What if I get RSI and lose my job?

Your employer has a legal duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act to provide you with safe working conditions, and a common law duty of care towards you.

But your precise legal rights will depend on how long you worked for your employer before the date of dismissal, and how serious your injury is.

• If you worked for your employer for less than a year, then you cannot claim unfair dismissal, except in certain specific circumstances, such as if you are sacked for being pregnant. See the workSMART guide to your rights.
• If you have worked for more than a year and your employer dismisses you for no good reason, or without following proper procedures, then you may have an unfair dismissal case.
• If the way in which you were dismissed was not in accordance with your contract (eg you weren’t given your notice) then you may well be able to bring a claim of wrongful dismissal in the tribunal. This does not depend on length of service.
• In some circumstances people have won cases for constructive dismissal when they have had no alternative but to walk out of a job – ie their employer was, by persistently and dangerously failing to safeguard their health and safety, in fundamental breach of the employment contract.
• But while winning a claim for unfair or wrongful dismissal will depend on a number of factors, you should be able to make a personal injury claim for damages, covering pain and suffering and loss of earnings, if your employer has been negligent – ie not taken steps to provide safe working conditions, reasonably foreseeably leading to you suffering an injury.   Rail union ASLEF won a ground-breaking judgment on RSI in December 2009.  Three train drivers won compensation totalling more than £22,000 from Arriva Trains Wales after a judge concluded that they developed Carpel Tunnel Syndrome through repetitive work, adopting awkward wrist postures and operating brake and power controls in cramped conditions. Every case is different. For advice, see our personal injury claims section.
•  Regardless of how long you worked for your employer, if you suffer serious injury, then you may also be able to make a claim for disability discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010).   The protection against disability discrimination that was previously set out in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is now located in the EA 2010.  The EA 2010 prohibits unlawful discrimination against a disabled person in employment. Depending on the severity of your injury, your employer may have had a duty to make 'reasonable adjustments' to allow you to continue working, or return to work with alternative duties. There is more about this in the workSMART guide to your rights.