I can't read any more of this

c4thyg
c4thyg Member Posts: 542
I'm so embarrassed to be British these days. I rarely read the working matters forum because every time it gets my blood boiling. We are trying to be useful, productive members of society and look at all the hassle we get for it. Nearly every post on this section is about being treated unfairly. For a country that apparently gives rights to everyone how come so many of us feel discriminated against in the workplace? I really think that MPs and employers should be made to read forums like this one to see exactly how they can ruin someone's confidence. Unfortunately this is the human condition and many of them are nasty selfish people who I would gladly give all my health problems to.

I just can't read this any more. I'm not being unsympathetic as I've been there myself numerous times and understand. I've just run out of the energy to fight it any more. This is why I'm now working for myself as a freelancer. I might not have any sick pay etc. but at least I'm not discriminated against in the workplace. If I get enough business and need help I think I'll be posting my advert here where I know there are ppl who really want to work.

Sorry to rant in this way. I just feel so angry and helpless.

Comments

  • markc1
    markc1 Member Posts: 253
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Sorry you feel like this but i don't agree with you.Because we're British we give up too easily.
    The only way to win is to fight and fight again,what would have happened during the war if we packed up after a couple of setbacks?we can't all win but we can make things difficult and awkward.And some people will succeed.
    There are some big employers out there who should and do know better.You can give up if you want to but i'm going to keep on.

    Good luck to you. :!:
  • c4thyg
    c4thyg Member Posts: 542
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I'm sorry Mark I obviously didn't word things well. I'm not saying we should give up, in fact I haven't. I'm just so fed up of always having to fight the system and it seems that I'm far from alone. I'm just lost for ideas on how to improve things now.

    I spent 12 years as a medical researcher trying to help people by advancing science. I worked on the early work that went towards the anti-TNF treatment. Then I realise just how hard it is for people who need it to get the treatment. Instead they have to fight when they are already feeling awful and then repeatedly get turned down! The knock on effect is that often people lose their job or are not able to cope and are forced to leave and then have to fight yet again for help from the benefits system. At the same time we are made to feel that we are guilty of fraud until proven innocent. If people were helped to keep their jobs then they would be paying NI contributions back into the system instead of asking for benefits to help them. Where is the sense? But we are know that anyway. The common theme here is that we want to work but it is made very difficult. Why is ESA so hard to get when it is so easy for employers to force people out? ESA is only temporary until another job is found anyway.

    I'm finding now that I can't read these posts any more because I find it all so upsetting. It's not a one off now and again. I've stopped watching the news for the same reason. I'm frustrated because years ago my reason for being a medical researcher was to help people and now I can see that the same people are not getting the help and support that they need.

    Maybe I should delete the thread. I wasn't meaning to say that we should give up. I was venting my frustration. If this is offensive to anyone please don't take it that way as it certainly wasn't meant that way.
  • valval
    valval Member Posts: 14,911
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    hi i know where u r coming from i work in a family buisness and could not ask for better treatment and do find this section hard to read but do u think it is because those who do not have probs do not post on here perhaps we should start a thread for positive work places so people know where to go for good bosses. we do post more when we need help it is normal and when things going well u do not think people will want to know
    val
  • debbierose
    debbierose Member Posts: 403
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    c4thyg wrote:
    I'm sorry Mark I obviously didn't word things well. I'm not saying we should give up, in fact I haven't. I'm just so fed up of always having to fight the system and it seems that I'm far from alone. I'm just lost for ideas on how to improve things now.

    I spent 12 years as a medical researcher trying to help people by advancing science. I worked on the early work that went towards the anti-TNF treatment. Then I realise just how hard it is for people who need it to get the treatment. Instead they have to fight when they are already feeling awful and then repeatedly get turned down! The knock on effect is that often people lose their job or are not able to cope and are forced to leave and then have to fight yet again for help from the benefits system. At the same time we are made to feel that we are guilty of fraud until proven innocent. If people were helped to keep their jobs then they would be paying NI contributions back into the system instead of asking for benefits to help them. Where is the sense? But we are know that anyway. The common theme here is that we want to work but it is made very difficult. Why is ESA so hard to get when it is so easy for employers to force people out? ESA is only temporary until another job is found anyway.

    I'm finding now that I can't read these posts any more because I find it all so upsetting. It's not a one off now and again. I've stopped watching the news for the same reason. I'm frustrated because years ago my reason for being a medical researcher was to help people and now I can see that the same people are not getting the help and support that they need.

