I don't even know how to start this post, I wanted to share my experience but so many things have happened that I feel exploding.
I'll try to be brief and make you understand. In october 2020 I started working as a teacher in a middle school. I have ankylosing spondylitis, I have a state certification that protects me from some things (I am Italian), and I am being treated with in Benepali.
Due to a case of coronavirus in my class I was forced to report my condition to the school doctor. From there my nightmare began.
Mine was an annual contract with little insurance, the school doctor declared that I am ineligible to carry out any work activity. I tried to appeal to the doctor, but they forced me to stay home for six months. Without salary. Despite my research I am blocked by the contract I signed with the school which prevents me from finding another job, but if I quit I will lose some benefits I need to return to work in September 2021. I am on the verge of a crisis, I have thought about suicide, I fell into depression. The state that was supposed to preserve me because I am ill has left me without work and without money. I'm desperate...
I think I need some comfort and a few friendly words ...
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ChiiCat92
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Hi ChiiCat92 , this sounds like a very stressful situation to say the least and I am sorry this is happening to you.
Firstly, if you haven't already, try speaking to something like citizens advice on the legality of this situation?
Secondly, have you been assessed and cleared fit for work by a doctor outside of the school?
Thirdly, please feel free to message me privately for a little extra support!
I am always happy to listen to any and all complaints or stress out moments. I have a lot of experience dealing with mental health issues too. Please know that things will get better (easier said than believed I know) and although I am new to this forum too, it has been nothing but friendly, welcoming and supportive.
You're so kind, I really thank you. Unfortunately everything is in accordance with the law, I have fought with lawyers so far but there is no way out of this infernal circle. One law over another and they blocked me! Being mine an annual contract, they cannot guarantee return to work nor can they pay for the period of absence, but at the same time, being a person with a disease, I cannot go back to work. Italian law does not protect either annual workers or frail patients ...
Am I right in thinking you are working in Italy? Do you belong to a union there? ? As we are now out of the EU I’m afraid the laws here will probably now not apply in Italy.Would it be possible to be re-assessed by your own doctor to remove/alter the phrase “ineligible for any work activity” inserted by the school doctor......which seems to be the reason that doctor is blocking your return to work?
After all you were able to perform all your contracted duties before the case of Covid in your class weren’t you?
Try speaking to your personal physician & see what he advises...he may have some knowledge of a situation like yours.
I do hope you manage to find a solution very soon.....I know nothing about Italian Benefits....but are you not eligible for anyone state sick pay as you have a letter stating you are too sick to work?
Hi ChiiCat92 call he NRAS helpline they will be able to give you support and advice and ideas and this will help you enormously too. Also ACAS might be able to help as well re legal issues and your contract as well. I appreciate this is a lot to do but you have the information to hand already it is now pick that phone up and change things for the better.Thinking of you x
Thank you very much, but unfortunately I have already done everything you said, everything I have done has been canceled by another law, they have stuck me in a bureaucratic labyrinth. Think that they did not make me do smartworking because on the medical certificate it was written "unsuitable to carry out any work activity", any, any work activity. In order not to make me go back to work they translated "any work activity" as the impossibility of working from home in smartworking!
Oh bless - I think you have to decide whether the benefits you will get in Sept outweigh mental health and financial gain needed now. However make sure you talk to some even MIND are fab too. It is all about finding the key to your stability and health for now and making sure someone is listening too.Keep talking on here too as you are not alone!
It's all a bureaucratic mess, I don't know if you know how the Italian school system works, let's say that every month of teaching, every contract you stipulate, gives you points. The educational qualifications, degrees, some types of courses, also give you points, and these points accumulate in a ranking, the higher your score in the ranking, the higher the chances of being called to work the following year, because to be called are the first in the ranking. My contract entitles me to 12 points...which is a lot, really a lot. I can not give up or risk being too low in the ranking in September.
Oh gosh that's awful.do you have any time of school union or welfare that could help you. Is your headteachers approachable. I can understand why you feel so helpless when you cant see a way to get control over this. What a horrible situation. Is there a citizens advice near you that you could talk too.
Hey there, thank you for your kind words.no, the headteacher is absolutely not a person to talk to ...she called me before Christmas saying that to her I was like a daughter... that she took my situation to heart and would do anything to help me . Last week she wrote me an official email telling me that the school no longer owes me any salary, without even writing "good morning" or "I'm sorry", like this, heartless
Very heartless and hurtful . But from your words here , you are well above them . It's really hard to help when you have tried many places. I'd join a teachers union here and ask for their professional and legal advice. Dont let the b.... get you down, glad you are having company soon x stick in there dont let them win 😍
It is the feeling of being in front of a dead end that makes me feel helpless, some days everything is so black that the only thing I can do is curse me and my illness. I got sick when I was very young and it was always a huge burden ... now because of it I have also lost the job I have studied so much for, it is difficult to deal with all these emotions
Thars why I feel you need more targeted professional help. A teaching union could see what you are due, how you could progress and support you. "The darkest hours are just before the dawn " as the old song goes. Hang on in there, things have a way if sorting themselves out. Give a teachers union or can a ring , see what they can advise x
Hi,
Please remember life is precious and nothing or no one is worth it!
