Would you resent a colleague who has this ‘privilege’

[Resentedpumpkin]

Which is actually a reasonable adjustment?

Asd and adhd plus ME - I’m needing more and more breaks due to ASD and avoiding shutdown. It’s been agreed on my return after 2 weeks off (shutdown and selective mutism) . So now when it gets too much I’m able to log off (if WFH) or leave my desk for up to 30 mins as many times as needed per day.

it’s been once or twice a day but yesterday happened 4 times (10 mins, 30 mins, 25 mins and 5 mins)

Had some sarcastic and off remarks about it from others and now just feeling shit and embarrassed. Everyone is aware of my conditions so it’s not like they don’t know

in any event the adjustment is not working given the number of breaks are increasing

It's between you and your employers and your colleagues (and a number of posters on this thread) can go do one.

If you're not doing your work then again it's between you and your employers.

Stop fretting and do what you need to do.

The stress from these idiots possibly isn't helping. Maybe HR need to point out what is and isn't their business and anything untoward they might need a 'chat'

Honestly? Yeah I would. Because I would have been working 1 hour and 10 minutes longer than you yesterday. And that causes resentment in a team where people are earning the same.

Wow some horrible comments here!
It would not bother me at all OP
Of it has been agreed between you and your manager then it's nobody else's business

What a fucking horrible attitude. Let's hope nobody you love needs reasonable adjustments at any point in their life.

Op is trying to work and contribute if she decided to go permanently on sick you wouldn't be happy with that either.

This. If you were heavily pregnant and needed to keep popping to the loo, would your obnoxious colleague make snide comments (probably) and would they be any more acceptable (No).

Am assuming you are just near the beginning of this 8 week trial, so you may find it becomes easier and you don’t need as many breaks in a few weeks or, as with most ASD/ADHD peeps, you will have good days and bad depending on lots of factors - staff antipathy being one of them.

Keep a diary, if after a few days he hasn’t backed off, go and see your boss. Your colleague needs to understand that when accommodations have been made due to disabilities/illness his behaviour is harassment and unlawful.

If this is a temporary thing (max 2 weeks) then it’s fine.

But if not, then you need to get a different job as obviously you are not coping.

I’m all for reasonable adjustments but this is just not being able to do your job.

I have worked with teens with ND for many years and more recently adults and I am ND and my child is ND.
If someone needed this level of support, then I’d be questioning whether they’re in the correct environment.

You had a bad day, OP, that is all. In my experience, colleagues will complain about anything and there is nothing you can do about it except maybe see if there is any stress management technique you could implement

I think if you want to stay in this job, you need to make a decision now that you are not going to take on any opinions about your working practices that don't come from your employer/manager. Colleagues judging you or making snide comments aren't in possession of the facts (and nor should they be) and their views on the situation are irrelevant. If their behaviour is making you uncomfortable, speak to your manager; you have a right to expect that to be dealt with as well.

There will always be ignorant, resentful tossers who whine that it's not fair. I guarantee they wouldn't take on your difficulties in order to get these "privileges" had they the brainpower to think it through.

Disabled people really can't win.

Adjustments which enable a disabled person to maintain employment = privileged and a burden.

Disabled person unable to maintain employment = lazy and a burden.

I have had reasonable adjustments (which didn't impact anyone else but could be seen as privileges) and have worked with colleagues whose adjustments have been reduced workload. It didn't bother me that my caseload was double the size of others as that is what I was capable of. Fairness does not equal sameness. If we want disabled people to work, and most disabled people do want to work, like every other person, then we have to adjust how we think about fairness in the workplace and society.

Snide comments = bullying.

It's hard to understand what sort of job you're doing where people would even notice this. You say you work from home - you can bet your life some of your colleagues will be taking advantage of that to do the odd thing around the house. It made me think of people I worked with who'd go out for a cigarette several times a day but would have violently objected to this sort of adjustment.

It's up to your manager - if she's agreed then she should tell the others to mind their own business.

Can I ask what you do in your time away from desk of varying lengths? Eg sit on the loo, scroll socials etc.

