Reasonable adjustments at work and arthritis

[notagranny]

Hi everyone, I wondered what other people's experiences are of having a job and arthritis? Was your employer understanding and open to implementing reasonable adjustments?

[chlopage]

Hi notagranny,

I have a great relationship with my employer. I am an assistant pub manager who works full time (36hrs p/w spread over 6days). I have worked for them for 8years, and I regard them as my second family.

From day one I was honest about my condition, and kept them informed any developments/progressions with my RA. i am sometimes too brutally truthfuL with telling them how I am feeling. But everyone works well together, resourceful and considerate- including my customers.

Pub work is hard work, but...

I am in This particular Trade for many reasons. The hours suit me. I keep active/fit. I was able to learn to talk to others about living with it.

My employers would help me out in anyway that they could. They would take me to hospital appointments (I don't drive), tell me when I need to slow down/sit down when I started to limp (because I'm too stubborn to tell myself to stop), hold my hand when I needed steroid injections, found cover if I was going to be late for an appointment.

I used the nras awareness week a few years ago to explain about my life, trials and tribulations with other staff and customers. My thought process was to educate people on how difficult and painful this disease is. Why I act they way I do, Why I do things differently, Why I work where I do, my experiences that I have a faced... I raised £500 that week! ... And since, everyone has been considerate, and want to help in any way that they can to make my life as functional and independent as they can.

Kind regards,

Chlo

X

[VickyBM]

Hi!

I work full time for my employer and started there almost two years ago.

This was just as my RA was diagnosed and I started new drugs etc. so hadn't said anything about my condition when I started the job as, I didn't know how it would affect me.

When the regularity of the blood tests, hospital visits became known I let my boss know. I'd only been there a month but he was understanding.

As my hands are affected and I have a desk based job they didn't quibble when I asked to have a different mouse and keyboard.

As I have flare ups everyone in the office knows about my RA and they are pretty good with helping me out carrying files, making drinks if I'm struggling which is great.

Recently I realised that I wasn't coping well after having a really bad flare and they have modified my hours to help me out so I have two late starts and early finishes each week.

I know that they could have been so much less accommodating than they have been so I'm appreciative of that. i just need to learn to balance things more myself as I have a stressful job which does demand a lot and I do seem to give this rather than my health the priority at times.

I hope this help.

V

[Karen77]

At first I didn't tell my manager too much about it because everything I was reading said that it was within my rights to not share that information, and because there was still so much I didn't understand. I was naively biding my time until the MTX "worked" and I could go back to "normal". But it soon became a source of frustration for both my manager and myself as my RA was taking very long to get under control, I wasn't getting "better," I had difficulty getting to work on time, and of course, there were all those appointments (as you probably know!).

In the end, I sat down with my manager and my director, shared with them Rheumatoid Arthritis Guy's 60-second guide to RA (rheumatoidarthritisguy.com/... and explained both what I had and why I hadn't told them anything (because so much is unknown) and identified what I thought I needed (teleworking) to be able to continue to work productively. I think being open and honest about my situation has really helped. I have been granted the ability to telework 4 days per week. 1 day per week I come into the office for "visibility" and that is usually the day I book all of my meetings. I book my appointments are as much as possible on days that I am working from home. Since these appointments are all near my house, it also means that I am away from my desk for shorter periods of time. I find that I am also able to focus very well at home, so that is great.

I have also been provided an electronic stapler, Dragon Naturally Speaking software and an ergonomic mouse. They have been very understanding and supportive, but I think that open and honest communication about my situation was absolutely necessary.