Support Service - contact details ?

[ClaudiaKiwi]

Hi All - recently I remember reading somewhere on here a few weeks ago that there is a number I can call to seek advice re: diabetes and questions I have with regards to my employer. I’m a bit lost today and for the first time in a long time I cried. My boss has advised that he has concerns re: a couple of times I have had a hypo in the early hours of the morning which has made me quite ill but I do come right in a few hours and I have felt quite able to work but have chosen to work from home and have communicated openly and frankly with my manager. I am a Senior Manager and have been told today that despite them knowing I am working they feel I should take sick leave and not use working from home in lieu of sick leave. I am FURIOUS. I explained I am 9 weeks post diagnosis and my eyesight has been horrific and that post hypo it is often worse and after some nasty falls on public transport and cobbles I am nervous about getting a bus and then the tube. My boss says he understands that but that I must take sick leave. Get this though - he then says that I could take sick leave in the morning and work from home in the afternoon but then said that as a senior manager I need to be visible. I cover a huge part of England with my services and yet I am also supposed to be in the office Monday to Friday?! He says working from home needs to be on a prior request situation and in exceptional circumstances only. Interestingly he works from home every Friday. He then kept rambling about having a duty of care for me!!! Ugh I am so sorry I am rambling but I am so hacked off and just need to understand what actual duty of care does my employer have and if I do have a hypo can I be forced to take sick leave if I ask to work from home (and am working and this can be evidenced) Stupidly the part he said to me is how he knows I work hard and sees me online in the evenings and sending things through etc (so it’s ok to work from home into the night ?!) The pressures of my job are huge. I have 2 colleagues with the same role and we met today and all said we definitely work 60-70 hours per week. If we didn’t we would not meet our job requirements. I’m moaning and I’m sorry but literally don’t know where to vent. I have amazing friends back home but not really anyone here who I can ask and reach out too. My husband is a star but he is a tradie and literally doesn’t understand why I can’t down tools and walk out at 5pm.
I’m feeling really lost today and for the first time post diagnosis feel like I just want to go home and cry. I don’t do that lightly. I just feel deflated.
Thanks for reading and if anyone has any thoughts or advice I would be grateful and the number I can call to seek any resources I can reference or whatever they can offer.
Thank you and sorry again for bleating on like I’ve lost the plot x

 

[grovesy]

Sorry to hear this but I am not surprised at your Managers attitude. Rant away. Sorry can't help with the help line no, though I believe it is on the main site.

 

[Northerner]

Details are here, Claudia:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/helpline

No need to apologise to us, although I think your boss ought make an apology You are in the very early days of your diagnosis of a very serious and difficult condition that demands a very steep learning curve, and if he says he understands that then he doesn't because it can't be described to someone who can't experience what it can be like. I hope the helpline can offer you some practical help, and we are all here to offer you the support and understanding you need {{{HUGS}}}

 

[ClaudiaKiwi]

Sorry to hear this but I am not surprised at your Managers attitude. Rant away. Sorry can't help with the help line no, though I believe it is on the main site.

Thank you. I’m really just feeling like I’ve been kicked. I’ll check the main page.

 

[grovesy]

I can understand that.

 

[trophywench]

He is right about the sick leave of course - otherwise you could accuse him (them) of expecting you to work when you are ill and not make any allowances in the amount of work they allocate to you because you ARE sick. And when it all got unbearable for you - resign and bring a nice legal case against him/them for 'constructive dismissal'. They are damned if the do and damned if they don't Claudia - whatever they do, if they do it even minutely 'wrong' they are damned.

It is quite ridiculous that anyone should have to do 60 or 70 hours work a week - especially NHS staff - but it isn't unusual, that's the trouble.

You do need to ring the helpline !

