Long Covid and Work

mimi1234

Just after a bit of advice really.

Ended up getting covid last year. Was really poorly for quite some time.

First time I had off from work in all my working life so it felt strange and a bit of guilt crept in as when others have been off, the caseload drops onto the others in the team.

GP kept giving me sick notes and told me to not rush back which I did after 2 months due to lots of encouragement from my manager. Had to go off sick again as it was too much.

I've been back at work since January and was doing a phased return (just in hours may I add - on the days I was on duty, anything that came in after my 3 or 4 hours was saved for me to do the next day). The occupational therapist at work told me I should not be at work but I said let's see how it goes as I just couldn't stay off sick. I wish I had listened to her!

My phased return ended but I'm still not able to do a full working day so do 5 to 6 hours and then take annual leave for the remainder.

There's a lot of pressure for me to start doing full days and to go into the office once a fortnight. I don't know what to do. I don't feel I'm there to go back to the office just yet and I can't do a full day as my  joints start hurting and I've been getting these awful headaches since I had covid. Getting out of bed in the morning is bad enough as I'm in pain. Once I'm back to "normal" I will happily go to the office everyday!

I've now been accepted by the long covid clinic and they will be doing more tests soon - chest x ray and some fatigue clinic and a few other things. The GP keeps offering me sick notes but I say no.

I've been in this job for a good few years and have worked my way up so don't want to just jack it in.

I don't know what my options are - do I hand my notice in, do I take all my leave at once and hope I'm better then, do I try to do full days and hope for the best? I've asked my manager if I could drop down a few pay grades / scales so I could just work from home but was told no.

Any suggestions anyone? 

otb666

Career break used to be a thing at my works where you could take 6 months to 2 years off No pay though.  If the GP offering sick notes just take them as you have Long Covid its in the name will take a while for your body to recover.  You can then concentrate on getting back to how you were with naps good food etc and give your body a chance to recover without the stress.

elsien

Don’t hand your notice in. If they decide that they want to look at dismissal on capability grounds then let them go that route. 

Have you considered requesting another occupational health referral given that you are not well enough to return full time? Would it work for now if you continued with shorter days and took the rest as unpaid? 

ETA - you will probably get a better response on the work legalities if you put this in the employment bit of the forum. 

[Deleted User]

Agreed, don't hand your notice in. Long COVID is something you will have to learn to live with. There is no treatment, no cure, all your can do is manage it.

The first thing is not to push yourself to get back to work or do more than you are able to. You need to learn to say no when people ask you to do things. You have limited energy and going too far will just make you crash harder. Instead you need to learn to keep your activity level sustainable.

It all takes time and you will be able to work. Maybe not full time, maybe with some adaptations. The only way to find out is to do it.

I know that's hard to hear, but you need to be realistic. One you start managing it well things will get easier.

mimi1234

Thanks for the advice guys.

I have another appointment with the work occupational therapist, let's see what they say.

The 6 months off with no pay sounds like a good idea. I will mention it to my manager.

The woman from the long covid clinic said it might still take quite some time to get back to "normal". Currently one flight of steps has me gassed. I can't cut an onion without stopping 5 times. It's so frustrating at times. I wish I could just go back to normal.

[Deleted User]

I know how you feel. You could try the Foggy Friends forum. It's for ME/CFS but Long COVID appears to be the same thing, or at least very similar.

Beware of taking long periods off in the hope of recovering. You might not get better, and you may find that the lack of motivation makes things worse. Part time work at least gives you some structure and commitments. Very useful when you wake up feeling awful and just want to sleep some more.

otb666

yes i remember those days of getting up feeling like i had not slept luckily i was WFH so could just crawl to my desk.  I think i got covid  in april 20 when the office had introduced 1 meter thing but i took a week off when i was feeling ill and another person sat at my desk in that week then they were off with covid for a long time, so passed it onto me or i have it to them.  Its 2 years later now and i am still not back up to my normal self Definitely pace yourself.  All the aches have gone but i need an afternoon nap now and I am only 55. I can manage about 6 hours only then need a nap.

KxMx

Check out the ME Association. 
Lots of information about the overlaps between LC & ME, even more existing information about pacing, management of symptoms etc. 

mimi1234

Thanks for your advice folks. Had an appointment with the OT at work and she was completely on side with me. She said you are doing more than you should be so don't feel bullied or intimidated into going to the office if you are not ready. She said you are compromising by doing full days using your annual leave.

She said if management are not happy, it will have to go to HR. Is this where they can sack me for not being "able" to do the job?

Got my appointment for my chest x ray so hopefully I will be back to "normal" at some point.  

400ixl

Have a read up on spoon theory, it is used to describe the amount of mental or physical energy a person has available for daily activities and tasks and what the consequences can be. Is a really useful way of being able to describe it to others. Getting your manager to read up on it could really educate them on the impact of pushing to hard too soon.

F1shyFingers

mimi1234 said:

Thanks for your advice folks. Had an appointment with the OT at work and she was completely on side with me. She said you are doing more than you should be so don't feel bullied or intimidated into going to the office if you are not ready. She said you are compromising by doing full days using your annual leave.

She said if management are not happy, it will have to go to HR. Is this where they can sack me for not being "able" to do the job?

Got my appointment for my chest x ray so hopefully I will be back to "normal" at some point.  

Yes, you're certainly well within the territory of being fired for capability reasons.  Unfortunately companies can't keep people on the books forever until they recover, if they do.

As others have said don't resign, but trying to do more than you can to stop them firing you seems futile, and potentially detrimental to your recovery.