Ethics Guidance for Occupational Health Practice 9th Edition - Book - Page 86
4.76. Ill health retirement is often viewed by workers and managers as an alternative
to resignation, redundancy or dismissal. Tribunals have held that, where the
prognosis about a worker’s medical condition is uncertain, the employer should
consider whether the worker might qualify for ill health retirement, or whether
they should remain in employment while further medical advice is sought,
before making the decision to dismiss. Even if the worker has applied for ill
health retirement benefits, the employer must ensure that any decisions are
made fairly and in accordance with the organisation’s internal procedures and
relevant legislation such as the Employment Rights Act and the
Equality Act. Only when these aspects of the case have been properly dealt with
should consideration be made about eligibility for ill health retirement benefits.
4.77. Eligibility for an early or enhanced pension because of ill health is dependent
on the scheme member meeting the criteria set out in the rules of the scheme.
The occupational health professional must understand the rules and eligibility
criteria they are being asked to assess a worker against and must apply them
fairly without favour to the worker or the pension fund.
4.78. Criteria vary between schemes. In the public sector, some pension schemes are
laid down in statutory regulations and decisions are susceptible to judicial
review. It is essential that occupational health professionals are aware of the
wording of the scheme in question and any official guidance and case law that
has interpreted its meaning. The transposition of words and phrases can alter
the meaning significantly, e.g. ‘permanent incapacity due to ill health’ is a more
stringent requirement than ‘incapacity due to permanent ill health’. If the
criteria include reference to the worker’s job, as is common, the occupational
health professional should have suitable and sufficient knowledge of what that
work involves so that a valid judgement can be made and opinion offered.
4.79. The means of determining whether or not an individual is likely to meet the
pension scheme criteria will vary on a case-by-case basis. However, evidence
will normally need to assess capability to meet the requirements of the job, as
well as providing objective medical evidence about the illness or injury to reach
a diagnosis and prognosis. In most cases this evidence can be obtained from
the worker’s occupational health clinical record and/or their general practitioner
records, but where this is deficient, independent examinations and/or
investigations may be necessary.
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