Hi folks.
Returned to work this morning after 6 months chemo. Returned to work at 9 am but was heading home at 10am having been no longer required. I WAS a project manager with a construction company, reason given was there was no new projects to put me on and they couldn't afford to have me waiting on something coming in. No consultation and I don't even know as yet what package I will be getting. Just thought I would share, as I'm pretty p********d off at the total lack of compassion
Billy
I'm p****d off for you Billy, what a total sickener. Didn't they give you a hint of this before you actually went into work today? Do you you suspect that this is more about discrimination than future project availability?
Wishing you well and hope the work situation can be resolved for you or a package that meets your needs. Actually I really wish you could get them legally for this but no doubt they'll say it's about lack of work availability. I suspect this kind of thing happens all the time and it's infuriating!
Supportive best wishes,
Newdawn x
That's absolutely rotten news Billy. Pretty p***** hardly covers it.
The insensitivity of your employer amazes me. Hope your package proves to be a good one. I know you needed the news like a hole in the head.
More important though, your health, hope your feeling so much better.
Wishing the future holds better things for you.
Bub
That's pretty crap news Billy, after all you have been through and I followed your blog on Macmillan so know how you felt, you have come out the other side feeling much better and you go back to work to to find them completely heartless.
I hope things improve for you soon and so wish you could get them for the discrimination they have shown.
Kirk
Sorry to hear this Billy
Personal experience would lead me to think that when you have a chronic condition and have been absent from work for some time that, if you push them, they will ask when you will be ( cured ) fit to work full time.
Whatever the reason, I would think that they have thought about it carefully ( heartlessly ) before you returned to-day.
I was 32, an Engineer, worked all the machines - switched to Industrial Quartz Glassblowing & Welding - Shift Team Leader - Key Holder - did the stock, priced the work as it came in .... got an eye injury ... ( no compensation, I couldn't prove that the pure white strobing light and 2000 C heat from the lathes damaged my eyes ) ... and with a wife and 2 young kids about to start school, was told .... that they wanted me to take redundancy, if refused then they had no alternative but to sack me ..... because I could not give them a time when the injury would heal .... tough luck ...bye ...
If you want to .... have a word with your local Citizens Advice .... or your Council's Welfare Rights, they would be able to help you with any legal points that you may have regarding your leaving package or rights.
They will also be able to advise/ help when it comes to dealing with the DWP ....
Billy, That's a pretty low 'welcome' back to work and you must feel devastated. As if you haven't been through enough already.
I've had a decade of Project Management work experience in IT and know how hard the work can be, what with the long hours and stresses of dealing with the unexpected, yet is is also very rewarding in leading a team that delivers a successful project outcome. I've had to deal with redundancy too, when my company lost a major customer. It isn't easy getting back into the workforce, particularly if you are older (and in IT that seems to apply to anyone over the age of 30!) Unfortunately, you have the additional challenge of a chronic health condition and need to work through what's the best way forward. However, you have very saleable skills that would serve you and any potential employer well. Perhaps your health may not be up to recommencing in a PM role, but you would add value in any number of supportive roles in a project orientated business. Part of my package included funding to attend a company that specialised in helping me through the process of working out what positions best suited me, getting my resume into shape, applying for positions, interview practice, etc, and with that assistance I enjoyed a couple of years of rewarding project management contract work before landing another permanent position.
Use your Project Management skills to determine the best way of managing this major project change to your career and deliver!
All the best,
Neil
I'm gutted for you Billy - especially having followed what you've been through too, with your treatment..... I'm appalled..... and I'm angry!!
I wish there was something we could do to help.
Hopefully, when you've gathered your thoughts, you'll find an action plan and be able to move forward.
Wishing you well.
sparkler x
Hi Billy, as Neil has said, you have portable skills. Put them to use to find a better employer.
Meantime, I hope you get a good lasting remission from the chemo.
