Manager has asked for a meeting. Am I being paranoid?

[tillymasala]

I'm on maternity leave at the moment. All going ok. My manager has asked if he can have a meeting with me. I've asked him what it's for and he's just said 'I'll speak to you on thursday'

No idea what it could be about. I'm really paranoid and anxious I've done something wrong.

The meeting is over lunch. If it was something bad they wouldn't do it over lunch would they?

I have PND and a bad anxiety disorder which causes me a fair bit of paranoia and 'thinking the worst'

Am I being silly? I'm good at my job and can't think of anything I've ever done wrong...

When this happened to me it was because my boss was leaving and couldn't tell anyone until after letting work know.

Maybe he is leaving and wants to tell you face to face, rather than over the phone?

It's really bad form to invite someone to a meeting without telling them what it is about and so I would reply and ask for an agenda or topic. No topic - no meeting.

How long have your left on your maternity leave? He may just need to discuss arrangements for your return to work.

How long do you have left on your maternity leave? Perhaps it's about how to phase in your return?

Maybe he is coming to ask what support you think you may need in view of the OH referral and to reassure you of his/her aupport in person. It isn't necessarily bad news and they may be horrified to know you are worrying about it.

*support

I hope it is good news. Are you taking the baby?

If it is restructure, depending on how they are doing it, you may have special legal protections. Women on maternity leave are one of the few occasions of active positive discrimination. Don't rely on your HR dept to know about this. Mine didn't, asserted the opposite of the law and I had to cite chapter and verse of the law and case law before they slunk off to check with a solicitor to find out I was right.
If something like this is going on you could ask a colleague, so that you know before thursday?

If you’re nearing the end of your mat leave, it’s probably just to check in and see what your plans are. If you’re not near the end, my money would be on him leaving and wants to tell you face to face.

I thought that since you are on maternity leave there are rules about them contacting you? I would be asking him again for an agenda.

Why so cloak and dagger? I'd never do this to my team. It feels horrible on the receiving end even if it ends up being positive news! All the best.

its nothing to worry about. Its probably to try to get an idea of whether you might come back or not, and when that might be. Don't assume the worst.

Well, chances are it won’t be good news, but it doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong.

I would guess resigning or restructure too.

Are they paying you for the meeting as a KIT day or is it an informal lunch?

Did you ask him what it was about, or did he say he couldn't say?

If he is purposely not telling you then I would definitely be thinking it was about the future of my role (redundancy, restructure etc). If it was to put in support or something positive then I can't help but think he would tell you 'not to worry, it's just about X'.

Even it was about terminating your role, they would still continue with the Occ Health stuff for now because nothing has been communicated yet.

Sorry just seen you asked him what for and he didn't answer the question.

Have you got a colleague you can contact to see if any of them have similar meetings planned? Someone you trust?

Not very helpful. I think your manager hurst hasn't thought through that you may be worried.

I dunno what relationship you have with your boss but I’d ring mine straight away and say just tell me I couldn’t cope with my stress goes right to my belly I’d end up being ill!

OP if you're on good terms with your manager, contact him and ask him for more context! Explain that you're stressing over it and I'm sure he'll understand, especially in light of your PND.

I have anxiety and so when my manager books in a meeting with me, he always gives me some kind of context, even if it's a quick "don't worry, nothing bad!" - it really helps.

I’d insist on knowing the agenda for the meeting so I could be prepared.

Definitely ask for an agenda. Really unprofessional to not give one.

I'm my work for maternity leave we have to keep in touch with managers etc going to odd meeting here and there is part of this.

He might just be keeping in touch, to see how you are etc etc

Mine did this recently, all these messages about setting up a time to speak. All she wanted to say was she wouldn't been in our branch office for a week

He might just be keeping in touch, to see how you are etc etc

But why wouldn't he just say this if it was as simple as that? He avoided answering OPs question. Just said I will see you Thursday, implying he can't discuss anything until the meeting, which usually means it's something a bit more serious than general keeping in touch.