Work-Related Stress Issue

moneysavingexpert79

!!!!!!! Wimmin!

glossgal

I can sympathise-and relate- with having an unreasonable boss but you seem to think having a history of ill health makes you immune from the pressures of the work environment.Most people have a clause in their contracts that allows the employer to give then additional duties-maybe your boss thought you were competant enough to do the project work and by agreeing to do it you did seem to accept it. With regards working late, you do not have to do this on a regular basis it is something you choose to do in favour of raising the workload issue as a formal matter. I don't see how suffering in silence or going off sick without trying to raise a complaint first is helping your cause.

A person with mental health issues should rightly receive help to accomodate their workload but it doesn't give them the right to call all the shots imho. Unfortunately I've seen it with my own eyes over the years-collegues with health issues who hide behind the 'disability' tag at every opportunity even if a problem is completely unrelated to it. It only serves to perpetuate the notion that people with disabilities are a pain to employ, which is grossly unfair. I am not suggesting OP is doing this but must say she does seem to have a wee bit of a chip on her shoulder about her health history.

terra_ferma

Supported Housing is a cut-throat business nowadays, with the government cutting funding to levels that are putting organisations out of business. And those who are not have to cut costs to a point where staff are stretched at breaking point....
Could it not be your new manager giving you more work, but circumstances changing in your organisation?

This is really not the right environment for someone with a history of mental illness. I don't know the details of you job, but if you work with the hardest groups (offenders, drugs/alcohol homeless, young people, mental health etc) you really need to consider if this is the job for you.

And I'm afraid user involvement is not a nice favour your are doing to your manager, it's normally an integral part of a support worker's job . If not in your job description it would fall under the 'reasonable request' kind of clause (that is unless she is targeting you in particular and giving you more work than anyone else). It is also a very important contractual and regulatory obligation, regularly inspected by funders/regulators, so a gentle pace is probably not an option given to your line manager (although it sounds like all this was not explained to your properly as it should).

Unfortunately it sounds like you are not coping very well, your employer will have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate your disability (working pattern, part-time work if appropriate) but if they can't accommodate your requests they can ultimately dismiss you.
But for your own wellbeing you really need to consider changing jobs. As you are doing work around user involvement maybe they have a specific team dealing with that?