I dont really moan about how the MS bothers me day to day as I kind of think the more positive I keep the lelss it can bother me. But I am now thinking maybe I should moan alot more at work …On friday when it started snowing I asked if I could leave at 12 so I got home before the trains stopped (anyone using southeastern will feel my pain here) …my main boss was absolutly fine but the deputy kept saying well just wait, see what the weather is doing etc (i already knew it was settling where i live)
Anyway, after a while I said look, my trains get stuck and then I have no emergency route home…unless I walk.
His reply.
‘well why cant you, you are young’
Its about 12 miles, on a nice day I would find that hard but in the snow and ice as well… I told him i have a disabled bagde as I cant walk that far and his reply to that was ‘how the hell did you get one of them’
there 0 chance of them understanding-those of us that have ms dont understand most of the time! (so varied)
moaning wont achieve owt-but saying how u are truthfully will get u some respect and hopefully a little understanding. see it as an opportunity to teach the uneducated! then its up to them what they do with their new knowledge…
take care and keep safe (from idiots as well as the weather!)
I think you’re right your positive- get-on-with-it attitude has done you no favours but this guy takes the biscuit for insensitivity!
I think this may be the moment to get something settled about your travel home in bad weather. Letting you out early is exactly the sort of “reasonable adjustment” that companies are supposed to make for employees with disabilities.
MS is classed as a disability by the equalities act even though the outside appearance of MSers may look “normal” I think this is an issue that needs to be set in stone and not left to the whims of an a**hole on the day. If you involve OT or Access to Work it should be possible to set out some things that will help you at work and at the same time underline the legitimacy of your requirements.
I did have a meeting with HR a while back so I might mention this to them …I have my appraisal this week too with my otehr boss, who is a little more understanding. I am going to mention it
Hi Asking to leave early in snow sounds reasonable to me. I think you need to see if you can get this put down as a reasonable adjustment. However I also agree with Ellie, moaning won’t get you anywhere, so ask for a meeting and state your case in a clear, calm way. Tbh I don’t think they will refuse you if you go about it in this manner, because your request sounds very reasonable. I don’t have such an arrangement at my work because I am in town and have the car, havin said that we do let people leave early if the weather is very bad, especiaflly if they stay out of town. I live in the north of Scotland. Cheryl:-)
Since returning on a phased return to work after having 6 months off sick due to symptoms and treatments (steroid injections, lumbar puncture etc) associated with MS I have not been able to return to contracted hours and I think this has become an issue for my boss as I’m still being paid contracted hours.
My job involves working Monday, Wednesday and Friday one week, and Monday, Wednesday Saturday and Sunday the next. After my first weekend shift I worked he following Monday with fatigue hitting on the my day off (Thursday). I felt exhausted so just rested all day and ensured I got a good nights sleep, ready for work the next day. However after working last weekend the fatigue hit like a train on the Monday lunchtime and when I left work at 3pm I burst into tears (the uncontrollable crying lasted 2 days). I just felt I was letting everyone down, every inch of my body hurt, slurred speech, twitching arm muscles and even trying to sleep seemed like such an effort. I was almost bed bound, only managing to crawl to the toilet when required and then back again so on the Tuesday I contacted work to advise them there was no way I would be able to go into work on the Wednesday. I asked to take the day as holiday because I was conscious of the amount of sick leave I’d had last year.
The next day I had a telephone call from work asking if I could go in for a meeting on Thursday just to see how I was doing. Thursday I had a 2nd brain MRI Scan appointment and thankfully I was feeling a bit better, well enough to get up, have something to eat, shower and dress myself since Monday!!! I went into work following the appointment and couldn’t believe the opening line that greeted me at the start of the meeting:
“We need to find some kind of adjustment to working conditions or dismissal!!!” Did I just hear that right? They told me they wanted to do the best for me but at the end of the day it’s a business and reception needs to be manned from 9-5pm Monday - Fridays and 10-3 at the weekends. Even explaining to them that I’d had the MS Therapist, MS Nurse and GP phoning me on the Tuesday and Wednesday as I was in such a state with the fatigue to reassure me I wasn’t going mad didn’t seem to sit with them, with a comment of “well GP’s don’t know you really do they!” I think I’ve been extremely fortunate in that since diagnosis my GP has phoned me on occasion just to see if I was ok and if there was anything I needed clarifying regarding general symptoms.
I advised there was absolutely no way I could work 3 consecutive days and so we looked at working 9-5 Wednesdays and 10-3 Saturday and Sundays, giving me Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays off each week. This is fine for me as my daughter is 21 and I don’t need to keep weekends free, plus there is no management in at the weekends so the pace is a lot less regimented (if that makes sense).They just have to speak to the other receptionist to see what she would be able to do but until then I’m taking it a day at a time - only going into work for 6 hours max.
I also explained that, once I started my treatment of Rebif at the end of March/April then maybe the fatigue wouldn’t be as intense as it has been over the last month and I may be able to return to my original contracted hours in the near future. It didn’t seem like this was soon enough for them.
I know my rights - I know they can’t sack me and I know they have to make reasonable adjustments to help me continue at work but my gut feeling is that they may try and make it difficult for me to continue there if the other receptionist can’t do any other shifts and so I end up leaving.
Looking forward to your opinions and thanks for reading
Just to help you in your negotiations with management I think you should be aware that your employer has to “consider” reasonable adjustments. Reasonable is in the eye of the beholder and it may be that what you want is not possible. If your company can show that they would be unable to make the necessary adjustments and give good reasons why not they are not obliged to do so. It does seem that they have offered a working routine that would suit you and I hope that you are able to make it happen.
If you are unable to fulfill your contract due to ill health your employer is able to terminate your contract after a reasonable period of sick leave (This varies from place to place but you would usually expect to be having this conversation after about 6 months) It is not unfair dismissal if you are too sick to work. An employer is not obliged to keep your job open indefinitely.
If you feel that you need help negotiating your conditions I would suggest CAB or ACAS who will point you in the right direction.
Thanks so much for your advice - I think after how the beginning of the week started I just wasn’t prepared but now the fatigue has subsided a bit I feel I can discuss further with them to find a happy medium.