 

[ClaudiaKiwi]

Thanks both of you - I’m going to ring tomorrow as I just want to feel better equipped knowledge wise *sigh*
x

 

[New-journey]

What an impossible challenging situation to be in, your boss needs a talking to!
I am not surprised you just want to cry, your boss in my mind has behaved dreadfully. Very unfair and unjust.
I hope you get the help and support you need tomorrow, sending hugs

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear about this Claudia. I am sure you know, but just in case you’ve not heard yet, a diagnosis with diabetes is recognised as a form of disability under employment law (I think this used to be called DDA - Disability Discrimination Act - but I seem to remember what changed recently). Your employer needs to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to allow you to work.

Hope you get some good advice, and your work situation eases.

 

[Northerner]

It's now the Equality Act (2010), details here:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/life-with-diabetes/employment

 

[ClaudiaKiwi]

Thank you lovely people 🙂
@everydayupsanddowns i think you are bang on in terms of reasonable adjustments. The fact is he stated I had used 2 days (different weeks) as working from home in lieu of sick days. I’ve been with them 2 years and had 10 days off which was all doctor certified and that’s when I was in hospital in late November when I was so ill and diagnosed. I challenged him and said yes I was unwell in the early hours and get a bit shaky on my feet but I’m completely able to make the decision as to whether I am sick or whether I can work albeit from home. I cart a laptop with me and a phone that is never turned off and on which I also have my emails so I’m fully contactable. All my online time can be evidenced and of course in the work I produce. The almost hilarious thing is that the majority of my colleagues in different roles but with whom I connect with regularly ALL work from home regularly and so does my stupid boss!!! He’s mad isn’t he ! So I think that I am big enough and ugly enough to self determine whether on one of these days I work from home and that on the back of a hypo that should easily be deemed a reasonable adjustment. Any time I have had an appointment etc I have used my annual leave and not insisted on sick leave like some people do. On a positive note I’m on annual leave tomorrow 🙂 literally am so relieved to be shod of seeing him tomorrow !!!! I’m mega peedled off !
Anyways thank you all for your patience with me and for the support xxxxx

 

[Carolg]

Take care Claudia. You need to get your health back up there. Not teaching anyone to suck eggs, but could you self refer to occupational health for support and have you a union membership for support /reasonable adjustments also. What about using Skype to be visible. I totally understand about the nasty falls, that could really have shaken your confidence being out and about. I used to work extra hours, take work home etc, but not now. What goes on in work time, I try to leave at work except odd occasions. This culture of working all hours god sends is appalling and getting worse throughout many organisations, as it seems to be the expected “norm”, and a cycle hard to break.(sorry, just to be clear, I wasn’t expected to take work home, or stay late...that was self pressure, sometimes if a deadline
It was necessary)
Thinking of you, and rant on Claudia, there are lots of people who have lots of advice on the forum, and to get things out of your head can help.


Oh, and enjoy your annual leave, (without using it to catch up on emails etc)

 

[ClaudiaKiwi]

Take care Claudia. You need to get your health back up there. Not teaching anyone to suck eggs, but could you self refer to occupational health for support and have you a union membership for support /reasonable adjustments also. What about using Skype to be visible. I totally understand about the nasty falls, that could really have shaken your confidence being out and about. I used to work extra hours, take work home etc, but not now. What goes on in work time, I try to leave at work except odd occasions. This culture of working all hours god sends is appalling and getting worse throughout many organisations, as it seems to be the expected “norm”, and a cycle hard to break.
Thinking of you, and rant on Claudia, there are lots of people who have lots of advice on the forum, and to get things out of your head can help.


Oh, and enjoy your annual leave, (without using it to catch up on emails etc)

Thanks Carolg🙂

You know often we all work even when on annual leave by responding to emails etc etc. That’s the problem isn’t it - we are all so contactable now and the switching off thing is almost a bad joke.

I’ve just had a fab chat with one of my Docs who is a real star and knows about this stuff. He has been crystal clear with me that my bosses actions could easily be seen as discriminatory. He has advised me how to respond and been hugely helpful. He knows my boss and said me to in simple terms he is a *+•~#** idiot !! Lol

The sun is shining and I have a cup of tea and am catching up on some tv and chilling. Yay ! I’m so grateful for the understanding and support of the wonderful people on here.

