How to manage your employer when you have fibromyalgia?

[Feather]

Here I go again, I have a new manager and he is calling me in to see HR because apparently he is giving me a lot of leeway at the moment. The leeway in question is for me to request the flexible working arrangement I negotiated at the beginning of my employment, and this is despite the fact that I have a note from HR that I can have a flexible start time and I am allowed not to work Friday as long as I have done my 37.5 hours for the week. Baring in mind I often am required to do 40+ hours and don't claim most of it as I am doing it in the morning from home rather than the office. My job as a product manager is to come up with new ideas and ensure our developers deliver it in a way which is good for our business. My day job is for me to make the company profitable and I am doing a good job at this if you believe my last glowing review. I am not a bad employee, but the HR director would have my boss believing I am. The HR director forbad an employee from working from home during her cancer treatments and instead asked her to take unpaid leave. The employee's cancer is very agressive and she can't delay treatment after the new year, nor should she have to take the legal minimum holiday's she has to cover her time off. She wants to work from home for that period and there is nothing in her job that requires her to be in the office.

To have some more context, my new manager goes on runs twice a week at lunchtime from 11:00 until 14:00, strong believer that the key to good health is an active lifestyle. Other employee are 100% working from home and moved to the coast, because it was convenient for them. Sometimes my manager doesn't turn up for meetings he organised because he forgot. Sometimes he turns up hangover, not often but it happens he will not be able to do work because of a gig he was the night before. It's very much a two teared system at work.

They don't understand when I tell them I can't walk 0.5 miles to get to a client, or I need to work from home somedays because I am struggling with the "walking thing" that I have to do to get to my office. My manager doesn't want to understand that some weeks I just can't cope and some weeks I am ok. And just to say my cholesterol is very low, my BMI is within the normal range and I try to exercise at least 10 minutes every day which is the maximum I can really do without making things worse for me. I am not looking for medical advice on this particular thread.

What I am really looking for is for someone to point me in the right direction for documentation I can give to my employer on what my condition is, I have fibro and ME, and the conditions which was put in place at the beginning of my employment and was in the employee handbook for all employee are what I need.

[Hidden]

I think having gone thru similar I would either call on Union if you are in one, or get advise from local job centre employment advisor IF the boss doesnt honour UK working rights. I had to use both to get early retirement from the nhs 3 years ago.

[Feather in reply to Hidden]

Thanks. This is the first thing I did, waiting to hear back. It's very scary at the moment.

[Themanwithnoname]

My DR recently printed this off for me patient.info/signs-symptoms.... Hope it is of some help and you get the understanding you need.

[Themanwithnoname in reply to Themanwithnoname]

Link not working so trying again patient.info/signs-symptoms...

[Hidden]

Hi Feather, im on a similar quest for understanding at the moment, ive been off work for the past 3 weeks after hitting the exhaustion wall and have spent the time researching ways of broaching this with my employer, there's so little information. What conditions did you negotiate when starting with your employer? After a good appraisal in April I find myself at the mercy of HR too, also not done in the nicest way but it has woken me up to the fact that I need to be more vocal about this, especially in the workplace or how can I expect anyone to understand? I revisited the doctor but FM seems to cover so many specialist area's i'm not sure whether to visit the Neurologist, Phsycologist or go back to the Rheumatologist who vaguely diagnosed it last time., i'm not sure which ay to turn. I've made our occupational health on site aware and they've recommended a desk assessment and flexible working hours, i'm yet to discuss working hours with HR but need to upon my return to work, i'm absolutely dreading everything. I've realised that I can't continue shaping my life around the 8-5, and will realistically need to shape work around this condition but finding a sustainable way of doing it is seemingly impossible. Is there any resource of peoples experience in re-balancing their lives out there? I will have to go back part time and hope I can adjust to the reduced income and maybe find an additional income. I guess after all that rambling I mean to say that making people aware in the workplace can be a positive way to keep the all important balance, otherwise expectation can be crippling. I'll try to keep posted on here how I get along. Hope it all works out xx

[carolirvine]

Action for m e is good to look at for employment advice also the equality act as you are covered as having a disability I also suffer from these conditions and eventually had to accept I'll health retirement from nhs

[Hidden]

Hi

I was lucky, my boss was brilliant at accommodating me but in the end I had to take ill health retirement last year due to the many conditions that I have. I'm still in touch with her. My brother said she was just doing her job properly. I think your employer has to offer flexible hours at the very least. Have you got a union? Love and hugs Lynne xxxx

[Dinkie]

Ask for an occupational health assessment. I didn't want one but my employer insisted and I have to say it was the best thing that coul have happened. Hours altered to suit me, car parking space nearer, modified uniform, special chair etc. My husband has also recently had one as he had employment issues and the OH assessment found in his favour in that he had been discriminated against and his illnesses did fall under the Equality Act 2010 and they should have made reasonable adjustments. Of course the needs of the particular business involved is all important too but both my husband and myself are grateful for the input of OH.

[releasethemagic]

DWP run a scheme called Access to Work that might be able to help with the cost of reasonable adjustments to cater for your needs. I got 3 lots of help over 15 years and about £10,000 in grants towards my employers costs to help me.

[Braveheart1]

Equality act (2010) they have to make reasonable adjustments - these appear to be what was negotiated at the start of your contract.

[Midori]

I agree, Acas is worth contacting, Words in HR Manager's ear about the Equalities Act (if you are in the UK) Union of you have one, Occupational Health is worth a try, and get both the HR manager and your immediate boss some literature on Fibro. Do you have written notes about your contract of Employment and the excellent Appraisal you were given? All worth having in your arsenal. Also anything HR hold on you with regards to the reasonable Adjustments you negotiated.

Might be worth slapping HR with a SAR (subject access request)for all information they hold on you. Might be a small fee for that, but It could be worth it. I am wondering why the HR manager is apparently conniving with your immediate boss, too!

Cheers, Midori

[Farmerboy in reply to Midori]

It looks as if somebody isn’t listening and maybe has an hidden agenda, as all is written in your initial contact of employment the HR manger should be able to put the annoying boss in is place and correct his misbehaviour.

[Feather in reply to Midori]

I am aware of 2 breaches of the disabilities act in the company in the past couple of month. I think someone has some weird agenda to stop flexible working conditions which were introduced to help us. I don't know why.

[teto]

I'm having the same trouble my employer told me I'm not flexible enough and would I consider stop taken my medication because they don't understand it's my illness not my medication that makes me tired and in pain.

[Feather in reply to teto]

The issue was that it was not in the contract but on an email from the HR director. I think it would hold in a court of law, but I don't want to go to that. I can't afford it.

[Feather]

Thank you al for your support, I have the meeting today. I had a conversation with my union, I also managed to find a brochure from action for ME which was useful and made my point for me. And I used your advice for my meeting.

Wish me luck.