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In 2012 I was given an interview for a part-time position in a relatively large corporate company. During the interview I was honest and forthcoming with my history of depression including a period of 6 month sick leave in a past job role. I was hired, working part-time fitted around my family - perfect job. After 16 months I was asked if I would consider working full time, I agreed on the basis I would need flexibility due to two small children. I began to get sick a lot, I think due to the extra pressure I was putting myself under. Then last year I found my 24yr old brothers body, I took 3 weeks off work, I had to use holiday as I was only entitled to 3 days compassionate leave, then threw myself back into normal life whilst trying to deal with grief, my mental state suffered greatly, and my attendance and timekeeping suffered, work was understanding to a point of course and I fully accepted this. 6 months later my father in law passed suddenly causing more upset at home. At some point I called onto work one morning as I could not face life, having a shower seemed impossible. When I returned to work 2 days later I had a meeting with HR who were there to support me, I was trying my best and being fully honest with them and accepted that my attendance was an issue. Out of the blue I received a disciplinary summons for sickness absence, as I had not taken a personal sick day since the meeting, it completely threw me and I experienced my first panic attack the doctor then signed me off, after 7 weeks I was forced to return on a phased return, my management team and HR were all nice, I was told my disciplinary still stood but they would conduct it after my phased return. In January this year I requested for the disciplinary to take place so we could all move forward, during the meeting the dates I had been given and the dates they were doing me for did not match, I instantly requested the meeting was postponed and further investigations proved that I had in fact not hit the trigger point for sickness absence and the whole thing was unneeded - I was however told off the record that they were watching me and would not hesitate to pull me up for lateness and my next sick day would result in being made an example of. For the next week I suffered with severe panic attacks and physical pain due to the severity of my mental state and I was such a mess I handed my notice in with a request to not work my notice due to my treatment by the individuals involved. This was 5 months ago, I have all documents and my witness from the disciplinary has confirmed the off the record chat contained inappropriate suggestion. Do I have a case? They have seriously affected me, I am currently unemployed and scared to go back into a working environment, so scared I won't claim Job Seekers because the thought of interviews alone terrifies me.
I want to work! But this experience has left me wondering if someone with mental health issues will ever be accepted, I try to deal with my illness as best I can and have always been honest yet it seems as though this will follow me forever and maybe put potential employers off me!
In 2012 I was given an interview for a part-time position in a relatively large corporate company. During the interview I was honest and forthcoming with my history of depression including a period of 6 month sick leave in a past job role. I was hired, working part-time fitted around my family - perfect job. After 16 months I was asked if I would consider working full time, I agreed on the basis I would need flexibility due to two small children. I began to get sick a lot, I think due to the extra pressure I was putting myself under. Then last year I found my 24yr old brothers body, I took 3 weeks off work, I had to use holiday as I was only entitled to 3 days compassionate leave, then threw myself back into normal life whilst trying to deal with grief, my mental state suffered greatly, and my attendance and timekeeping suffered, work was understanding to a point of course and I fully accepted this. 6 months later my father in law passed suddenly causing more upset at home. At some point I called onto work one morning as I could not face life, having a shower seemed impossible. When I returned to work 2 days later I had a meeting with HR who were there to support me, I was trying my best and being fully honest with them and accepted that my attendance was an issue. Out of the blue I received a disciplinary summons for sickness absence, as I had not taken a personal sick day since the meeting, it completely threw me and I experienced my first panic attack the doctor then signed me off, after 7 weeks I was forced to return on a phased return, my management team and HR were all nice, I was told my disciplinary still stood but they would conduct it after my phased return. In January this year I requested for the disciplinary to take place so we could all move forward, during the meeting the dates I had been given and the dates they were doing me for did not match, I instantly requested the meeting was postponed and further investigations proved that I had in fact not hit the trigger point for sickness absence and the whole thing was unneeded - I was however told off the record that they were watching me and would not hesitate to pull me up for lateness and my next sick day would result in being made an example of. For the next week I suffered with severe panic attacks and physical pain due to the severity of my mental state and I was such a mess I handed my notice in with a request to not work my notice due to my treatment by the individuals involved. This was 5 months ago, I have all documents and my witness from the disciplinary has confirmed the off the record chat contained inappropriate suggestion. Do I have a case? They have seriously affected me, I am currently unemployed and scared to go back into a working environment, so scared I won't claim Job Seekers because the thought of interviews alone terrifies me.
I want to work! But this experience has left me wondering if someone with mental health issues will ever be accepted, I try to deal with my illness as best I can and have always been honest yet it seems as though this will follow me forever and maybe put potential employers off me!
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