Employee FWP disability discrimination
Hi there,
I am hoping to get some advice about employee rights for requesting a FWP under section 65(1) of the Fair work act for employees with disabilities.
I work in a a corporate frontline role for a Big4, I have worked in this role for over a year. It is a WFH call centre role with the only exception of going into office twice per month to meet expectations. Everything is done remotely, there is no in office connections or meetings. The role is the same at home as it is in office.
I requested a FWP under section 65(1) to work full time from home as I have a disability. I provided a doctors certificate as that requested which outlined my conditions, symptoms & why I would benefit from working from home full time.
My manager at the time approved it and said to me that it should not be a problem they will renew it every 3 months as that is the way the system works.
Since then I was moved to a new manager and different reporting line (SM). My FWP is expiring and I have requested it to be renewed again. They have come back with a response that I am concerned about, there a few red flags that I feel is leading towards discrimination. They are trying to frame it as I am not fit to work when I am very fit and successful in my role and am asking for adjustments to support my disability. I feel that the manager doesn’t like me and now that they know I have conditions they are trying to make it seem like I’m not fit.
The response to my request said this:
For flexible working arrangements, medical certificates can only support an arrangement for a maximum of 3 months. As yours has expired, we will require an updated certificate to support the next 3 months. They’ve said please ask your doctor to include an expiry date on the certificate. They’ve also said we would appreciate any information on your treatment plan and expected recovery outcomes in relation to your ability to return safely to work and meet the expectation of 2 a month in office.
This last request concerns me. I have not had any time off, I do not need a return to work as I am not stating I am unwell and can’t go to office. I am asking for flexible agreement to help manage my disability as per my rights. I don’t believe that under the fairwork act they would have grounds to deny this given they cannot prove any affect on the business as this role is a work from home role. I do not have to legally disclose my treatment plan and I do not know if they have legal justification to request another new dr certificate.
Can anyone with experience in these type of matters give some perspective on what this means? Are they trying to discriminate me now that they know I have a condition? Would this be considered a decline of the FWA request or do they have grounds to ask for updated documents?
My abilities in my role have never been in question, I have worked in senior capacity and have continued to succeed in my role with never any problems.
Thank you in advance for your help 🙏