Is it me or work

#Streets

#Streets

My name is Stacey, and I am adviser from the Work Support team here at Macmillan. Here are a few thoughts in answer to your query.

I’m sorry to hear that your move to a new role isn’t going so well for you.  You have done well to work back up to a full time role and it seems that your employer has been supportive in offering you a phased return (employers have a duty to provide reasonable adjustments to employees recovering from a cancer diagnosis as this is classed as a disability under the Equality Act 2010/ DDA Act in Northern Ireland 1995)

The school have transferred you to the new role to work physically challenged pupils. Was this as a result of a discussion with your line manager who felt that you would be better suited to this role given your anxiety in the previous role? Are you feeling more comfortable with this new role and the pupils you work with or is it that you are finding the new team you work with are making things difficult for you?

You would expect that there may have been some level of training to help you adapt to the new pupils you are now working with? Do you have a new manager now? If they feel that you are not working to their level of expectation, have they mentioned this to you in their staff appraisal and arranged appropriate lines of support for you? I can understand that constant negative behaviour around you will make you feel that you are making more mistakes. In a meeting with your manager, you could mention the other members of staff who are making you feel anxious and hopefully they could try to resolve the matter before the holidays. Think about making suggestions on anything that could be done to improve the situation. If the problems persist you could raise a grievance against the members of staff involved and the school would need to look at a resolution.  The school will probably have their own procedure on this. Here is a link for further information.

https://www.acas.org.uk/search?keys=grievance

Here also is some further information on bullying and harassment. I have included our booklet on ‘Your Rights at Work’ but here also is a link to more information about this.

https://www.acas.org.uk/discrimination-bullying-and-harassment

Your Rights at Work

Either way, you need to take some action to try and resolve the situation, but also to have someone to talk to for support.

Do you still have the same manager or could you talk to someone in a more senior post if available?  

Are you in a trade union or do you have a colleague in the workplace that might support you?

Outside work, it would be helpful to talk to friend and family or perhaps to a nurse about the medication you are taking and whether that is also making you feel anxious? We have a team of nurses  here that could contact you, and we also have a customer information and support team to talk with about how you are feeling. Please let me know if you would like to contact them. Alternatively, you might like to talk with us on the Macmillan Support line. In the Work Support team we can talk about your work issue or you can also talk with the other teams I have mentioned. You will just need to ring the number on the contact details below and choose the right extension for you.  

Kind Regards,

Stacey

Work Support Adviser

Remember you can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or by email