Things will improve, baby steps and one thing at a time and that nightmare will be gone, big hugs 🤗 x
Aww bless! Well you’ve found us now, better late than never, as the saying goes, “a problem shared is a problem halved” so try to relax a little knowing you’ve got great help, support, and love around you ❤️🌈🤗X
You can not change what you can not change so the only way forward is to see what you can do on a contract that offers no money and no work ... do you have family support so you can at least live in safety with no income? Do you have a way of accessing some courses to do in the meantime that will gain you points on the system?? Can you access personal wellbeing support (councillor or therapist) through your health care system without paying for it? Do you have things that you can do to slow the grinding worry... gardening, drawing, writing??
In this country when we have nowhere else to go we write to our local member of parliament about the problem and sometimes that helps!
Sorry I don’t know the Italian systems at all so can’t offer better support.
You are really kind, thank you very much! Right now I'm trying to finish a course I started two years ago. I am a musician, graduated in music, and I will have the pleasure of playing with my sister when she graduates in late March. I'm trying to focus on this! Maybe tomorrow I'll go give private lessons to a girl who's about to start playing. I have a girlfriend who loves me and she's coming to stay with me for a while on Friday. Sometimes I feel like I'm underwater and I don't hear and see all the good around me, but you're right there are so many things I can do ... sometimes it's just very difficult.
And that is why we are here... to see each other through the down times and shine a light on the bumpy path until we can, once again, carry our own torch. 🙃 I hope you find a way to finish that course and into better times soon
Hello 💕😊 This is wonderful ChiiCat92. Finishing your course and teaching music. Different, though will I am sure be a great thing. Playing with your sister when she graduates ... how lovely that will be....hopefully giving private lessons to that girl ... fantastic and so lucky that child will be to have you. There is much to hope for and as tough as things get a light is shining always somewhere. You have found here and there is a lot of love and support. We are so very lucky to have here. Things get tough ... really tough. I have sort of been where you are but my reasons and difficulties were different. Focus on what you can change ... new opportunities and I hope the rest will fall into place. If there are any kind of union equivalents in Italy I strongly agree... join them and/or contact the ones here. They will be good to talk to. Take heart... whilst you can’t do what you should be able to do... you are already doing different things that are great and offer opportunities and good things for your mind and soul. 🍀🥰
Hugs from one cat to another. Sorry you are going through this. There are some excellent posts with advice and I can’t add any more than theirs but phoning NRAS is a very good idea as Deeb said. Also the CAB as Allanah has said. x
Hiya ChiiCat, welcome. You're in the right place for friendly words. As to how we can can help, well if you're Italian living in Italy I fear with us being in the UK our knowledge of support & help available to you is limited, unless we have a member also in Italy, though nobody immediately comes to mind. I do however hope that anything already suggested above has given you some ideas of where you could start, if you have similar resources available there, you now maybe feel a little less helpless.
Something I’ve just thought of, here we have Welfare Rights Officers attached to the local Town Hall. Their job in part is to research & interpret legislation and caselaw & provide advice. Their help is provided free of charge & they are used to dealing with both general & complex situations. Is there something similar where you live do you think?
Keep talking here, you never know we may be may be of help somehow. Have you ever lived in the UK? Your English is very good. 😊
Yes we have something similar in Italy, I don't know how to translate it into English but in any case they do what you said, I went there and unfortunately they too did not know how to help me ... this absurd situation is all in accordance with the law, nothing that has been done that's illegal! This is precisely what makes me feel without strength and with no way out. Thankk you, I have studied languages for many years! I do my best with English! Unfortunately no, I've never lived in the UK, I've been there on holiday several times though.
Andd just talking about this story makes me feel better, so thank you very much
Hi ChiiCat92 - your post made me feel painful as you are too talented and precious, and your friends and family need you. You can see we have amazing people in this community who has offered you such great advice and comforting words.
I want you to know there is always a way out even though you feel stuck in this nightmare.
Instead of feeling stuck do take some time out and write an action plan as what can you do to get out of it, i.e. be persistent and knock on doors for that help, someone will let you in! You are also a real asset being a teacher, so you have super skills perhaps whilst you wait are you able to offer those skills - online be it as a hobby or voluntary?
Testing time yes, but there is always hope 🙏 Please do feedback, so we know how you are doing. You got this!
A big virtual hug filled with blessings coming through - 🤗 - Hessie x
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