Advice needed please

[Tuppence3573]

I need some advice, I am on a performance Improvement plan at work, because I am making errors, I know this is because my levels aren't right and the hospital are reviewing my medication every 6-8 weeks, is there anything I can do? I have told my boss about my condition and how it affects me but things are getting serious now and I could end up losing my job because of my condition 😥

[Aurealis]

My heart goes out to you, employers can be so impatient.

Is your condition recorded as a disability? Your boss needs to realise that there is an obligation to ‘make reasonable adjustments’ for your condition according to the Equality Act 2010.

Or should you perhaps be staying at home until you’re correctly medicated? Explain to your doctor what is going on. You could be signed off until you’re well.

Good luck

[Cider_Woman in reply to Aurealis]

Agreed. Use the law to your advantage. And do it before you get additional written warnings and/or terminated for competence.

Good luck. My heartfelt best wishes.

[HashiFedUp]

Join the trade union if you haven’t already. Talk to someone in Human Resources for help and support do they have the full information. Provide information about how your condition affects you. Especially as not everyone understands about our conditions. Consider reducing your hours until your health improves. Is your condition a disability under the Equalty Act - that’s tricky. It’s life long but health and symptoms can fluctuate one day to the next. I work part time since I got poorly. Not sure I could cope with full time if I’m honest. You need to be realistic - you have a chronic condition. Ps what company do you work for? I used to work in HR before I became ill so private message me for advice if you need.

[Howard39]

Hi

I am very sorry to hear about your situation.

I agree with joining a trade union, hopefully they can support you in a meeting.

To be considered as disabled/ have a disability to need to have a condition for 12 m. ( cancer aids and MS are the exceptions).

I agree with reducing your hours to something you can manage until, hopefully your condition improves.

If you do have any discussions they must minute it and you both have to agree and sign it. Please ensure they don’t haul you in a room and intimidate you on your own. Is there a colleague who you trust that could accompany you?

Have they given you a time frame to improve? Also hopefully you’ve been employed more than two years.

If you are under a endo or have a good gp could they confirm your situation for you?

I used to be a HR manager in a large firm. We were fairly decent with our staff but sadly smaller independent ones are less so.

If I can help more I will.

Could we help with your condition?

[TSH110 in reply to Howard39]

It can count as a disability especially if it gives you mental health problems. Because I had olfactory hallucinations caused by the hypothyroidism this automatically gave disabled status and greater protection under law according to my mental health nurse there was no questions about whether the imaginary smells had ponged around me for over a year! I also though people were following me and changing clothes to fool me which I think would have been classified as hallucinations of some kind but I forgot to mention those. My union gave excellent support and successfully fought off the appalling descrinination I was subjected to by my then employer 🤮 and after many years of hard work for them.

[Howard39 in reply to TSH110]

If you look up under gov.uk subtitle the definition of disability under the disability Act 2010 it does confirm what I said. Most long term conditions do count after a 12 month period except the 3 I mentioned which are immediate. I am glad you got support before this time. Mental health problems / thyroid issues are not an immediate disability.

[TSH110 in reply to Howard39]

There must be some aspects of mental health that do qualify you such as hallucinations from my experience of my consultations with the mental health nurse I saw unless the disability laws have changed since then. It was not my hypothyroidism persay that gave me disabled status - it jolly well ought to do if that isn’t debilitating in every aspect of function I don’t know what is.

[Howard39 in reply to TSH110]

Hi

You are right it should be sadly it’s not.

[genileris]

I had this issue and took extended sick leave as a result. My employer demanded I have a medical assessment and the report found that my employer was potentially in breech of the Equalities Act for not making reasonable adjustments on the grounds of my disability. I have had Hashimoto’s for nine years. Most of the time I’m fine but I can become unwell for periods of time.

[Thyroxy]

My hypothyroidism is recorded as a disability under the Equality Act as everyones should be. Just Google disability definition under Equality Act 2010and it will take you to relevant GOV. UK page. Mine is recorded through Occupational Health as I work in local government.

With no disrespect to my hashi's fedup sister I have never found HR or Occupational health particularly helpful as they are employed by the employers and certainly biased in their favour but they have to acknowledge disabilities under the Equality act which means the employers then have to make reasonable adjustments to allow you to work on a par with your colleagues.

This is where you need union involvement who can support you in an independent employment tribunal if your employer refuses to make these adjustments.

I feel for you it's bad enough having to work under par but being continually assessed must feel unbearable. You should PM HashiFedUp as her HR advice will be invaluable as well.

All the very best to you x

[Treepie]

I suggest that you post your results with ranges for TSH,FT3,FT4, ferritin,folate, B12 and D3 and seek comments.

