A-Z of mental health
Information and advice on a huge range of mental health topics
"I told my manager and everything changed"
Posted Friday 24 June 2011
Guest post from Judith, on mental health discrimination in the workplace
I've had a history of depression since I was a teenager. I had to spend several months as an inpatient in my teens. However, with support and medication I learnt to manage my problems. I moved away from home, got my A-levels and went to University.
After graduating I was offered a job working with a small charity housing homeless people. I was thrilled to be working for an organisation that reflected my values. Although the job was challenging, I found it very rewarding and despite being severely short-staffed, we worked hard to make an impact.
After a while I was offered a promotion working at our central office. Things were going really well until I injured my back and had to take sick leave. At first my employer was very supportive, but on top of the physical pain, the loss of independence and isolation triggered my depression. I became quite ill, and had to take more time off work.
When I disclosed to my manger about my mental health issues it felt as if everything changed. People in the office no longer spoke to me and stopped inviting me for lunch. Two months prior to this I had sailed through my appraisal; suddenly now I was being told there were unspecific problems with my work.
I was called to a mangers meeting where the five project managers took turns to criticise the impact of my work- yet I wasn’t told specifically what I had done wrong, what I could do better, or offered any advice on how I could improve. I tried not to take it personally and tried to prove myself by holding an event which was under budget, well attended, with 100% positive feedback.
Despite this, the day after the event I was called in to speak to my manager and the director, and told they thought it would be best if left. I said I didn’t understand and wanted to improve, but they said this was not an option. I was asked to sign a compromise agreement, agreeing not to take out a tribunal or go to the press in return for a month’s wages and a reference. I had no choice.
Obviously I took this very hard. I was not even able to say goodbye to my colleagues, leaving in a cloud of shame as if I had done something wrong. I had to explain why I was not working to friends and family and my confidence plummeted with my mood. However I was very lucky as I had enough support around me to get through.
I started a new job but I found myself over-working to the extreme to try and prove myself, frequently working seven days a week to try and over-deliver. Thankfully my new employer recognised this, and while praising my work and giving me a pay-rise, also encouraged a healthy work/life balance. Their focus on the person as well as the job has made all the difference.
Judith
If you are experiencing problems in your workplace because of your mental health, have a look at our support materials from Time to Change.
The online resources include details of discrimination law, and tips on how and when to talk to an employer about your mental health.
21 Comments
-
How long where you there for? Getting rid of something is extremely difficult (if you've pass your probation) and it sounds like they pressured you in signing something. I'd recommend seeking advice.
Am glad it didn't have an impact on your health. Please keep us posted!
-
It's terrible than in the 21st century this kind of thing can still go on. People think that because it is a "mental condition" that means that it is somehow not really a problem, that it is something we can just get over and carry on with. These are the kind of people that would sooner have those with mental health issues locked up in Bedlam, out of sight and out of mind, rather than try and help them, and ease their suffering. I am so grateful for all the work Mind are doing to try and alleviate this problem and help mental health sufferers everywhere.
-
I am shocked and appalled reading your story. I am in work and had some years off sick with mental ill health years ago and to this day still feel I am looked at differently due to my condition. I have a degree and years working in health and it angers me so much when I see stories such as yours. When o when is this kind of attitude going to dissapear in the UK. As mentioned in an earlier reply we are in the 21st century.
Sometimes I actually feel ashamed to call myself British. 1:4 can become unwell. Employers must be targeted to prevent occurances such as this from happening otherwise what happens when those deemed able to work enter the workplace. Maybe the recent comment from an MP is the plan.....get people back on the minimum wage as they are unlikely to benefit employers in the long run. It is an utter disgrace and I will continue to support mental health charities to change these draconic ideas that mental illness means poor employment prospects. -
I've been sacked for my poor mental health. Despite turning up whenever I was due to work and managing my panic attacks, being honest about them and about my depression to my employer meant that being sacked was on the cards, despite my boss being pleased with my work at the three-month review. It was always on the cards then, and I was never given a reason for dismissal. But I didn't need to be told; I already knew why.
