Closed

angeleyes

Sorry and I do appreciate the advice n thank you all for your input but after posting I felt my information and problem was too identifiable in what i had posted and really couldnt cope if it was ... I'm sorry if this isn't to people's liking but after 7 years in my job and only ever took sick leave of 1 week when my dad died suddenly of cancer n being under the most unbelievable stress for over 7 months I couldn't cope and requested advice - thank you for everyone who did offer advice n help

angeleyes

ohreally wrote: »

So whats the state of play?

Someone is being micromanaged due to poor work performance, they feel hard done by and go off sick claiming stress/undue pressure from line manager following an OH referral?

Claiming !!! Really walk in someone's shoes for a week eh ! Worked in the same job for over 7 yrs only off sick twice in all that time once being hospitalised for suspected meningitis the next 1 wk when my dad died suddenly of cancer... Thanks for your help and input

angeleyes

sensibleadvice wrote: »

That's about the gist I got too. OP closed due to being too indentifiable but if the gist is as you have it, sadly it wouldn't be that identifiable at all.

The information I had put in yes would have and I actually want to resolve and keep my job if possible - thank u for your input

sensibleadvice

angeleyes wrote: »

The information I had put in yes would have and I actually want to resolve and keep my job if possible - thank u for your input

In that case you might want to consider #12 before it's quoted. ETA and #13 which conflicts with #12

angeleyes

I was after advice on how to deal with my situation .... I'm not work shy ...worked all my life mostly with two jobs raise my child claim nil benefits ( apart from chb ) as soon as the word stress is mentioned people attack ... Some folk have no idea of what goes on and to make generalisations it just hurtful and sooo unhelpful ..... Hope everyone who posts negatively is immune from every stressful event in life !!!!

angeleyes

sensibleadvice wrote: »

In that case you might want to consider #12 before it's quoted. ETA and #13 which conflicts with #12

Well the information I put about my job was specific thank you for all your help and advice

marybelle01

angeleyes wrote: »

Claiming !!! Really walk in someone's shoes for a week eh ! Worked in the same job for over 7 yrs only off sick twice in all that time once being hospitalised for suspected meningitis the next 1 wk when my dad died suddenly of cancer... Thanks for your help and input

I am sorry for your loss and your illness - but these things have absolutely nothing to do with what you posted and I don't think that you are helping yourself here by bringing up irrelevant tragic circumstances and the fact that you haven't claimed benefits as a defence for your current situation. Your employment has been under review for several months because you are making errors in your performance, which falls short of the expected standard. You have gone off sick and the employer has rightly reacted to the sickness with a referral to OH. Perhaps you are upset by the performance management, but on balance many employers would have dismissed by the time several months of poor performance had happened. And to be fair to Ohreally, that is exactly what you said. You said that the anxiety from having your performance managed had caused your sickness.


I think you need to understand that nobody is saying that you aren't genuinely ill as a result of this. But in neither circumstance is the employer doing anything wrong. Surely you don't expect that your poor performance should be overlooked whilst everyone else has to meet the expected standards? Or your employer to ignore a fit note that clearly says that you have some form of anxiety/stress/ depression - and which possibly also suggests that it is work related (because you actually said it was work related)?

getmore4less

If you have been in this job for some time presumably without problem, now for a period of time there have been issues that are under review.

What changed?

jobbingmusician

getmore4less wrote: »

If you have been in this job for some time presumably without problem, now for a period of time there have been issues that are under review.

What changed?

I didn't see the original post, but this is the story I have put together in my mind. I am hoping the OP will see this and consider that this is how the story might look to the employer, even if I have missed some vital stuff.

Model employee suddenly goes off the rails and starts doing inferior work. I, as employer, don't know what's going on. I suspect (or maybe know from supervision?) that there are stress issues. What to do? The only thing I can think of is to set targets for improvement, and maybe send employee to OH to help address any underlying issues.......

marybelle01

jobbingmusician wrote: »

I didn't see the original post, but this is the story I have put together in my mind. I am hoping the OP will see this and consider that this is how the story might look to the employer, even if I have missed some vital stuff.

Model employee suddenly goes off the rails and starts doing inferior work. I, as employer, don't know what's going on. I suspect (or maybe know from supervision?) that there are stress issues. What to do? The only thing I can think of is to set targets for improvement, and maybe send employee to OH to help address any underlying issues.......

Yes, I am sure it is something along these lines. And the break while off sick is an ideal opportunity, as I suggested earlier, to step back and think about how the problem can be resolved. Which OH may be able to assist with.


OP, it is certainly true that not everyone, employer or not, is sympathetic towards diagnoses of stress. It is also true that stress has become the new "bad back" and people often develop it at the drop of a hat when the employer does something they don't like (but which is perfectly legitimate - like performance management or disciplinaries). So yes, people get suspicious and dubious - but I honestly do not think anyone here was suggesting that. On the other hand, it doesn't solve anything. It doesn't solve the performance problems, it doesn't stop performance management, and it doesn't stop disciplinary hearings. So the cause of the stress is still there. The solution is to deal with the underlying cause. So you either need to work with your employer to find a way of improving your performance and getting back to a stable position; or, as Jacques Chirac suggested, you need to consider whether it is time to move on before things become more serious, either work wise or health wise. Unless you really think a new job is the answer, you need to work out what is getting in the way of your performing well and work with your employer to solve that.