Finally I've cracked on sick leave Stress, what next? I don't want to return to council

[beachhead]

Week 5 now- Dr. signed me off with stress, following bereavement. (I've been criticised at work for over a year now,I don't want to go back had enough! )

So how long can I stay off with stress?

And I don't want a tribunal case on my work record.
Problem is - I know I can't win against my boss (who is held in high regard, got appointed to lead my team, it was favouritism not expertise). My ex boss was pushed out, along with others (who had in depth knowledge of service and since left)
I'm so fed up, had staff appointed senior to me who have used me to do the work, while they take the glory for it.
My workload was heavy, I work part time, but nonstop without support, while others in the team (senior to me)sit talking. When I complained finally work was taken off me, but they struggled with it and got 2 other fulltime staff staff helping.

While I was on holiday, they tried finding fault with my work (actually they presented a new report to the service manager ! Who told them my original report was correct!) . I came back to an critical email, which stated my work 'was not acceptable' which my boss then retracted, saying sorry she was under pressure.

But I know where I stand - with an imminent restructure on the horizon, probably lined up for competitive interview:-
My current duties are so junior, its insulting, Considering they have brought in a contract worker (best friends with the boss's friend) training to cover my old work load using working methods I set up. (Hope they mess up)
I'm in a dilemma, I have tried getting another job, but its hard on to match the pay and terms I'm on.

I really want out, but not empty handed( i want redundancy ,having long service!)

Any advice please?

Unfortunately you have no right to redundancy. If your work still needs doing there is no reason they would make you redundant.

You can resign if you don't want to go back. You would need to give your contractually required notice, even if you remained signed off sick through that time period. You will receive your salary/sick,pay through your notice plus any accumulated holiday pay.

They may go through a dismissal process if you are unfit to work. You cannot stay off on sick leave indefinitely without this option being open to them. After five weeks I would argue it is too soon for them to pursue this route, but as time goes on this may be the actio. They take. In this case, it would follow a competency process and you'd again be paid any owed holiday etc.

You say you don't want a tribunal, and from your posting it's unclear what you'd be going to a tribunal about.

There's no realistic prospect based on what you've written to suggest you will be leaving this scenario with a payoff, which seems to be your ideal scenario. My honest advice would be if you can't face going back to work there, the. Find something else. They don't owe you a payout and you'll feel much better down the road if you take control of the situation and land something better for you.

Thanks Handbag
For the record I have actually kept a diary of dates and examples where I have felt victimized.
E.g. last January_ I was summoned into a meeting to talk about workload, after 3 days upon returning to work(after 2weeks leave) due to partner having operation. Boss couldn't understand why I wasn't up to date, with a 2 week backlog.

Are you in the union? if not join now.. usually th erules say you cant be represented for 2 months ( i think) but our local branch of UNISON do and will help out new members

Oh yes I'm in Unison, gonna call them to see where I stand with sick leave and the imminent restructuring.

Not sure about mentioning how unhappy I am with boss.

yes do , thats what they are there for and they talk it all through with you give you advice and will represent you over feeling victimised if you want them to. , If you want help with this then you need to give them the full story. It will be all in confidence.

Sometimes the council need to make cuts so might allow you to take voluntary redundancy? Not if you're 55 though, because of the pension costs.
Tell unison everything, they're usually really good. Stay off sick - you can stay off for as long as you are ill, council sick pay is good, they need to do about 3 formal sick meetings and an occ health assessment before they can sack you for being sick.

Remember that your sick record is likely to be checked when you apply for another job. Having months off sick won't help you.

The example you've given doesn't sound too bad - just a manager managing. You might be better to resign than drag this out into a claim, as that would be really stressful.

I've had friends in similar situations. I would resign immediately. Look for another job, temp or short term contract if necessary. It's not worth the worry to you and you say you don't want to go back to this place. Cut and run.

Speak to Union....had similar situation myself (Council). When re-structure was announced though, staff could make an 'expression of interest' in redundancy, so they did take account of those staff who wanted to go-and some staff were granted their wish!

I ended up going through the process, only to end up in a job that I was completely unsuitable for (but that's another story!) Within a couple of weeks, I ended up going to HR and speaking with them about my situation. Turns out although no one had made an 'official' complaint, they knew exactly what kind of management I had been putting up with ( like you, lots of other, experienced staff leaving).So your HR team may already have a clue. Speak to them.

They advised me to turn down the job from the re-structure, I took something called 're-deployment' instead. Which I believe you can do...both sides have 3 months from the re-structure in which they can 'terminate' the post. HR then put me forward as a 'priority' for other suitable jobs within the Council. It's a risk as I had 4 weeks to be 'found' something else. But my view was worse case scenario, I would get redundancy pay-off! However within 2 weeks, I was placed in a completely different department, but on my existing pay/flexible hours - completely different environment and back to enjoying my job again!