I had a hypo at work, can my boss fire me?

[Alisongood]

Hi
I am new I have worked in a nursing home for 26 years. Before work my bm was 13.9 so I missed lunch, we went to the cinema room which was dark hot and stuffy. I had a headache and felt sickly I ended up falling asleep for about 5 min but could hear everything going on I dropped my coffee cup which I woke to straight away. It dropped to 3.2 can my boss fire me? I’m terrified I will lose my job. I do one to one with a lady as she can be a bit inappropriate if I was fully asleep she would of jabbed me in the ribs or I would of felt her move. Please help me my anxiety is through the roof I’m not in till Wednesday and that’s when the matrons in ( they are new management since September)

 

[There is no Spoon]

can my boss fire me?

Hi @Alisongood there are procedures in place to protect you.

Its very rare that companies fire people out of hand they have to show they have gone through the correct procedure verbal warning, written warning ect..

I do want to express my concern though if your falling asleep at work regularly you could be a danger to yourself and those in your charge.

Are you doing ok?

 

[Jaylee]

Hi
I am new I have worked in a nursing home for 26 years. Before work my bm was 13.9 so I missed lunch, we went to the cinema room which was dark hot and stuffy. I had a headache and felt sickly I ended up falling asleep for about 5 min but could hear everything going on I dropped my coffee cup which I woke to straight away. It dropped to 3.2 can my boss fire me? I’m terrified I will lose my job. I do one to one with a lady as she can be a bit inappropriate if I was fully asleep she would of jabbed me in the ribs or I would of felt her move. Please help me my anxiety is through the roof I’m not in till Wednesday and that’s when the matrons in ( they are new management since September)

Hi @Alisongood ,

Welcome to the forum.

Apart from spilling coffee.
Is there anything else from the incident?
If no one had cause to notice or complain.
In my experience, I see no cause for escalating to the point of “disciplinary action.”

 

[Lakeslover]

Hi @Alisongood welcome to the forum,

If you’ve worked there that long you are protected by employment legislation (as well as disability legislation) so it’s very unlikely they could fire you if it’s the first time it’s happened.

Of course they also have a responsibility to keep the people being looked after safe as well.

I would take a bit of time to think about why it dropped so low and have a plan to stop it happening again that you can explain to the manager if they do query it.

 

[searley]

Well protection under the equality act *may* depend on whether it’s a declared illness or not…. Not declaring a chronic illness that may affect your ability to work can be grounds for dismissal in its own right.. if however the company do know then you do have protection under the equality act you you can not be fired because of your disability

Now…. Even so, even if they didn’t know, you have been at the company long enough that you can not ‘just be fired’ employment law gives you a lot of protection after a few years of working somewhere and to be fired you pretty much have to commit gross misconduct

And I think you could never class accidentally dropping a coffee as gross misconduct I think there would be very good chances of winning at tribunal

I however may be a good time to discuss risks and action plans with you employer

 

[Duncan Mackay]

Whilst agreeing with most of what @searley says, you cannot be fairly dismissed for a failure to inform your employer of a disability - it is the employee's choice.

What if an employee does not disclose a medical condition? - Howarths HR

What if an employee does not disclose a medical condition? Can I request medical information from my employees? When requesting the completion of medical questionnaires, the first thing to consider is the reason you need the information. Depending on the nature of the role, an offer of...

howarths-uk.com

 

[searley]

Whilst agreeing with most of what @searley says, you cannot be fairly dismissed for a failure to inform your employer of a disability - it is the employee's choice.

What if an employee does not disclose a medical condition? - Howarths HR

What if an employee does not disclose a medical condition? Can I request medical information from my employees? When requesting the completion of medical questionnaires, the first thing to consider is the reason you need the information. Depending on the nature of the role, an offer of...

howarths-uk.com

And even this states…

Termination of employment in these circumstances could be a fair dismissal provided that you follow a fair procedure and you notify the employee at the time of recruitment that a failure to disclose medical information

So yes there is still a risk