    Maybe I should delete the thread. I wasn't meaning to say that we should give up. I was venting my frustration. If this is offensive to anyone please don't take it that way as it certainly wasn't meant that way.

    I hear where you are coming from I did give up for a time, drank too much and eveloped myself in the pain and helpfullness I felt like you there is no point, I worked in the CARE sector for 12 years helping people with speacials needs live independantly. then when I became ill and had long sick leaves I was no longer wanted my managers did nothing to help me and made me feel so guilty in the end it was a mistake by a manager that finished it all for me she changed the keys to a house i supervised while i was on holiday, I was left on the doorstep. to end a long story I was medically pensioned off, a rare event for someone my age was one of the statements Even the councils oh Doctors made a statement to say I was the only person he had met who fought to come to work it was always the other way round,
    but keep on fighting hun dont let the B----rs grind you down., I',m up and running so to speak.
  • markc1
    markc1 Member Posts: 253
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    c4thyg wrote:
    I'm sorry Mark I obviously didn't word things well. I'm not saying we should give up, in fact I haven't. I'm just so fed up of always having to fight the system and it seems that I'm far from alone. I'm just lost for ideas on how to improve things now.

    I spent 12 years as a medical researcher trying to help people by advancing science. I worked on the early work that went towards the anti-TNF treatment. Then I realise just how hard it is for people who need it to get the treatment. Instead they have to fight when they are already feeling awful and then repeatedly get turned down! The knock on effect is that often people lose their job or are not able to cope and are forced to leave and then have to fight yet again for help from the benefits system. At the same time we are made to feel that we are guilty of fraud until proven innocent. If people were helped to keep their jobs then they would be paying NI contributions back into the system instead of asking for benefits to help them. Where is the sense? But we are know that anyway. The common theme here is that we want to work but it is made very difficult. Why is ESA so hard to get when it is so easy for employers to force people out? ESA is only temporary until another job is found anyway.

    I'm finding now that I can't read these posts any more because I find it all so upsetting. It's not a one off now and again. I've stopped watching the news for the same reason. I'm frustrated because years ago my reason for being a medical researcher was to help people and now I can see that the same people are not getting the help and support that they need.

    Maybe I should delete the thread. I wasn't meaning to say that we should give up. I was venting my frustration. If this is offensive to anyone please don't take it that way as it certainly wasn't meant that way.


    No don't do that...i understand what you mean and its not offensive at all.Its been really difficult for me and a lot of others and there have been times when i felt like saying ''sack me then''.

    But i read the posts and feel a lot better knowing a lot of us are in the same boat,still friends?
    k010.gif
  • tkachev
    tkachev Member Posts: 8,332
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Cathy
    It does make my blood boil too.But it is compulsive viewing as I am learning a lot about the so-called rules and hope that one day I will have enough knowledge to start advising people myself,
    Cheers Elizabeth
    Never be bullied into silence.
    Never allow yourself to be made a victim.
    Accept no ones definition of your life

    Define yourself........

    Harvey Fierstein
  • c4thyg
    c4thyg Member Posts: 542
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Thanks everyone. I think I saw red after reading a very similar post to what happened to me and I lost it.

    Mark, of course we're friends. I just panicked thinking that I'd been misunderstood.

    As far as work is concerned I'm now working for myself. I couldn't ask for a better boss!! :P It's early days yet and so far going well. Of course being self employed means that there's no sick pay etc but it's better than having a manager who always makes you stress or not having a job at all. I do miss having the interactions with other people though. It can be isolating being in the back room at home on my own all day. Then again there are less distractions then. Just a shame that the pay isn't any where near as good as when I was doing research! :)
  • carol101
    carol101 Member Posts: 584
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    valval wrote:
    hi i know where u r coming from i work in a family buisness and could not ask for better treatment and do find this section hard to read but do u think it is because those who do not have probs do not post on here perhaps we should start a thread for positive work places so people know where to go for good bosses. we do post more when we need help it is normal and when things going well u do not think people will want to know

    Having just read your post, i thought i'd reply. You are right, i work for a worldwide company and i have no problem with my job and very rarely read these posts. I have OA of the spine and still work 40hrs a week in what can be a very physical job. My normal duties are standing for 8hrs a day, a lot of bending and lifting anything up to 25kg.