[holyshedballs]

In my view sufferers of hypothyroid conditions are covered by the Equalities Act 2010.

the guidance at assets.publishing.service.g... › uploads › attachment_data › file states

The Act defines a disabled person as a person with a disability. A

person has a disability for the purposes of the Act if he or she has a

physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial

and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal

day-to-day activities (S6(1)).

if you are so fatigued that it has a substantial adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day to day activities, that is a physical impairment and you are disabled and the Act comes into effect.

if you are so "brain fogged" that it has a substantial adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day to day activities, that is a mental impairment and it could be argued a physical impairment that you are disabled and the Act comes into effect.

The guidance goes on to say at paragraph A5.

A disability can arise from a wide range of impairments which can be:

...

• impairments with fluctuating or recurring effects such as

rheumatoid arthritis, myalgic encephalitis (ME), chronic fatigue

syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia, depression and epilepsy;

In my view this includes the signs and symptoms of thyroid disorders.

The guidance also says:

What

it is important to consider is the effect of an impairment, not its cause

– provided that it is not an excluded condition.

[Hidden in reply to holyshedballs]

Thanks for that, it's very handy

[Reykua]

Hope I'm not too late to assist but may I suggest you ask your boss for a referral to Occupational Health (if your company has this provision) asap. This will ensure that your health issues are officially noted and supported by your organisation and they will be legally bound to support and assist you in any way they can.

At the same time, May I suggest you get your Employment Contract and Employee Terms and Conditions out and go over them with a fine toothed comb - preferably with an advisor/trusted confidant or better still, a Union Rep (if you're signed up) and fully appraise yourself of what your rights are (some organisations do not recognise Unions) and what you can reasonably expect from them.

Knowledge is Power.

All the best.

[Italyismyfav]

Get a letter from your doctor. Give a copy to your employer. Apply for disability time off. This is a medical condition.

[ZenPaisley]

Can you share a little bit more info? It will help guide ideas. 1) about what your work involves? Error trends? 2) sleep habits, meal habits 3) what med taken as well as how and when you take your medication

Lots of things to consider

[Tuppence3573 in reply to ZenPaisley]

I work as a receptionist, I'm on 125mg levothyroxine and 20mg Liothyronine, errors are basically lack of attention to detail where I am so foggy headed, I follow a healthy diet as I am on Slimming World x

[ZenPaisley in reply to Tuppence3573]

Thank you for giving more details. The first thing that comes to mind for reeling in some control on things at work is to make yourself a checklist(s). Sounds impossible but here’s my idea-which btw, I used myself as an ofc worker and supervisor. To get going you’ll have to try kinda hard...as in focus. But!...don’t fret because it’s in spurts. Get a tablet and pen ready, keep both together, close to you. Set separate pages up for each of your daily tasks OR you can set up a page into sections or boxes—whatever feels good to you. Title each page or box; like, ‘Morning Musts’, ‘Complete by 1p’, ‘Info per Caller’. Anything you want to increase control in can have a spot—Now, as your day progresses, jot things down inside the appropriate page or box. As you do this a couple things happen...1) you’re training your brain to focus ON SOMETHING and 2) you’re creating your safety nets

This is challenging at first—but try to stick with it. Fiddle around with your notes and get your own flowjo going. The first moment you return to that ‘note’ that saved your a$$....you’ll get it😉

[ZenPaisley]

Part 2!

After you get a ‘Daily Brain’ list established, make several xerox copies. Use a new one every day, make sure you add a place to fill in the date. Keep your Daily Brain pages organized somehow—I filed mine in a folder 📁 so I could just pull the date out if I needed to review something. I quickly learned to add my ‘insights’ to my pages which later proved to be a HUGE help. Sparked my memory.

[Devonlass]

Hi Tuppence3573

You have my sympathies as I have just been through a PIP, but not due to health issues, just a new Sales Director with totally achievable targets! My advice to you is to get advice from an Employment Solicitor that specialise in PIPs-just do an internet search-there are quite a few out there. Most will give you advice for free and then take on your case they think you have one. They will be able to tell you if your Employers are breaking the law or being discriminatory. If the worst comes to the worst they will arrange a settlement package for you that is to your benefit. If you have been at your employers over 2 years you would be able to claim unfair dismissal.

As other people have suggested HR will just back the company and monitor the situation.

You could buy yourself some time by getting signed off work in the meantime, seeking advice and then deciding if you are going to challenge the PIP or arrange a settlement. As my Solicitor said to me, why would you want to work for a company that treats you badly though it's not an easy decision.

I decided to go through the PIP as I had unemployment insurance fortunately. My Employer did offer me a good settlement package before the PIP proceeded too far however, especially once they knew I had sought legal advice and wasn't afraid to stand up for myself. Most Employers favour settling as it is less hassle for them then putting an employee through a PIP.

With regards to brain fog, if you haven't already, getting my nutrients more optimal has helped me.

If you need any more help and advice, please let me know and all the best with the PIP-it's not pleasant, but there is life afterwards.