 

[Lucy Honeychurch]

So pleased to hear you've had some support and advice x

 

[ClaudiaKiwi]

Thanks 🙂 yes me too ! It helped a lot. There are some awesome people in the world eh x

 

[Vince_UK]

@ClaudiaKiwi
Hi Claudia
Sorry you are having a bad time from someone who seems to be a complete &^^£hole.
I have 2 or 3 or questions if I may to try and undertsand a little more.
1 What does your company do and I apolgise if I have missed that?
2 How is your company performing at the moment financially etc.? good or bad will suffice as an answer
3 What is your bosses position in terms of the overall company structure?
I am trying to understand his motivation and if in fact there is a hidden agenda.

 

[Grannylorraine]

I can't help you, but I have suffered the same thing when having an asthma attack in the night and then wanted to wok from home, they say it should be taken as sick, then complain that I take too much sick leave. Again they are quite happy for me to work at home late into the night and on bank holidays when covering my colleague in the States and dial into meetings when I am on leave. All I can say is I hope they are applying the same rules about taking sick leave rather than working from home to everyone and not just you for for your diabetes, as this is what made me angry as I know colleagues in other departments who are always allowed to work from home rather than take sick leave regardless of what is wrong with them.

Agree with Vince about the hidden agenda.

 

[ClaudiaKiwi]

@ClaudiaKiwi
Hi Claudia
Sorry you are having a bad time from someone who seems to be a complete &^^£hole.
I have 2 or 3 or questions if I may to try and undertsand a little more.
1 What does your company do and I apolgise if I have missed that?
2 How is your company performing at the moment financially etc.? good or bad will suffice as an answer
3 What is your bosses position in terms of the overall company structure?
I am trying to understand his motivation and if in fact there is a hidden agenda.

Hi @Vince_UK
Thanks for your input as I welcome all thoughts and advice !
1: NHS - I’m a Senior Manager and I oversee contracts across England across multiple CCGs
2: bad (it’s rhe nhs lol)
3: he is the Big Cheese

He bought this up in my regular 1:1 yesterday

He based his comments on what he termed as other colleagues perceptions of me being absent.

As said in my other blurbs I have taken annual leave for all my appointments and not called in sick once since my diagnosis 9 weeks ago. I have worked from home twice post gnarly hypos. Most people I work with work from home one day a week. I rarely do. He is insistent that if I have a hypo I must call in sick. I refuted and said I’m not sick just unsteady for a little and hence it’s better I don’t get public transport particularly whilst my eyes are still not back to full function. His answer was take a half day sick and then work from home in the afternoon. Huh ?!?!

What’s your thoughts ? x

 

[ClaudiaKiwi]

I can't help you, but I have suffered the same thing when having an asthma attack in the night and then wanted to wok from home, they say it should be taken as sick, then complain that I take too much sick leave. Again they are quite happy for me to work at home late into the night and on bank holidays when covering my colleague in the States and dial into meetings when I am on leave. All I can say is I hope they are applying the same rules about taking sick leave rather than working from home to everyone and not just you for for your diabetes, as this is what made me angry as I know colleagues in other departments who are always allowed to work from home rather than take sick leave regardless of what is wrong with them.

Agree with Vince about the hidden agenda.

Why are employers such pricks on this stuff ? So sorry you have had to deal with this also. It’s utter shyyyyyte isn’t it. How did your situation end up ? Is it ok now ? Your story is exactly mine. It’s not ok eh.

 

[Davein]

Hi Claudia
I have been lucky in the fact that I was diagnosed with autoimmune pancreatitis and diabetes in my late 50s whilst 'retired'.
I had my own business for many years often working extremely long hours (probably contributed my later ill health) and made enough money to slow down and work when I wanted to. Now I often wonder how I could have done it if the illnesses had occurred earlier in life. The sheer number of hospitalisations, GP and Consultant appointments, blood tests, to say nothing of the retinopathy and podiatry appointments would have meant considerable time off work.
You have my deepest admiration and respect for coping with this wicked illness working under such pressures and now a prat of a boss to put up with.
You take care
Dave