Issue at work, where to go from here?

LegacyUser

OK so a little background first:
About a year ago I my foot started hurting and during the year I went to the doctor because the pain was begining to become unbearable everytime I tried walking. Doc told me nothing was wrong, and x-rays showed no broken bones and they gave me a note for a week off work to rest it and all that jazz, but my foot was still sore, but I just carried on as normal.

Skip forward a few months and work calls me into the office and informs me I will be getting transferred to another department which I wasn't to happy about but it was thrown onto me and I couldn't really say no (I'd also like to point out that they did this while the manager of my original department was away on holiday and had no clue, not sure if this matters, but at the time to me it seemed like a massive deal). Now the floor in my new department is very different to my original department and is an incredibly hard surface and has made my foot even worse and some mornings I literally cannot walk for the first 10-15 minutes after getting up due to unbearable pain. So I went back to the doctor (a different one this time) and she examined me and took my blood and informed me she would be testing me for arthritus and other various conditions (and on top of that she said I have unusually high arches and my feet roll inwards when I walk causing ball of foot and arch pain, so i'm now wearing supports etc but they will take a long time to start working properly).
She gave me a letter to give to my employer saying that it would be preferable if I could return to my previous role (a sitting down one) rather than remain in my current one (running around for 8+ hours on the hard surfaces with no rest). I took the letter to the manager and she informs me that if I'm not fit to work in my current department, then I'm not fit to work at all, apparently this is 'company policy'. So I took the letter off her and I said that we were going to pretent for the time being that I had never given it to her and she agreed and told me to think about it and then come back to her. We haven't spoken about it since.
Now, say someone in my present department were to get pregnant (and there have been two girls this has happened to in the year i've been working at this place) they would be moved to my original department because they are unable to work in my present department. And imo that condridicts what the manager told me (not able to work in one, but can work in another).

I'm just wondering where I should go from here? It's really difficult for me in the current department and i'm also exceptionally unhappy in there and am desperate to go back to my original department.

LegacyUser

This is a tricky one alright. What you need to do is find out whether you employer has any obligation to take your condition into account when allocating your role.

The very first thing I would do is try to get a full diagnosis of what exactly is wrong with you as soon as possible. I know you said your doctor is running tests, so it sounds like you've got this well in hand, but the main thing is don't delay on anything. Being able to say exactly what the problem is will be very beneficial in the event of any negotiation with your employer.

Secondly, you mentioned that your previous boss was away when you were transferred and unaware of it, which kind of gives me the impression that you think they wouldn't have allowed it had he been there. If you think your former boss is the kind of person you could approach informally and off the record, then have a chat with them. You never know, they may be able to swing it that you are brought back, which would probably be the best solution in terms of not creating a fuss.

If that's not a goer, take it to your union rep, if you are in a union. Union's have way more experience with employment law than you or I and should be able to advise you on your rights. Get advice from them first and depending on what you here you could ask them to make representations on your behalf to management.

If you don't have a union, I'd start looking at employment law myself. Citizensinformation.ie has a good summary of a lot of stuff like this. I think the Equality Authority is the statutory body for a lot of this stuff (.i.e discrimination on the grounds of disability/illness), so it might be worth giving them a shout. If they can't advise you they might be able to point you in the right direction.

The final option is probably talking to a solicitor who specialises in employment law, which can be expensive but at least they might cut to the chase and outline the options.