Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello,
I am not sure what to do about work, have been struggling for a long time with various pressures, insiide and outside of work. A month ago I had a meeting with my medical team and my employers, I was under the impression this was to discuss my required changes and how to move forward with them. My employer announces they want to place me on a performance improvement plan for 30 days, stating where they feel I am at is a long way from where they want to be, and also mentioning they feel my role is changing needing more collaboration which conflicts with my required changes. They said the purpose of the meeting with my medical team was to check I was fit to do the plan as it would be very demanding and stressful.
My medical team said they were not the ones to decide if I was fit, and said that would be between me and my GP. I arranged to see him following Monday and have been off sick for four weeks this weekend.
I asks for further details of the performance improvement plan and what it would be involved, I received a spreadsheet highlighting areas of improvement, but no real plan. I am shocked at some of the things they have mentions and don't know where they get that information from. That too with communication with my colleagues which I have been praised for on occaisions with my peers.
I have had problems with my work, that has been hindered by a new manager I just hate and don't get on with; having said that I try and keep conversations brief and professional.
I have read about performance improvement plans are basically just to kick you out of the organisation, and that is my gut feeling. My skills are outdated are not marketable in the workplace.
I have been in contact with Access to Work, but trying to get anything arranged in this day and age is slow and cumbersome. I had decided to go through with the trial, it would get me a months pay at least, and would put an end to uncertainty about some things. I then think that things are not so bad as I think they are, and things will be fine after the trial. Then I feel opposite end, in that no matter how well the trial goes, it would still not make a difference. I am considering long term sick, then learning the new skills myself, and trying to find another job. Problem is new employers expect you to have the skills they want and be in employment.
Another option is to raise a grievance, I have been very angry about a number of problems at work, and have held back as I just dint really have the capacity to add to the problems at work
Sorry, I know I have repeated stuff from my older post. I though I would start a new thread to explain how I am thinking now
Random
By all means raise a grievance, but first of all think what you want to achieve by it.
You would also need to pore over the policies or your employer to see what they have not been complying with, and I can more or less guarantee there is something there that they have not been doing right. This is something a union rep may help you with if you are a member.
A performance plan is a way of removing you, the employer/manager will make out you are not trying and you need to buck up your ideas. They may sound reasonable about it but it is their intention you will fail. Setting someone up to fail is harassment under the equality act, so this is also a cause for grievance and also a possible employment tribunal matter. And the added stress of trying to reach so called targets means your performance will suffer more.
i would only go on long term sickness if there was no other alternative. Just because the stress, anxiety, and depression caused by work does not mean you cannot be dismissed and you have to consider that you only are entitled to most rights in a workplace if you have been there two years, with the exception of unlawful discrimination in defined areas. An employer will argue that the stress was not undue and is down to capability.
I have been down all these paths, and it takes a long time and a lot of stress to sort out. I put in a grievance last October, and as it had not been resolved an Early Concilliation followed by an employment tribunal application. Originally my grievance, on seven points, was dismissed on all of them. I appealed the grievance and it was upheld on six points., the one not upheld was on harassment which I found a little illogical as the other points being accepted would mean that harassment had occurred. I was then offered a very considerable sum of money (£30000) to drop the case at tribunal but give up my job. Due to my age and that I wouldnt get another job, I put in an alternative proposal of a smaller sum of money, keep my job and stop all of their nonsense. According to my union rep this has now been accepted, an offer will be made and I will keep my job, it has not been signed off yet but at the moment the preliminary hearing is taking place in October if settlement not reached by then. So it is a long process, nor to say stressful which is what an employer banks on.
Why certain employers act in such unreasonable ways is beyond me. Keeping workers engaged and fulfiled will benefit the company far more than antagonism and workplans.
I am in a very similar situation! You are not alone!
I have been struggling for a long time with various pressures, inside and outside of work.
I am only there to keep my budget in balance. Other than that I feel that being there harms me and my health is going down.
Well, a performance improvement plan and/or a new manager are typical techniques for an organisation to rid themselves of someone.
I would advise against a grievance unless you actually have documented evidence. Hearsay, or your opinion of events (especially being autistic) won't count.
However, they probably can't start a performance improvement plan unless you are fit, according to a doctor.
The one thing HR won't want is for you to be signed off work owing to work-related stress. They can't touch you, no matter how much they might want to.
Note that this isn't a viable long-term solution, but it buys you enough breathing space to find an alternate source of income.