-
Attitudes will never change. I know I will never get employment now, being 50 with a long psychiatirc history. All that studying, hard work gone to waste. If a tory mp can suggest that we offer ourselves up for less than the minimum wage as if we were second hand goods then wahts the future? Attitudes are so ingrained in society that most seem to accept we are lesser people, where was the outcry at this suggestion? if it was aimed at any other group there would have been media outrage and he would have been forced to resign. Just goes to show that no matter how hard we try society will bring us down to the level of 'down there' where they can look down on us in patronising sympathy with the assumption that it si somehow our fault we can't move on with our lives. I'm so tired of this now, so scared that this is how it is all its going to be.
-
Sadly such prejudice is all too common even with those who should know better. My current boss is said to have had a breakdown which blighted his career progression. Instead of him using the insights his experience must have given him, he seems instead to have developed a resentment against mental health problems, as authors of his 'down-fall' and takes his issues out on those of his staff who suffer mental health problems. Small wonder folk with mental health issues tend to keep very quiet about them. You are lucky that your second employer seems considerably more sympathetic than the first.
The odd thing is that mental health issues are bound up in many cases of homelessness so it does make one wonder just how charitable your first employer is/was.
-
I am so sorry about your experiences but sadly it doesn't shock me that the very employers who you would expect to be more supportive are not. This is part of a wider picture where employers will come down hard on anyone needing sick leave for any reason. In retail, some employers will discipline their employees for taking 10 days off in a year WITH a doctors certificate and praise people for being in work rushing off to the toilet to be sick. This is minimum wage work where there is no sick pay, and 10 days per day costs you any chance of promotion. Employers want 100% attendance
-
Once an employer is aware that someone suffers from a mental health issue, even if they think of themselves as good and charitable, the negativity effect will come into play. Every mistake will be noticed. If you are aware of it you start to see how other employees whose standard of work is very similar to yours seem to work to a different set of rules, they seem to get away with everything and if they do something right, how wonderful they become. I think that employers need to be made aware of these effects. Has anyone experienced similar things?
Also.
I am so thrilled that Stephen Fry has become the new president of mind, he is a wonderful and good man, no other person is more suitable for the roll. I'm sure if anyone can change things he can. He has my full support. -
I worked for a large mental health charity. It was an essential on the person specification that I had personal experience of mental health distress. Sadly I was constantly treated like a second class citizen. In the end I was bullied out of my job by the other two managers and the director. I had to take out a grievance as I had been driven to make a very serious suicide attempt. In the end the organisation paid me off so that I wouldn't take them to a tribunal. I am amazed that a large mental health Charity such as Mind would stand up for users when they themselves have a terrible record on employing mental health service users.
-
Well it would be good if Stephen Fry could speak on the issues which matter to service users; welfare reform, impossible assessments, the impact of being forced onto JSA when employers don't want people with mental health problems, lack of services and dwindling support, medication often as the only treatment on offer, relentless media vilification - all the issues which service users have no choice over.
-
Thank you all for your kind words. Although it was very traumatic at the time, I now consider myself very lucky that I now work with a more supportive manager and a more progressive organisation.
I have also sent this organisation Mind materials on how to support people with mental health issues in the workplace. They also know that I have now progressed to a more senior role and having the support of my employer, and making reasonable adjustments, now have a tiny sick record. I hope they now realise what they're ignorance has cost them.
I congratulate Mind on all their fantastic work with employers- I think things are changing (although more slowly than we would like) and that more of the 1 in 4 have are brave enough to disclose to help employers see how common this is- we are all stronger together!
