Discrimination issue

[Mabelface]

Morning. Hoping for some employment advice. I have asd, diagnosed last year, complete with anxiety and depression. I'm also perimenopausal. Occ health review and risk assessment done. I'm normally a high performer, but over the last few months my mental health has declined and my quality isn't where it should be. I have no arguments on this and I've been very open about my current difficulties. I'm on a DAP and am moving to a PIP next week.

I currently work from home. Without even looking or thinking about my occ health report, I've been told that I'm going to have to go back into the office full time, as it wouldn't be fair on others who've been on a PIP. At my own instigation, I'd suggested that I come into the office once a week so I'm supported. This was prior to being told I'd have to come in full time.

I've spoken to ACAS who were very helpful and discussed discrimination.

Coming into the office full time would actually have a major impact on my mental health. It's a round commute of 3 1/2 hours on public transport. I don't feel the support was there during my DAP as it consisted of auditing my work after completion with feedback, rather than helping me get it right prior.

I've been with this company for 5 years and have built a good reputation, but I'm so anxious and worried now. I've suggested they look at the reports, compromised with 2 days a week in the office and I'm just waiting to hear back. Would anyone have some good, solid advice? I'd rather solve this informally if possible.

And please be kind, because I'm not well and am doing all I can to climb back up. Thank you.

Did you used to do the long commute?

If they are starting to bring people back into the office then I don't think this is discrimination - they're not treating you differently.

Could you get a job closer to home?

I wouldn't mention your long commute - I'm guessing they are not changing the arrangement you agreed when you took the job. Have you thought about reducing your hours?

Would you consider a phased return to more days in the office, with a review every couple of months to see if your anxiety and depression have improved at all?

I do understand with anxiety and depression it's really common to want to stay at home, I had the same years ago and it was crippling. Making myself continue to attend some of the time was helpful though, stopping going in was worse in a way as it made it loom larger in my head.

As you have a disabilities they should look at how they can put in 'reasonable accommodations' to help you. But theres limits to that.

What that looks like, may not be exactly what you want, but compromises on both sides may need to be made.

'Other people are disabled and don't get the same' isn't an valid argument to not put certain accommodations in for you.

Also the fact that you didn't need those accommodations last year doesn't mean they don't have to try now.

I think alot of employers will face this issue, in big numbers and should have a clear plan on how they are dealing with it.

Whilst accomodations need to be put into the workplace your commute is your choice- I can't imagine that would be seen as a factor

Honestly I’d be concerned op that they will start to question your ability to do the job. They can move to capability termination. The question is how long do you feel you need to be at home for? Are you looking for for ever more or do you feel it’s a short term fix?

If you’re at home and moving to pip and currently not performing in the role you really need to come up with a proposal with anticipated timings etc,and how recovery will look.

Just to make it clear, performance has only been an issue for the past 4 months and I've been open and accountable. The other people on a PIP haven't got disabilities, told it just wouldn't be fair. I've not been supported as I should have done during my DAP. The majority of the workforce are still working from home. I'm normally a high performer so shouldn't they be looking to support me rather than looking at punitive measures? I'm aware the commute is my responsibility and I've always struggled with it. Being at home has been great.

I am sorry you are not well, but if you are not performing an employer needs to take action to support you. To be honest requiring you to be in the office so you have support whilst completing tasks is an obvious and sensible decision.

Yes, they should read the OH report and risk assessment and discuss the situation. Obviously i am not aware of the recommendations but barring an absolute must WFH, realistically your employer will be looking at the majority of the week in the office I.e. 3 days. If you did Mon, Wed, Fri this would mean you WFH every other day so you get a break from travelling.

I know this is not what you want to hear, but as you yourself say the quality of your work is not where you want it to be, and that you would have appreciated feedback whilst completing tasks. This could be helped by working alongside supportive colleagues.

You have offered 1 day but they want 5 days. Try asking for a phased return I.e. for 2 weeks you go into the office one day a week, then the next 2 weeks go in 2 days etc. You could ask for a review after 4 weeks before increasing to 3 days. If your performance starts to improve to an acceptable level then this is justification for not further increasing the number of days in the office.

I appreciate you have a long commute and I know how this can exacerbate MH issues but I also know going into the office can help. It’s balancing the two to achieve the best results. You have to acknowledge that your anxiety etc. will increase the closer you get to your first day in the office - this is normal and you have to push through to make that step. I would suggest going in on a Friday/ a typically quiet day and asking if you can do a half day I.e 10:30 to 14:30 so you avoid peak travel times.

HTH

Just read your latest post. I know from personal experience that if you have always struggled with the commute then peri-menopause and getting older will make it even harder. Longer term, you need to think about how long you can realistically do the commute and consider applying for jobs closer to home.

A few thoughts that occurred to me whilst reading your post - on the understanding that your objective is to argue that working from home three (?) days a week would be a reasonable adjustment on disability grounds.

• other people on PIP not working from home is not a reason as to why you can’t. The feasibility of your working from home request needs to be considered on its own merits.

• it isn’t clear why or what evidence there is that coming into the office would make your mental health worse? I do not think a long commute is adequate justification, you chose a job this far away from home. Is there any other reason why this would be detrimental?

• I don’t think there is any weight to your claim of being unsupported, giving feedback on work seems a perfectly reasonable and normal way of helping people improve. In any case, greater support is naturally going to be easier to provide if you are in the workplace with colleagues, so I don’t think this helps you.

I think your next step is to wait and see what they say to your proposal and possibly see what else you can signers to meet in the middle, such as a phased return to greater office work. Unfortunately a drop in the work quality is not helpful when seeking to work from home, so you need to be careful you don’t talk yourself out of a job.

