Hi all,
I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and have been trying to carry on working full time for the last 9 months. My employer started off ok but over the last 6 months or so has been piling on the pressure and adding weekly to my work load. Ive had meetings with them and broken dowm quite a few times in the office. I hae also kept them informed of hospital appts and changes in meds. ive been in contact with my union and they say i am being bullied and advised that I see my GP for something in writing. i saw my GP yesterday morning and broke down in his office, I was asked to take some tests and he spent a long time talking to me. He advised that due to my illness and the added presure of work he thinks I am seriously depressed. He has made me make an appt with a therapist and said that i will need proper anti depressents on top of my usual drugs. He wrote me a fit to work note ticking all the boxes( reduction in hours,duties, adaptaions) and said that i have to realise i cant carry on as if nothing is wrong. i went to work and had a meeting with them. they took the note and seemed surprised he thought i was depressed and said exactly what sdid he think they should do. I got upset again and they said would speak to HR & OC. I was then sent out to my desk to carry on as if nothing had happenned. I have been asked for consent so they can ask my GP for a medical report as well. I came into work today and nothing has been mentioned, except one comment about did i feel better now id had time to think and sleep on it!!! im wondering now where i stand, as it doesnt look as though they are doing anything and i am due to see my GP again monday.
Sorry for the lost post but i wanted to include as much as i could remember.
Hi Emma, oh love, this is a right old pickle, eh?
What can I say to help?
maybe go see the GP on Monday and tell him how you are feeling. Does he really think you are fit to work, cos it doesnt really sound like it to me.
If you really dont feel well enough to wrok, you`ll have to say so and turn in sick notes. maybe your hours could be reduced, eh?
I hope you can rest this weekend.
luv Pollx
hello emmacar, it sounds like an awful work situation to me and you are right at the end of your rope in having to cope with it. I don’t know how you can be expected to deal with the physical adjustments at work if you are feeling so fragile mentally. Would it be possible to see if your GP could sign you off for a while because of the depression and your stressful work situation? Even a week or two would help you regroup and give time for the anti depressants to begin to work and once you feel better mentally it will be easier for you to sort out the work situation. What do work want you to provide from your GP in writing? It may be confirmation of your medical condition and it is standard practice for occ health to ask for a GP’s report but it will take a while before it filters down to change things in your work situation.
I hope this helps and things improve soon x
If you decide that going off sick (maybe with a view to ending employment?) is not what you want to do then your work situation needs some sorting.
Under the equalities act employers are required to make reasonable adjustments to allow disabled employees to continue to work. The idea is to level the playing field with other workers not to create totally new terms and conditions so it is sometimes limited what can be done and it may not be enough. But that doesn’t mean that your line manager shouldn’t try.
First of all think about what would make it easier for you to carry on – big changes like a change of role or small ones like a decent chair. Then you need to contact Occupational Health and get them to come and meet with you. If you work for a small company without an OH dept then contact Access to Work who will do the same thing.
If this doesn’t get things moving you need to raise a grievance. Get help from ACAS or CAB with this.
I agree 100% with your GP- you can’t carry on as though nothing is wrong. Fibromyalgia is a foul condition and it will have an impact on your ability to work.
Jane
Hi all,
Thanks for your replies. My GP has provided a fit note saying i need reduced hours and duties but they have so far ignored it. He asked me to go back in monday to see him so i am planning to tell him exactly what they have done and see what he says. Its just getting beyond a joke. It must have been 10 minutes yesterday before they told me they are giving me more work to do, and that was after yet another meeting where i cried and told them i cant cope! It feels as though im in some kind of alternate universe where things that happenned 5 minutes before are forgotton or no one can hear me. I dont want to have to go long term sick again, but feel im being forced into it.
Em xx
I was recently forced on the sick because Atossers ignored a doctor’s note to reduce my hours. As I get paid on the sick, saw my GP who gave me a sick note for 2 months. I’m now back at work on a phased return, so my hours are reduced and my two fingers raised to the Atossers.
If you get paid when on the sick, why not do the same? Your employer then doesn’t have a leg to stand on and you will feel better because they forced your hand when you tried to compromise.