-
My husband has a tribunal decision that says he was disabled during assessments of his work (which clearly show mental health as an issue - depression) however, the ruling clearly states that although the employer did not take this into consideration he was not dismissed unfairly. We desperately want to Appeal but with £1000 legal costs just to review the documents we cant afford it. I work and cant make ends meet (we have 2 kids and a mortgage) but because my salary is higher than the limit we do not qualify for legal aid. The people who made claims against my husband clearly lied but this makes no odds and at 50 he has now lost a substancial and, up until recently, unblemished career. My husband is quite clearly still unwell due to the pressure of fighting this case but we can not clear his name because we can not afford the legal case. He never took a day off for his illness caused by losing both his mother and father of cancer within a close space of time.
This just isnt fair - discrimination is stillout there even in the courts. -
Hi A (name held), I'm so sorry to read about your husband's tribunal and the situation you now find yourself in. Have you tried to contact your local Legal Aid office? http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/aboutus/contactus/our_local_offices.asp They might be able to help you review the documents. Also, Mind's legal advice service may be able to provide you with some general advice - legal@mind.org.uk or 0300 466 6463. Take care
-
Hi Jane, I'm really sorry to read that you had this terrible experience while working for a mental health charity, particularly as stigma and discrimination at work is what we are working so hard against. If the organisation you are referring to here is Mind then, if you feel comfortable doing so, please do email me at webmaster@mind.org.uk. National Mind has a ‘promoting wellbeing at work policy’ which includes how we will manage people with mental distress at work and a code of practice for involving service users. Every person who works here also has to attend Mental Health Awareness Training and we don't tolerate bullying at all. Although this doesn't mean that we will always get managing people with mental health problems absolutely right, we would hope that it would prevent cases like yours happening. Local Minds are independent organisations, but they should also meet high standards for employing people with experience of mental distress. Many thanks, Taryn from Mind
-
Sadly we are stummped.
We need a solicitor specialised in Mental health as a disability.
Your legal team have given me "general advice" already but its so general I could probably have taken it directly from any website.
We cant afford to lose our house its the one security we both have left and we cant remortgage as my husband isnt able to get a job and we wouldnt be able to repay it.
The solicitor we saw today charged us £250 to say she might be able to help if we pay her rates but there is no guarantee.
This whole episode has destroyed our lives and our kids. I have seen a whole raft of colleagues go through similar and not fight it - now I understand why.
It appears that an employer can take a man, work him till he breaks and then get away with it saying "they made reasonable adjustments" when they clearly did more to damage than they did to help.
Apparently if they refer you to occupational health, occupational health say you are ill and should be treated as disabled but the manager still doesnt do anything its enough to class as a reasonable adjustment. To top it all we have been told we were probably "given our day in court" we have proved our case but still have nothing to show for it,
For all your kind words its still only soundbites. We have the evidence, we fought the case but we are still alone fighting a very large organisation who should know better.
Anyway - thank you for your response. -
Thank you to Judith and everyone for sharing your experiences, which really show how common workplace bullying and discrimination about mental health still is. Sadly, Mind’s research echoes this – we found that 22 per cent of workers who had disclosed a mental health problem were either sacked or forced out of their jobs. This shocking situation can not continue, which is why Mind launched our ‘Taking care of business’ campaign in May 2010. The aim of the campaign is to transform attitudes to mental health at work and ensure employers do not discriminate against staff who experience mental distress.
As Judith said, slowly attitudes are beginning to change. Over 40 organisations have officially backed our campaign, to demonstrate their commitment to supporting staff with mental health problems. Yet Mind knows there is still much to do. We can’t change attitudes overnight, so in the first stages we have been working with employers and partners to raise awareness of mental health issues in the workplace and provide guidance and advice on how to support employees. You can download our resources here: http://www.mind.org.uk/work/employers.
