u/summers_tilly

I got made redundant in Jan last year. My husband in March. Most stressful time of our lives burning through redundancy money, savings. Taking mortgage holiday and loans. Trying to stay upbeat for our kids and each other but feeling miserable on the inside. We both start our new jobs next month and I can’t wait to get back to normal and start building our lives back up again.

My mum has worked as a customer service advisor at a library (employer is the council) since 1997. She's 66 years old and currently works part-time 3 days a week. In the last couple of years she's taken time off for sickness. This year, she has progressed to stage 2 sickness and has had to have a meeting with OH. My mum made the requests below, but these were dismissed by OH. I wanted to check whether this was correct and her requests were unreasonable.

My mum's conditions:

• Type 2 diabetes (controlled by tablets). She has been told by the doctor she needs to exercise more and control her diet.
• Vertigo - she gets dizziness, headaches, loss of balance, feels unstable on her feet. She has fallen at home due to imbalance. She has taken time off due to Vertigo.
• Asthma - she has bad asthma, controlled by inhaler. In February, she developed really bad wheezing and coughing. She could barely eat or sleep but still went into work. She collapsed and was taken to hospital in an ambulance. She had a severe chest infection and was off work for 3 weeks which triggered the stage 2.

Adjustment requests:

1. Part-time workers at the library have no set work pattern e.g. week1 could be mon/wed/fri and week2 could be sun/tues/thurs. The timings also vary randomly e.g. 9am-5pm, 12pm-7pm, 1pm-8pm. Request: to have set working days/times to help manage diabetes, giving the opportunity to attend regular over 60s exercise classes and have more control over eating habits. At least 2 set days/times a week.
2. Sometimes staff are required to cover other libraries, taking the bus up to 45 mins away. Other staff make excuses/kick up a fuss, so my mum is selected all the time. This would mean 1pm-5pm working in her regular library, then taking the bus to a different library until 8pm. In winter, the cold weather triggers her asthma, makes her more vulnerable to infections. She generally doesn't take public transport alone due to her vertigo, as the movement triggers her symptoms. Request: to minimise her trips to these other libraries or at least spread it out with other staff.

Both these requests have been dismissed by OH. If that's fair then I'll drop it, but I want to support my mum as she is very hardworking and honest but finds it hard to speak up for herself. If there are any other ways I can approach it, please do let me know.