I have worked for the same company for 3 years(full time estate agent) and manage well. We have a new area manager who wants to make changes that I won’t be able to do such as one appointment directly after another (I need a break in between), also I should work every other Saturday morning but after a 5 day week i just don’t have the energy, I do have staff in so the office is covered but he wants me to start working them again. He doesn’t know yet that I have MS, when I tell him he won’t be able to either force me to make these changes or worse tell me I’m unable to do my job and demote/sack me is he? I look forward to any advice given Thanks Jane
Hi Jane, No, he can’t sack you - or at least, if he did, he’d be breaking the law, and you’d have a claim against the company. But try not to assume the worst. He can’t possibly make allowances for health issues he does not yet know, so I think the important thing is to get your cards on the table. Were the existing working arrangements arrived at to accommodate your health? If so, then presumably there should be a formal record of that somewhere, and he can’t just come along and overturn it? I think the longer you leave the discussion, the harder it’s going to be, because obviously, if he has all these plans, with no idea that someone on the team can’t do them for health reasons, he’s not going to be very happy if he thinks you sat there and kept quiet, and let him carry on with things that couldn’t happen. I think you need to act quickly to clarify your problem BEFORE these things get set in stone, otherwise he’s going to be faced with looking stupid, and having to backtrack on what he’s already said, which isn’t something any new boss is likely to be pleased about. Speak up sooner rather than later. An employer doesn’t have to do anything to accommodate a problem they don’t even know about, so if you need special arrangements, there’s some responsibility on you to make sure that is known. If you say nothing, but then get stuck with a shift pattern you can’t do, it’s not entirely the employer’s fault. Tina
The company can only make reasonable adjustments if you have told them you have MS - I think you need to speak to the new manager soon so that he is in the picture and can plan accordingly. At the moment he may just think your being awkward as he doesn’t have all the facts.
I have a 1-1 with him this coming week which is when I will be telling of my MS. HR are aware of my MS already, up until now we have controlled our own diary so I have put my own changes in place which do not effect the business. I was concerned that if I tell him I can’t do the changes he could say I’m incapable of holding branch manager status. Thanks for you help