A bit of advice please
A family member has just been made redundant, and was chosen based on his attendance record. He received very high marks in all other aspects of his work.
The reason that he did not score so well on his attendance was due to two spells of absence that spanned a few weeks, both of which were caused by work related incidents. The first was due to whiplash that he obtained in an accident, when he was a passenger in the vehicle that was being driven by a colleague.
The second was due to a hernia operation that he had to have, due to having to lift heavy equipment on and off the van - equipment that is so heavy that the manufacturers advise that it is lifted by two people, or a ramp. He did tell his employers on several occasions that it was damaging his back, but was told to just get on with it. Eventually, they did concede that he needed a ramp on the van, so provided one, but his manager took it and put it on his own van instead!
Over time, his back problems worsened, and it was also discovered that he had a hernia, and needed an operation. This meant that he was off work for four weeks.
The company were paying half his chiropractor fees, which implies that they realised that his back problems were caused by the heavy lifting. However, while he was off work after the hernia operation, they only paid him statutory sick pay.
He never had any intentions of taking the company to court but now that he has been made redundant based on his attendance record, he feels that they have gone too far, and he would now like to know whether has grounds to sue them. He isn't asking for too much, but would like, at the very least, his normal pay for the four weeks that he was off after his hernia operation, and a better redundancy payment than what they have offered, which is less than a months pay.
Does anybody have any advice as to whether he should pursue this or not, and if so, can