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Hi
I'll try and keep this brief. I am a manager in a very busy office, and this has been the year from hell. Short staffed continuously, working long hours regularly. There is a bit of a cash flow problem which is why we're short staffed. I don't mind putting in extra hours when required and feel it's my duty as a manager but this has gone on too long now and lately I have felt like I was losing the plot. I had an infection earlier this year which dragged on for 8 weeks as there was no way I could take time off to let myself recover. On top of everything else, I've got another member of staff on long term sick leave and in the summer 2 members of staff started an affair which has caused no end of trouble. I've had to cancel one holiday after another this year and only just managed to get a couple of weeks off in November.
In line with company procedure I've reported various incidents up the line, including compliance issues and the disruption caused by the two having the affair and yet no one seems interested in doing anything. On the other hand the staff seem to be actively encouraged to put one complaint in after another about me. One told me she felt encouraged to start a grievance against me. Also these "grievances" always seem to be put to me just before I take any leave, seemingly to ruin any time I do get off. It's not even that any of these grievances get resolved before I take time off, so they could just as easily have been left until I returned to work, instead of making me worry.
I went to the Drs at the beginning of November and said how ill I was feeling, that I was suffering from palpitations, shortness of breath and getting progressively more irritable every day and Dr offered to sign me of sick with stress for 4 weeks but I refused as I said the office would be in even more mess when I got back. Then at the beginning of December I was called to a meeting where a catalogue of complaints were raised of which I had no idea even existed. I started to hyperventilate and had to be taken home. I went to see the Dr again and said I needed the 4 weeks of with stress now as I had had enough and he has signed me off with "stress from work".
In retrospect I can see my behavior was getting progressively more irritable but everyone in the office was showing the same signs of snappyness to each other due to the constant pressure. I feel this is a situation that was allowed to develop and I had given my senior managers more than enough warning about the pressure and disruption caused by certain members of staff. I'm now on sick leave, and don't really know what to do next. My company wants me to come to a meeting which I presume will be disciplinary but I feel I have been forced in to a completely unfair position.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
I'll try and keep this brief. I am a manager in a very busy office, and this has been the year from hell. Short staffed continuously, working long hours regularly. There is a bit of a cash flow problem which is why we're short staffed. I don't mind putting in extra hours when required and feel it's my duty as a manager but this has gone on too long now and lately I have felt like I was losing the plot. I had an infection earlier this year which dragged on for 8 weeks as there was no way I could take time off to let myself recover. On top of everything else, I've got another member of staff on long term sick leave and in the summer 2 members of staff started an affair which has caused no end of trouble. I've had to cancel one holiday after another this year and only just managed to get a couple of weeks off in November.
In line with company procedure I've reported various incidents up the line, including compliance issues and the disruption caused by the two having the affair and yet no one seems interested in doing anything. On the other hand the staff seem to be actively encouraged to put one complaint in after another about me. One told me she felt encouraged to start a grievance against me. Also these "grievances" always seem to be put to me just before I take any leave, seemingly to ruin any time I do get off. It's not even that any of these grievances get resolved before I take time off, so they could just as easily have been left until I returned to work, instead of making me worry.
I went to the Drs at the beginning of November and said how ill I was feeling, that I was suffering from palpitations, shortness of breath and getting progressively more irritable every day and Dr offered to sign me of sick with stress for 4 weeks but I refused as I said the office would be in even more mess when I got back. Then at the beginning of December I was called to a meeting where a catalogue of complaints were raised of which I had no idea even existed. I started to hyperventilate and had to be taken home. I went to see the Dr again and said I needed the 4 weeks of with stress now as I had had enough and he has signed me off with "stress from work".
In retrospect I can see my behavior was getting progressively more irritable but everyone in the office was showing the same signs of snappyness to each other due to the constant pressure. I feel this is a situation that was allowed to develop and I had given my senior managers more than enough warning about the pressure and disruption caused by certain members of staff. I'm now on sick leave, and don't really know what to do next. My company wants me to come to a meeting which I presume will be disciplinary but I feel I have been forced in to a completely unfair position.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
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