my day from hell

petals

Oh my gosh, I have just had the day from hell.

I came home from work on wednesday evening and was not feeling too great. My right foot was aching as was my right wrist. During the night I became aware that the ache had developed into a pain and it was waking me up each time i turned over.

When the alarm went off at 7am I tried to get out of bed and realised I was in trouble. I could scarcely put my foot on the ground it was so painful. As my job involves standing/walking all day (9 hrs) I knew that I had a big problem. Not wanting to ring in sick because I had recieved a warning last time I was absent, I struggled into work and reported straight to my manager. I told her that I couldn't stand/walk and could I possibly have a sitting down job for the day. I could tell she was annoyed but never the less she said I could sit on a checkout.

half way through the day she then said I would have to go back to my own dept. as they were short of cover. I had a word with my union rep and he said that she was being unreasonable and that I should be allowed to remain sitting down.

My manager went absolutely berserk, she shouted at me on the shop floor, accused me of snitching and asked me what I wanted her to do. Did I want to leave. I am sorry to say that she reduced me to tears.

I am now dreading going into work tomorrow and having to face it all over again. I have been diagnosed for 2 yrs with RA and so far I have managed to keep working but now I just feel like giving up.

If you have read this far, thanks for taking the time, I just needed to vent.

Petals

CJHunter

Hi ya, want to give that manager a kick up the backside for ya.
Yep do keep a log of time , dates and who you spoke to, what was done etc. I would also talk to your G.P and get it looked at, and logged with them.

This woman must have a manager above her, talk to H.R dept and report this incident and get refered to Oc Health for assesment.
If foot/ankle too bad get signed off till it eases then ask for a back to work assesment.
Keep union rep involved with everything.
These are the things i would do, bar giving her a gob full, which prob wouldnt be helpful


All the best with this, others will be able to advise further im sure

petals

Thanks Guys,

You have given me some good common sense advice which is what I needed. Today my union rep has spoken to HR about the incident and HR has spoke to my manager and told her she was definately in the wrong. I should be allowed to rest if needed by doing a sitting down job.

I have not recieved an appology of any kind for making me cry although the manager has now changed her attitiude and is being 'nice'.

I will still keep a log of what has happened and will log any future occurances.

Also my union rep is going to discuss what has happened with our union area manager and find out how to stop this happening to anybody else. I think also it may be a good idea to seek help from OH because I realise I will never recover from this disease and things can only get worse in the future. I am already struggling now.

It is a shame because I used to enjoy my job and now I am begining to dread going in to work. It is hard enough batteling with RA without batteling managers also.

Thanks again Guys it is so helpful having people to 'talk' to who understand.

Petals

petals

Delboy,

there are at least 3 people in my work place with arthritis and a possible 4th (not yet diagnosed) there may be even more but we are a large workforce (about 350 people) and obviously I dont know everyones situation.

With this in mind you are right, we need to prevent anybody else being treated in such a horrible way. I will keep my union rep informed the whole time (he is a personal friend as well as my rep) and he has my best interests at heart.

To be honest I am so exhausted at the moment I just feel like giving up and leaving but after a couple of days rest I know I will get my 'second wind' and will battle on.

Thanks for your support

Petals x

resusjan

Petals,

That does indeed sound like the day from hell. I'm not surprised it reduced you to tears, sounds absolutely awful.

Well done for speaking to your union rep and not just doing as told by some thoughtless person.

I hope you manage to get some rest over the weekend.