Now we are moving on to explicitly talk about workplace discrimination and disclosure issues. The ‘elephant in the room’ theme for our campaign is to show employers that fear of discrimination is what prevents staff speaking up about mental health problems. The message to employers that they already employ people with mental health problems, who perform well at work, is all part of challenging attitudes over the long term. On a practical level, we are working with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development to develop tools for employers to ensure they handle disclosure appropriately and sensitively. Through educating employers and challenging prejudices, over time Mind’s campaign aims to reduce stigma and bullying in the workplace. You can find more information and advice at: http://www.mind.org.uk/work/employees.
-
I too was bullied out of my job due to my mental health issues. After flying through one appraisal, the next one was filled with "if you don't pull your socks up, the MD will fire you." In actual fact I was working between projects and didn't have much work to do. I also had not been given training as promised in order to understand my area better. I proceeded to tell my manager about my mental health issues, which yes, had gotten worse due to personal problems throughout the year (those of which she was aware of and even gave me time of for compassionate leave when in the space of a few days my grandad died and I found out my boyfriend had cheated). But as the months went on after the bad appraisal it became apparent that no matter how hard i worked, and how much i achieved, that she wanted me out. I had weekly reviews with her, and my overall score went from a 2.2 to 3.1 in the space of 4-5 weeks (out of 5, with 5 being outstanding work, 3 being on track etc). But even this was not good enough. Her comments on the write ups from each meeting were not reflected correctly on what was discussed, nor did she correct them, and no guidance was given to me on WHAT exactly i needed to improve on. I thought I was getting on well, but i still got threatened with the sack every single week.
I don't understand how in this day and age employers can get away with discriminating like that. I would have taken it further but was in too much of a suicidal mess to have been fighting my word against theirs.
-
From reading comments it is evident discrimination in the work place for mental health issues is rife. As Stephen Fry has proven work can be obtained although one presumes in Stephens case this is self employed. For a start mental health service providers must learn to be positive employers to staff with mental ill health. I to have had "issues" when taking time of with my mental health condidion and indeed a warning!!!!!!!!! Perhaps with 6 months off with cardiac surgery that wouldn't be percieved as problematic but to be mentally ill is a crime. PLEASE do something to prevent this happening in the future. I am well qualified but would probably have a better time in work if I had been discharged from prison.
-
yep, psych history worse than criminal history
-
There are a lot of bad Managers in the workplace.You have to tackle these people otherwise other people will suffer.
If someone mistreats me (then internally I smile) and think "this is my chance to tackle "ignorance and discrimination". Trust me I have been on this mission for 16 years.
I am a Manager and have Bi-Polar and like many others have a positive outlook and know for a fact that having Bi-Polar has added into my role and made me a better (Husband,Father,Son,Brother,Friend,Manager,Employee) and the amount of people views I and my support group have changed regarding Mental Health issues is significant.
I have been supported by a great family and employer, but even though my bosses who helped me when I first become unwell have since retired, the legacy of help and modern approaches to the role of HR/Managers/Directors/follow workers lives on. I have seen discrimination and have suffered from it (upon applying for a Promotion) I was taken to one side and it was explained to me that my skills level was never in question, but the directors was worried that if they allowed me to take on a "higher stressed role" they would feel very bad if they had to watch me become hospitalised ( which is deeply painful to families/follow workers to witness) they go through a period of "shock/blame/feelings or responsibility/disbelief on how fast things can sometimes change.
Looking back I was determined not to be "held back" ref my promotion , but I do understand both sides a bit more(and sometimes I have felt discriminated against) but in some of my cases I think people was just being over protective (which is slightly different I think). Your comments look like you have suffered Discrimation
The bad managers will always get a job,but we all have a role to educate these people.Organisations like Mind and big companies like Veolia, Celebrities,the media,more importantly employment Law give us the tools to tackle the "real fools in the world".Good luck x -
(a held) contact the Equality and Human Rights Commission they may be willing to pay for your case
check your home contents insurance to see if you have legal expense insurance
contact a free representation unit - you will need an advice agency to refer you
look at law works website they may be able to help
failing that try to find a discrimination lawyer who can take it on a no win no fee
Commenting is now closed.