Work paid Contacts or Glasses

[Meg888]

Hi. My work pays for our glasses, as we all have to spend a prolonged amount of time using a pc. I was wondering if Contact Lenses could be claimed for as opposed to glasses? I've looked through the handbook and it does not state clearly that glasses and only glasses are supplied. Nobody seems to know the answer, can anyone please advise?

[237SJ]

I have no idea of your work contract but I would think their way of thinking is that a pair of glasses is a finite expense but as most contacts are daily/monthly etc they would have an ongoing expense.

[woofgang]

Why don't you just ask? It will be a firm to firm thing so any answer given on here won't be definitive unless posted by the decision maker in your firm :-).

[mccfluff]

you need to ask your hr department what the policy is as it differs from co to co

[hc4361]

This is what your employer is legally obliged to do:
You have the right to a free eyesight test if you use, or are about to use, a VDU a lot during work hours. You can also get more free tests if recommended by your optician.
If you are prescribed glasses to help you work with a VDU, your employer must pay for a basic pair of glasses, provided they are needed especially for your work.


Unless your contract specifies otherwise, you are not entitled to employer funded contact lenses. In fact the whole purpose of glasses for VDU use is not to correct your eyesight but to help reduce glare and eyestrain. I would be extremely surprised if you are entitled to free contact lenses.

[Meg888]

Our HR Dept is unsure of it, however, they are trying to say we are only allowed glasses. The boss said he would agree to pay them as opposed to glasses. But as it's not clearly defined in the handbook, HR are making noises about it, saying it's not allowed, even though they are not sure themselves?

[mccfluff]

HC has given you the legal basic they have to do anything else is company policy and that is for them to decide.

for exmaple we pay for employees to be part of a healthcare scheme which covers glass's dentist etc. If you want glasses or contacts you can get them and claim back up to the limit on the policy, but that is just our policy

[woofgang]

where I worked (NHS PCT) managers held the budget and could over rule HR rules in the employees favour if there was a good reason to do so and no increase in expenditure so eg if you had excema behind the ears and the glasses would irritate then we could put the cost of the glasses towards contact lenses but not cover the full amount. BUT if the employee needed glasses for general living outside of work then no payment for glasses would be made.

[factor-fiction]

The answer from hc4361 is good.
Unless there was an obscure medical reason why a basic pair of glasses wouldn't suffice I can't see why anyone would expect the employer to pay significantly more for contact lenses just because you prefer them. They simply need to provide you with the tools for the job. They could even insist you hand them in at the end of each day if they wanted.
If I were an employer I wouldn't take too kindly to an employee rocking the boat on this issue

[joeluke]

Meg888.....your employer is willing to pay for glasses for computer use, asking them to pay for contact lenses is taking the p1$$