Question
Should I be able to take time off work for clinic appointments?
16 June 2011. Related: All topics.
I need time off work for my clinic appointments.
My employer says I can either make the time up or take it as annual leave.
Is this right?
Thank you.
Answer
This is likely to depend on the details in your job contract and your allowance for sick leave.
For more specific advice about your employment rights it would be worth contacting the legal advisors at THT on 0808 802 1221. They will know more about the legal aspects of your rights at work.
There’s no general right in employment law for time off for medical appointments.
But if your employer is aware that you have HIV, there are extra protections under the Equality Act. You could request time off or flexibility in working hours so that you could attend the appointments. If you request this as a “reasonable adjustment” under the Equality Act, your employer should realise that they are obliged to consider the request.
What is judged to be “reasonable” depends on the particular circumstances of you, the employer and the job. Allowing you to be absent during normal working hours, but making the hours up later, may well be considered to be “reasonable”.
For more information:
http://www.nat.org.uk/Media%20library/Files/Policy/2010/5180-NAT-A5-HIV-Work-Employees.pdf
And for some quite in-depth information:
http://www.aidsmap.com/Employment/page/1497499/