    When i got my diagnosis back in August of this year, the 1st thing i done was go to my manager and personelle dept. I spent over an hour with them explaining my symptoms and how i have good and bad days. I also gave them the name of this web site which i know they have looked at. Even when i am off sick i email my manager and keep him up to date with what is happening. I have lost a lot of time off work, normally only a week at a time but quite often, and when i am at work i can basically do what i feel i need to do at any given time. If i need to sit, i sit. If i need to go for a bit of a walk around the factory for a stretch, i do. If i feel i can't lift a heavy box, then i don't. I am a supervisor but also have to 'muck in' with the manual work. My manager has said even if one day i turn up but can only sit there and 'supervise' my staff he is happy because it means he can do his job and doesn't have to worry about any 'meanial' problems that i normally deal with.
    Personally, i think keeping them in the know every step of the way goes a long way to them understanding me and my needs.
    Carol X
  • dorcas
    dorcas Member Posts: 3,516
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi, I am in the midst of what you have described delboy and have already posted some of my thought and actions under 'help, need positive vibes'.

    I have challenges the Access to Work Assessment that basically writes me out of my job and insisted my employers think again. OT assess wasn't much better! so I prepared an assessment of my own..listing the requirements of the job, what the physical issues are for me and how they can be resolved to keep me in my current job (suggested by the helpline..best advice I could have had). I have asked my employer to respond in writing to my 'assessment' so that they have to justify why an organisation such as theirs (funded by scottish exec) cannot put these measures into place.

    I can tell you they were completely flumoxed and have agreed to get ATW to properly address my disability in relation to my current post and not as they did, just assume I would be moved sideways or out!

    I took legal advice and had support from this website & helpline. I also made sure I understood DDA and my employer's responsibilities. Also got union backing and made sure they know what I want.....you can very quickly become a pawn in the hands of your employers, system and even the union..so I needed to be assertive. my next step will be Equality & human rights commission.

    At present I am at home for a week while they try to respond... I told them too that they have an obligation to ensure I have a safe working environment which they have not been doing since I started the phased return to work- hence being back at home.

    It is exhausting though delboy, so you are right in what you say about getting worn down by it all. arther is playing up too...we are only flesh and blood.

    I have really welcomed the support of the forum in this..helps when you know there are folks who understand. Iris x
  • carol101
    carol101 Member Posts: 584
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    carol101 wrote:
    valval wrote:
    hi i know where u r coming from i work in a family buisness and could not ask for better treatment and do find this section hard to read but do u think it is because those who do not have probs do not post on here perhaps we should start a thread for positive work places so people know where to go for good bosses. we do post more when we need help it is normal and when things going well u do not think people will want to know

    Having just read your post, i thought i'd reply. You are right, i work for a worldwide company and i have no problem with my job and very rarely read these posts. I have OA of the spine and still work 40hrs a week in what can be a very physical job. My normal duties are standing for 8hrs a day, a lot of bending and lifting anything up to 25kg.

    When i got my diagnosis back in August of this year, the 1st thing i done was go to my manager and personelle dept. I spent over an hour with them explaining my symptoms and how i have good and bad days. I also gave them the name of this web site which i know they have looked at. Even when i am off sick i email my manager and keep him up to date with what is happening. I have lost a lot of time off work, normally only a week at a time but quite often, and when i am at work i can basically do what i feel i need to do at any given time. If i need to sit, i sit. If i need to go for a bit of a walk around the factory for a stretch, i do. If i feel i can't lift a heavy box, then i don't. I am a supervisor but also have to 'muck in' with the manual work. My manager has said even if one day i turn up but can only sit there and 'supervise' my staff he is happy because it means he can do his job and doesn't have to worry about any 'meanial' problems that i normally deal with.
    Personally, i think keeping them in the know every step of the way goes a long way to them understanding me and my needs.
    Carol X


    Just a quick update, i was talking to one of the main managers yesterday and he was asking how my back is and the medication i'm on etc. He sugested i take a look through one of these catalogues that cater for the disabled with things like jar openers, walk in baths etc and said if i see anything that will make my job easier to let him know and the company will buy it for me.
    It's not all doom and gloom in the work place.

    Carol X
  • carol101
    carol101 Member Posts: 584
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I do realise i am one of the lucky ones. We have a couple of mentaly disabled people at work too and quite often offer work experience to the disabled who are trying to get back to work.

    Carol X