Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service has become the latest fire service employer to pledge to protect any of its employees who are diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Although some protections are offered for terminally ill employees, the law still allows employers to dismiss workers if they fail a capability assessment with ‘reasonable adjustments’.
The Dying to Work pledge asks employers to voluntarily recognise a terminal illness as a ‘protected characteristic’. This would mean the employee would have a protected period where they could not be dismissed as a result of their condition.
Stephen Rule, secretary of the FBU in Warwickshire, said: “Being diagnosed with a terminal illness is something that most of us don’t want to even think about, but it is important to have safeguards in place. Any one of us could be diagnosed with a terminal illness at any point”.
“Having Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service sign the Charter is extremely reassuring to its employees. The FBU support this positive and humanitarian move that would provide individuals with the dignity and security they deserve. I would urge all other fire and rescue services to follow suit”.
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue are the latest fire service to sign up to the scheme following Staffordshire and the West Midlands.
For more information about the Dying to Work campaign, please visit: www.dyingtowork.co.uk