Hi Sparky, good to see you here 
Mikey
Are you in a Trade union Billy? If not, please contact welfare of citizens rights asap. If you are being made redundant have they told you what the selection criteria is for the redundancy as it could constitute an unfair dismissal which is challengable in an Employment Tribunal? If there are more project managers than you employed by your firm, why have they chosen you and not someone else (well we know the answer to that dont we?). There are laws on fair dismissal and redundancy, if you want to keep your job then please take advice and dont just accept theres nothing you can do about it.
Hi I'm sorry for what has happened and half of me says take them to the cleaners but half says don't bother. Take the money (and get as much as you can, don't take the first figure they offer its negotiable. Did they pay you when you went through chemo?). Think about your options. You don't say how old you are. This could be a fresh start. I know it doesn't feel like that now but in the months to come you may feel differently about the whole situation. Your first priority has to be your health and stress like this you can do without. Good luck
just sending you a smile of encouragement!
Billy - this sounds absolutely outrageous to me.
Your employers wait until you turn up after sick leave for chemo to tell you there's no work for you...and send you home without consultation, or any kind of meeting even to discuss a redundancy package?
I don't know what the terms and conditions of your contract are, but please don't forget you are protected to some extent by the Disability Act (as was - now Equality Act). It's a powerful piece of legislation in the right contexts, which I'm sure you're aware of - details here to remind though, and it might be worth seeing if CAB can refer you to an employment lawyer to see if this could work in your favour:
cancerresearchuk.org/cancer...
macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinfo...
Anyway - it will all depend on your contract with your employer I guess, but it sucks either way that you should have to negotiate this after going through chemo for the past 6 months.
Congratulations on completing your chemo successfuly though, and hopefully a good long remission will give you the energy to move on from this, fight them if you have any legal grounds to do so, and find a better employer!
Jules xxx
Barsteads rotten barsteads
Hi Billy - I am really sorry that this has happened to you, after all you have been through as well. With regard to the legality of what your employer has done to you, you might check your Buildings/Contents insurance because quite often there is access to a lawyer for some proper legal advice included in the policy = might be worth a look anyway. Best wishes Billy, in any event.
Billy
I'm not going to express my feelings about what has happened to you, although I find their actons despicable. What I am going to suggest is, that that you check with Citizens Advice in the first instance. The Equality Act 2010 states:
It’s against the law for employers to discriminate against you because of a disability. The Act covers; dismissal or redundancy. An employer has to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to avoid you being put at a disadvantage compared to non-disabled people in the workplace. For example, adjusting your working hours or providing you with a special piece of equipment to help you do the job. You can’t be chosen for redundancy just because you’re disabled. The selection process for redundancy must be fair and balanced for all employees.
Your employer cannot force you to retire if you become disabled.
The reasons they have given you do NOT appear to be condusive with the spirit of the Act and you must fight it.
Citizens Advice will suppot you in this and might even provide an employment solicitor to fight your case free of charge.
Don't let the ******** win.
Billy
So sorry to hear of your day....a sh1t welcome back to say the least. Leaves me speechless as to the dark places our society goes.... Take Neil's advice to help you get control around your future, get a plan and manage it...... and also GrahamT's advise to get to CAB - it might just get you more resources (including help) to implement your own plan!
Billy,
I'm just wondering how are you going? Have you made any decisions on what to do? I hope you were able to get some satisfaction out of further negotiations with your past employer.
Neil
Hi neil.
Still ongoing I'm afraid. They have. Clearly not followed the correct procedures. Im taking advice and will update
when i know the way forward
Given they haven't followed the correct procedures, you are in a good position to get an improvement in your outcome. I'm glad you've sought advice.
I'm sure that there will be plenty in this community interested in your update.
Hope you are handling the inevitable stress OK - not pleasant at any time and especially when you're fighting CLL 
T-CELLs Collected
Just diagnosed at 30
Covid at last!
Thanks CLL and Sepsis, I'm now holed up at home and a little afraid to go out and about! Plus, how you can have an infection and not know?
10 months post Stem Cell Transplant 
