To not know what to do now?

[SweetieBaby]

I'm not sure this is the right place to post but really need lots of suggestions.

There is a possibility that I will soon lose my job due to an extended period of sickness. I went off sick late last year with what appeared to be a minor illness but when it failed to respond to treatment my GP referred me to the hospital. Obviously this all takes time and because I wanted to get back to work I went privately. I was diagnosed with a life long condition and referred to a specialist NHS hospital for treatment.

There have been delays in being able to start the correct treatment due to my condition and throughout this I have kept in regular contact with my employer.

I recently had a Fit For Work assessment that found me to be unable to return to work for at least 3 months. This will mean me definitely losing my job.

I need and want to work. My question, after all of that, is what can I do now? I do have professional qualifications but left my career 17 years ago to be a SAHM. When the children were toddlers I found a part time job that fitted around my husband's hours and so I now feel on the scrap heap.

Due to my disability I'm not going to be able to do a physical job so will need to look for office based work but I have no qualifications or experience in this field, other than having done voluntary work in a school for 15 years.

Can anyone signpost me towards any training or schemes that may help me qualify for a different job?

Why does it mean you will loose your job? Don't resign. Talk to Acas.

I definitely won't resign but I've been told by my employer that they will only support 6 months sick. If you are not able to return, with reasonable adjustments, by then they will seek to terminate your contract. I have only just started my treatment and have been told that it will take about 3 months to work but even after that I won't be able to lift anything too heavy or bend down etc - things that I do regularly at work.

I have had a union rep with me at each meeting and they are agreeing with what my employer suggests.

HR have suggested that I take a career break but have warned me that there is no guarantee that I would be re-employed!

i have nothing to offer but total empathy with you and will be place marking this thread as my husband is in a very similar situation to you, -are you sure we're not married ?
seriously though, hope someone comes along with some good advice though as it might help you and us,

If you're meeting the definition of disabled under the equality act you may find that there is considerably more support to help you return to work or even retrain than if you're (sorry for such blasé term) 'just sick'. There will be charities and organisations set up to specifically help and support people like you get into and stay in the workplace but often the starting roles are very basic. The better your cv the quicker you can progress to more challenging but still supported roles. Be wary of dwp "help" in returning to work tho, they're only interested in numbers not suitability of workplace.

Re your situation of termination they can medically retire you if you're unfit to do the work but try to negotiate a good deal and even see if they'll rename it compulsory redundancy for future work reasons. Good luck

bloop thanks for that advice, hadn't thought of 'renaming' a potential work termination like that. sweetie sorry, don't want to hijack your thread but this it really useful

Hijack away. The more advice the better.

I have asked about being made redundant and have been told it is not a possibility.

There seems so much written about advice and support for people like me and yet when it comes down to it it's non existent.

It seems so unfair that you can lose your job ultimately because the NHS fails to treat you quickly enough. Had my GP not taken a month to realise something more serious was going on and then I'd not had an 8 week wait (which I know is quick) to see a consultant, my treatment would be 3 months more advanced and I might be looking to get back to work sooner than I now am.

I will be able to do my job again, ok with some adjustments, but whether that will be quick enough for my employer remains to be seen.

Have just spoken to ACAS and basically there advice was to let the situation play out and then take them to a tribunal. Why is there no help now though? And why no help to re train me?

And for you and your husband too pips it's just horrible.

bump, does anyone have any advice please ?

Did ACAS warn you that you have to pay to go to a tribunal?
Can you look into Pitmans training locally? Its not cheap but its still the most effective and highly rated typing and office training course.
Also look into training for proof reading, thats something you can do at home while you are training for other things;
www.sfep.org.uk/training

Whatever condition you have, there will be a charity to support you, so find that online asap and see what advice they can offer. there are also charities and support groups for disabled people generally.

sweetie these sound like good ideas to pursue,

No advice but wishing h you lots of luck

Thank you everyone.

My union would pay tribunal costs if it got to that stage.

I'm definitely going to look at the proof reading course. Thank you.