I think perhaps the variation in time is what might be having people grudge your adjustment. You have anything from 5-30 minutes at a time and multiple times a day. You need to develop some kind of coping strategy to deal with stress before it happens, so the adjustment might be have 5 mins away from desk at a regular interval eg every hour, to stop meltdown - the idea is to prevent it happening not to wait until you’re on the edge and then taking much longer to recover. you need to identify with your employer what is causing these responses and minimise that rather than taking time away when it happens. The adjustment should be to reduce the stress in the first instance then manage it when it appears after that.

Employers have to balance the adjustment with their business model and they won’t be able to sustain paying you for a hour in each work day that you do not work. Needing that much time away would suggest you’re not really in a position to return to full time work.

The adjustment’s reasonableness can only be decided upon by a court. It may be deemed by a court unreasonable for you to be taking extra 25-30 min breaks in between your allocated breaks because there’s no structure to what you’re doing or the time you’re taking.

An adjustment is designed to level the playing field with your non-disabled colleagues so you can perform your job to the same standard. By the sound of it though you’re suggesting that your time away isn’t compensated for at other times so you’re doing less work. That’s inevitably going to annoy your colleagues because as they see it you’re getting extra breaks and doing less work for the same money.

Except that she is working for her employers, not for you. If you have too much work that is a separate issue and not the OP's responsibility

This thread is horrible.

I'm sorry you've received such nasty comments OP.

It depends if this time to 'collect' yourself is company time or your time. I think if it were me I'd try to make up time where possible to at least demonstrate to my colleagues that I was trying my best to perform on par with them.
It's understandable that some might feel aggrieved at your arrangement especially if they struggle too. You never know what's going on in others personal lives.

It really depends on the job
For my work it wouldn't be a reasonable adjustment and we can see what other people are doing, and it affects our workload
I WFH but what I am doing is visible at all times and I have to be at my desk

Makes sense. The OP's employers are legally required to make proper adjustments

Wow, all the people on this thread who think disabled people should be permitted in the workplace on condition they can work like they didn't have a disability!

Or that reasonable means being treated the same as them!

Are these temporary adjustments? If so, for how long?

If they’re permanent then yes, I’d be annoyed if I was your colleague. If you were in my team I’d be concerned that you were no longer fit to do your substantive role and would be having conversations with HR as to how/if you could be supported in another post.

You need to find another job that is suitable for you then. This isn’t.

I imagine they would look to go down the capability route after the 8 week trial as it does seem unfair on colleagues and can't continue indefinitely if you are being paid the same but doing a lesser job. They will look to reduce hours, change your shift to a quieter one, move you to a less stressful team and ultimately manage you out on capability I would think.

Seriously, I wish I hadn’t commented on this thread now as I keep getting notifications and the updates are so cruel.

If the OP had said they’d suffered a bereavement or a mental health crisis and needed support to get through work, the comments, I suspect, would be different.

Congratulations OP on going back to work and trying.

It will get better.

An official reasonable adjustment isn’t a privilege. It’s a legal right, and a legal obligation on your employer. I’d take note of the mutterings and mention them to your manager at your next meeting.

Some of the responses here demonstrate exactly why this needs to be legally enforceable and why disabled people can’t just rely on colleagues being considerate. PPs asking “are you actually capable of doing the job?” should be aware that if the answer is no despite the adjustments, the employer can propose redeployment and ultimately can have grounds for dismissal. Disabled people and those with health issues don’t get an unlimited free pass.

Wheelchair users, blind people and deaf people are unfortunately very much used to subtle and less subtle comments about the adjustments put in place for them. People with completely invisible disabilities and health problems often have an extremely hard time with inconsiderate colleagues.

I cannot believe some of the comments.

OP likely doesn't chat as much as neurotypical people which disrupts work. They likely focus once the environment is right and are likely to be just as productive, if not more, than everyone else.

What is being faced is discrimination with the comments at work and some of those comments on here are discrimination.

Reasonable adjustments are required by law, they are not a favour, privileges or favouritism.

All neurotypical people have reasonable adjustments because ALL environments were built by us, for us and we didn't consider anyone else's needs but our own.

The fact that you are working in difficult conditions is credit to you OP. Consider speaking to your union about discrimination.

If I was the manager I would have explained it to your colleagues (if you wanted it explained as it sounds like you do) and advised them that they need to accommodate the adjustments (and reminded them of the benefits of you being on the team). I would then let you know I'd had the conversation.