I am on maternity leave and plan to request flexible work from home instead of going back. I think telling them about my diagnosis might make them more likely to agree? If they don’t then I will request voluntary redundancy or a career break…if tgese are also refused then I think the cost of childcare, commuting etc would mean going back full or part time wouldn’t pay…so my association withmy employer would most likely have to end. Do you think then that I have only potential gain and nothing to lose by telling them about the diagnosis? I am currently fine but of course it affects my plans for the future. I think it is pride stopping me…I don’t want to be viewed as a pity case.But if I can gain the right situation for my family, there’s no real reason not to tell is there?
I would definately tell them, then they should be pulling out all the stops to accomodate you.
Don’t let pride stand in the way of doing what’s best for you and your family.
Go for it!
Freckles xxx
Thanks Freckles. Presume I just say in the email something like ‘I have also been diagnosed with a medical condition that makes me anxious to achieve a good work-life balance for my family and I’…and let the manager contact me and I can give specifics then? Serms too much personal detail for an email?
Definitely tell them. It makes it much harder for them to say no as they will be scared of falling foul of the Equality Act. There have to be some perks to this rubbish condition …
Tracey x
I think it’s highly unlikely you will be offered voluntary redundancy, unless there is an initiative already underway, and they are actively seeking applicants (to minimise or avoid compulsory redundancies).
Ill-health and redundancy are two completely unrelated reasons employment might end. Ill-health does not mean you are entitled to ask for - and get - voluntary redundancy. The latter is basically paying people to quit, which is not going to happen unless they’re desperately trying to reduce numbers, and looking for people who might not mind. No employer is going to routinely hand out golden handshakes to people who quit. If they did it for you because you’re sick, it would have to be available also to employees who aren’t sick - because discrimination cuts both ways.
Ill-health retirement is a separate thing. Whether or not you can retire early and start drawing a pension straight away will depend (a) on whether you are part of a company pension scheme anyway, and (b) if so, what the rules of it say. In any event, it’s most unlikely ill-health retirement will be considered in the case of someone who is “fine at the moment”, and has not actually been off sick (maternity and sickness aren’t interchangeable). Usually, you have to have been off work quite some time, and for it to have become clear you are unlikely to be able to return - even in a different capacity, or with adjustments. It’s not usually on offer just because you’ve been diagnosed with something, but are not severely affected at present.
The same with career break, really. If the company already operates such a scheme, your request would have to be considered on a par with everybody else’s - including those who are well. Career break is not sick leave under another name, and you are either on one the other. Had this argument with my own employer - I applied for a career break when there was a call for volunteers, but my application was turned down. At the time, I was recently bereaved, but did NOT consider myself sick, as I had no idea I had MS at that time. So I was outraged to be told I could not have a career break, but that “sick leave” would be looked on favourably. I insisted being bereaved wasn’t: “sick”, and that I did not want “sickness” on my record, when what I’d actually requested was a sabbatical (non health-related). Of course, as it turns out, I was sick - I just didn’t know. I just assumed all the feeling cr*p was from almost two years of watching my father die. So perhaps I should have jumped at the sick leave. But at the time, it was an insult, because I didn’t consider myself ill, and didn’t feel I should have to fib that I was, and have it on my records, whilst others were requesting - and getting - a sabbatical (free of health connotations).
Anyway, sorry for the ramble. Just tread very carefully with ALL these options. Remember that resigning is usually the worst option, because in most cases (unless there happens to be a convenient voluntary scheme), you will leave with absolutely nothing. They’re not going to reward people for jumping ship. There may be the additional problem that you are very limited as to what benefits you can claim - if any - because if you didn’t lose your job, and can’t prove you were forced to stop through ill health (unlikely, if you’re still pretty OK), your unemployment may be seen as voluntary, and therefore not a case for immediate benefits.
Reduced hours, though they may seem very attractive, have far-reaching consequences - not just in your pay now, but in sick pay/pension/redundancy payments you may be entitled to in future, because all will be reduced in proportion to your drop in hours.
I was very lucky I never got round to reducing my hours, though I’d considered it many times. because - guess what? Within a couple of years I was made redundant anyway (nothing to do with health - massive lay-offs at my place). If I’d pressed ahead with going part time - say to a 3-day week - I’d only have got three-fifths of my severance package; a huge blow, when I’d been full-time for over 20 years beforehand!
So you do have to think of all this. In general, if you can bear it, it’s better to wait until you get sick enough they have to consider ill-health retirement, or you might get lucky (it’s a mixed blessing!), and redundancy comes up anyway. In the current economic climate, there’s more chance than there used to be.
Do NOT just walk out, if you can possibly help it.
Tina
x
Thanks for your reply Tina. I very much hope I will never be too sick to work or at least that my children will be grown up by then, so given that I want reduced hours to spend more time with them, waiting to be really sick (which I hope never happens) isn’t really an option. I know I will lose out if I reduce hours and especially if I resign but if I go back full or part time I would take on lots of hassle and time away frommy children for very little net take home pay…and in the end in a few years I maybe ill anyway and have sacrificed that time with them or I may never be ill enough for ill health retirement given that it is a desk job and I am still quite young. If I do have to resign I lose the potential benefits of long service but I could look into other types of part time work maybe. Big and difficult decisions…