Good luck
Jan xx

topgirl

im sorry you are having such a bad time :sad:
I sound very much like you!!...get upset, rant and then decide to fight!
Working for a big organisation hopefully will go in your favour. They should have a HR dept who know the 'disability laws' inside out....
i have RA and OH did a report for my company which informed them i was covered under DDA....you will be too but in my experience once your company get told offically then they have to do whatever they can to keep you in work....and if you need to go on checkout then your union rep is right...they HAVE to give you that job...because it is a job that they still need doing and it suits your condition better....maybe you could ask to do this all the time?
Your Manager sounds a nightmare I would suggest to HR that she is informed that if she speaks to you like that again you will a formal complaint in...
Good luck chick! :roll:

petals

Thank you Resusjan and Topgirl,

I am pushing ahead with help fro my union reps (got 2 on the case now) I feel that I was unfairly given a warning after my last absence which was RA related and I would like this to be wiped from my file. I have armed my reps with a range of booklets and information regarding arthritis so that they can act confidently in future for both my case and for the cases of others in similar position.

I have been home from work for an hour and have already got into bed as im so tired. My Rhumy has upped my mtx dose and i am definately feeling it, also my latest blood test shows a drop in red platelets so not haveing a great week.

I have booked all next week off work though as a holiday week so that I can recharge my batteries.

sooo looking forward to Friday evening, cant wait for my weeks rest.

Petals x

topgirl

Another good thing to do is down load the booklet on here...its something like '' when an employee has RA''...it goes in to detail about how RA makes you feel, how employees can help and what laws the business needs to know.....
On Friday smile sweetly to your Manager and say..'' I realise that you are having trouble understanding my condition..so read this and come back to me if you have any questions''.....Then walk off...
Enjoy your week off....
xxx

petals

Wow Topgirl,

you should make a good union rep, Thanks.

Feel better already x

topgirl

I'ts what we are here for....;)

amboritic

You should try working for the NHS if you want to witness poor management practice in full effect.

Especially when they try to put off OH appointments and are very quick to start IAP actions even though they know exactly what RA is all about.

It was nice to see them skirm at my Capability Hearing when I showed senior management proof that I had been refused Reasonable Adjustments.

janie68

I can well believe that of the NHS, what are your union doing about it Amb? I hope taking them to court for disability discrimination at the very least!

Janie

petals

Hi Guys,

A quick update on my working dilemma.

I recently had 2 days off sick (unpaid) after a flareup. On my return to work interview I was sooo prepared for an argument regarding whether or not RA is covered by the DDA.

Anyway, as luck would have it, a new younger manager chaired the meeting and heavens above he is also suffering from a condition which is also covered by the DDA so he knows the rules inside and out.

When he read my notes from previous return to work interviews and the fact that I was given a warning for absence even though it was RA related he promptly adjourned the meeting. One week later we reconvened and I was given an appology for being given an 'unwarrented warning' and it is now writtern down in my file that RA is 100% covered by DDA.

Wow AT LAST, it was soooo hard not to find the other manager who was responsible for issuing the unfair warning and utter the words 'I TOLD YOU SO'

Small victory, but sweet all the same.

Petals x

Emily

petals wrote:

Hi Guys,

A quick update on my working dilemma.

I recently had 2 days off sick (unpaid) after a flareup. On my return to work interview I was sooo prepared for an argument regarding whether or not RA is covered by the DDA.

Anyway, as luck would have it, a new younger manager chaired the meeting and heavens above he is also suffering from a condition which is also covered by the DDA so he knows the rules inside and out.

When he read my notes from previous return to work interviews and the fact that I was given a warning for absence even though it was RA related he promptly adjourned the meeting. One week later we reconvened and I was given an appology for being given an 'unwarrented warning' and it is now writtern down in my file that RA is 100% covered by DDA.

Wow AT LAST, it was soooo hard not to find the other manager who was responsible for issuing the unfair warning and utter the words 'I TOLD YOU SO'

Small victory, but sweet all the same.

Petals x

So glad you got results Petals, and hopefully it will get better for you from now on. What I have found that other managers will try and make it difficult for you by not looking at your personal file when they are doing a RTW interview and you have to keep repeating your disabilities to them and that is demoralising. There is a large turnover of managers at my place of work.

I feel it so wrong for you not to paid for the 2 days off as you should be paid ask you union rep and see what they have to say.