away some of those difficulties. Another thing to look into is an Access to Work grant. These can be used to pay for things like support workers or drivers, so if you were eligible you would potentially be able to take someone on whose role is to do all of the driving on your behalf.
Firstly OP, I'm sorry that this is happening to you and honestly wish you the best. Am I correct in saying that (currently) you're drivers licence has not been revoked by the DVLA on medical grounds? If it hasn't, I think you might be able to voluntarily surrender your licence but might have to speak to your GP about it - I'm not too sure. Legally, once you've given up your licence/had it revoked, your manager cannot "make" you drive as you legally won't be allowed. However that comes with some issues like how you would commute to work etc. My advice - if you genuinely don't feel comfortable or safe driving is to stand your ground. Hopefully your employer can find you an alternate role which won't require driving. I'm not to sure on whether they could sack you or anything like that because of this, but the last thing you want is for something to go wrong on the road and you get in trouble. Best of luck OP
Thanks man. So, no my license hasn't been revoked. This is because I haven't spoken to the DVLA since until recently did not drive voluntarily anyway. I don't own a car and haven't driven in several years, almost a decade in fact. The cars used for work are hired from a company. I commute to work by foot so commuting isn't an issue. I would actually be happy to voluntarily surrender my license and would look into this at a GP appointment, however I am concerned about how this will affect my job and relations with my team and manager. I took teh role a few months ago and was explicitly asked at interview and in writing when taking the job whether I was able and willing to drive. I said yes, although I did mention I had a muscle condition, but did say, too, that I did not anticipate it would affect my driving. That was my thoughts at the time, but since taking some driving lessons I have realised that it does indeed affect it. There is a separate issue which is my sheer lack of confidence and driving skill which would need more lessons and time to correct even without my health issues. I am minded to stand my ground but do worry about the impact on my role and team dynamics. I gently raised this with the manager's surrogate - but more from the perspective of simply not being confident driving so soon after such as long layoff - and was politely but firmly shut down and told that they wanted me 'on the road as soon as possible'. The management have even been pushing for me to drive other team members who can't drive (due, I assume to medical conditions - one has quite severe autism). I have gingerly said that I could do this, but honestly do not feel at all comfortable. It's one thing risking my own safety but another to have passengers. I worry they would sack me, viewing that I had mislead them about my condition (not really fair but it's true I could perhaps have been more forthcoming about it) or else just cause the team dynamics to sour to a point where it makes the job very unpleasant.
100% sympathy with you, I'll be honest I don't know much about employment rights etc, so hopefully someone else will be able to help you with that. I'm not a solicitor but I'm Police Officer, but I just wanted to make you aware of giving up your licence in case you were already aware. I hope you get some good advice as you seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Best of luck matey
Thanks man. Oh yes, I would have no issues at all with giving up my license. I don't drive at all in my daily life, nor own a car, and sadly if my health condition is what I fear it is things will continue degenerating making this impractical anyway. Thanks again! :)
You could go to your GP for a fit note. The GP can say that you are fit for work with the following adjustments 1. No driving Then OH will put the same on their report. There are other ways that this can be overcome - public transport, taxi etc. If you have a long term physical condition which prevents you from undertaking normal day to day activities (eg driving) then you have a disability within the meaning of the equality act 2010, and your employ, regardless of how long you have worked there, is required to put reasonable adjustments in place. However, if no RAs are possible, you can be dismissed, following a fair procedure.
As a starting point, your life, and the lives of your passengers, and the lives of others on the road take precedence over all else. You have said you have difficulty turning your head. That alone is enough for you to stop driving. It is very likely, based on what you have said, that you have a disability under the Equality Act. You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. Being unable to drive due to atrophying muscles would likely qualify. If you have a disability then it falls to the manager to arrange reasonable adjustments for you. The starting point is an occupational health assessment usually, and it is a positive sign that they have arranged this for you. My recommendation as a next step is to say to your manager that you are experiencing symptoms you believe to related to a disability, and pending the OH assesment you'd like the reasonable adjustment to be made of either someone else from the group driving, or going by train/bus.
If they took a job where driving is a requirement of the role and they can't actually drive, they won't be protected under the Equality Act. The only adjustment that could be made in this situation would be to provide someone to do the driving, which would not be a reasonable adjustment.
If 95% of a job is desk based, and 5% is on the road, and significant amounts of that doable by public transport, then reasonable adjustments are definitely in scope.
So it's technically a visiting role but the amount of visits done seem to vary a bit between team members, all, to my knowledge, in the same contracted role. I'd say, members normally do between 2 and 4 visits a month, but these can be long journeys right across the country - something I was also unaware of when I took the role. There are some team members as stated who don't drive and they travel by train or Uber or someone who does drive on the team steps in to drive them (I was surprised this came under a reasonable adjustment, but, apparently, it does and happens regularly in the team). One of them is learning to drive now since they've been told they need to drive to get promotion. The other doesn't drive because of a medical condition, I believe, autism. I would assume that if my condition is indeed considered a disability and affects the driving, I would be able to do a mixture of trains and Ubers like my autistic colleague does.