Published on 12, July, 2020
Have you been decimated or suspect being discriminated against at work?No, this isn't one of those "then you need to call XYZ lawyers 4U" adverts!
I have a few borderline instances that occurred prior to diagnosis - all of which were made by a newish senior member of our team.
Having been recently diagnosed, I am starting to really struggle with what has happened in the recent past and have am now entering my 3rd week of sickness.
I'm not sure whether I should make am official complaint of discrimination, have a quiet word with the offending team member or just let if go.
Thank you all for your replies...
Today is the last day of my current "signed off" status and the intention is to return to work on Monday.I did have a meeting with my manager and HR yesterday which seemed to go very well.
I have drafted an email which gives a high level overview of my diagnosis and how that relates to the work environment. My manager & HR have reviewed this and I will be sending to my colleagues on Monday.
I did mention some of the situations that have made me feel uneasy, but only did so as an FYI - I will not be pursuing them any further. Going forward we will need to figure out what the boundaries or red lines are and hopefully all will be well.
It would be best to raise it calmly with your manager. It sounds like you may need some reasonable adjustments. But these reasonable adjustments probably aren’t obvious to your work colleagues and so you need to negotiate them being put in place with your manager. And I don’t think you can really blame them for not making adjustments they don’t know we need to make yet.
personally to me this doesn’t sound like harassment. It might be a failure to make reasonable adjustments. But that’s something you generally need to ask for.
In my experience (which doesn't sound as bad as yours, tbf). As soon as I had a fit note, and had a meeting with one of the decent managers, things started to get easier. I finally changed my hours (after previously asking, after having a fit note diagnosing me with depression and anxiety, to no avail).
I still have issues with one manager in particular. But, if you can find one senior colleague who will actually listen, it'll hopefully make a big difference. Everyone, apart from that one manager, that I've opened up to has actually been really supportive. So, I'd suggest trying to find someone who is on your side, and can help make changes. As a person with autism, your voice needs to be heard. Legally, they have to listen to your concerns. You can always take it higher, even if that means stirring the pot more than you'd like. You're wellbeing is your main priority, and they should understand that
lol yeah i been discriminated against alot at work, i could write essays on everything that happened, id be here all fecking day.but its the supervisors and middle managers that do it to me. i raised grievances it just made it worse and made the entire supervisors every one of them dogpile me. so yeah not sure if it was worth raising grievance to the company.... maybe to acas its worth it... but the company you will find will pick the bullies side and you will be dogpiled by more people. in company grievance is biased, better to go to acas for neutral out of company opinion.
I'm not sure exactly what you mean when you say "independent view"....Are we talking about someone at work (outside of my immediate team & HR), a friend, relative?
Amerantin (former member) said:Have you sought an independent view of what happened in these three instances?
A wise question.
It can be helpful to seek the perceptions of colleagues/others.
My advice is that it’s better to build alliances than start a war you can’t win.
Have you sought an independent view of what happened in these three instances?