What is your company doing about return to offices, is it going to be hybrid working or is it going to be back to 5 days in office for all? If hybrid working I think you’ve a point, if 5 days a week then I think asking for the phased return is fair. Is your manager going to also be in the office to supervise/support you 5 days a week? If not then what do they say is the point of you being there?

Please don't forget to take into account my asd as this is a protected characteristic. I've come up with a compromise which would benefit both me and the business.

Return 2 days
Regular meetings with my manager
Regular team meetings which we used to have 3 times a week and are pretty much zero right now
Go through my tasks prior to completion.
A support buddy.

Just had another conversation, they want 3 days a week as a trial as they've never done this for someone before and I'm to keep it quiet.

None of my compromises have been agreed bar meetings.

My confidence has disappeared completely. I've been told not to worry. That's not going to happen.

I will look for other roles. I live in the sticks and can't drive (nor will I be able to learn as previous attempts showed me to be a liability on the roads) so finding another job with the same party and benefits won't be easy, particularly in the current climate.

While they need to make reasonable adjustments, they also have to show they have done their best to support you improve your performance. As much as others people on a pip.

But, what they need to understand is that your circumstances don't have to match everyone else on a pip as well. Treating you exactly the same as everyone else, could be used to show they didn't make reasonable accommodations.

While they should be supporting you I don't think its usual to be put on a pip after 4 months of poor performance. Even if you have been there years before.

Up to now, not commuting in isn't helping your performance and is declined while you have been at home.

What you need to know, is what's going to happen when you go in full time. If you are in less than others on a pip, you may not get the same level of support.

This is very difficult for both you and the company. Because they need to make reasonable adjustments, but all so give you the same support others get when on a pip. They have to balance on that very thin line.

And it may be that not having you in, is not a reasonable adjustment, because of the pip you are on.

If you can pin point why your performance is failing, then you might be able to put together a plan of how it's going to improve without you being in 5 days. But the onus is going to be on you to show you can improve while only going in a few days a week.

None of my compromises have been agreed bar meetings.

They are agreeing to 3 days, as a trial. They are compromising.

I know why I'm failing and it's due to poor mental health. It's been 4 months out of 5 years where I've previously performed above standard, which includes home working since March 19. If anything, my performance and quality improved up until Feb this year when I started getting poorly. I was the top performer on my team until then.

March 19 so they already agrees wfh a year before the pandemic? Was that a contractual change?

So you need to think of ways that you can improve your mental health. Maybe agree reduced hours? A leave of absence? Pitched in a way that says you believe, in the long run, this will give you time to get yourself in a better place so you can improve.

Unfortunately, if 4 consecutive months your performance has struggled, with no sign of improvement, then a performance improvement plan is pretty standard. The performance before that isn't really relevant.

How long do you feel they should wait before these steps?

Wouldn't you be better to go off sick, try to sort out your issues and then be prepared to go back as expected?

You're not seeing this from a reasonable perspective. On one hand you say they haven't given you support previously but are now fighting to go back to the office where they will be able to give you more support.

What is it about working from home that makes it an essential requirement when it wasn't before, taking out the issue of commuting?

They are being flexible by agreeing to 3 days, but it sounds that the prospect of going even one day is causing you distress. If that's the case, and you don't think things will get better soon, you are indeed left with little choice but to reconsider your working life, working hours etc...

Don't despair OP. The perimenopause can be horrendous. Do seek medical help for it.

I think op the issue here is you see going back to thr office as “punitive” and I hate to say it there is an undertone of you just don’t want to do the commute any more.

They appear to be compromising but some of your requests are confusing, what will your support buddy be doing? Why do you need someone to check your work before handing it in. Is it new work? If not after five years you should be able to tell if it’s incorrect or not. If you’re so unwell you can’t then you need to ask if you should be working.

From what I can see you’ve an asd diagnoses, but that’s something that is life long so not new Ie nothing has changed other than a recent diagnosis. Perimenopausal is not normally something to stop you being able to perform at work. So this then leaves us with depression and anxiety. Are you having treatment for these? Becayse this is what you can proactively seek treatment for. For your autism, you were performing highly previously. It is only the diagnosis that’s new. Not the autism itself. Nothing has changed there.

I think if you can show what treatment your in for your anxiety and depression which can show a return to work fully in the office you stand a good chance, they have already tried to compromise. But if it gets too onerous and resource heavy, Ie they need to put resources in to check your work then they may well quickly get to the stage of capability termination.

Perimenopausal is not normally something to stop you being able to perform at work
Just a point if this. It certainly can be something that stops you from being able to perform. I went through very difficult times in my career, but the only time I had to resort to taking time off was when I went into the perimenopause. I'd never experienced anxiety like it. I suffered from horrendous dizziness, lightheadness, it affected my eye sight, I'd never felt so poorly.

Sadly the menopause is so poorly understood, it's really hard to deal with it at work. It affected me greatly, I ended up dropping a grade as couldn't cope with the stress. It certainly acted as a disability in my case.

Also, there is no miracle cure. I tried HRT, which in itself is controversial die to the risks anyway, but it didn't alleviate my symptoms at all and created others that caused yet more problems. I only started to feel better once the full menopause hit, but nowhere close to how I felt before it all.

I really do sympathise OP, but I don't think your company has done anything wrong so far.

I suggest contacting ACAS and your union rep, if you have one.

ASD and Menopause are relevant, as both can be grounds for discriminatory practice by employers and you need to get good advice on how to get your employer to support you.