Stress

[Mumofoneandanotherontheway]

Wonder if anyone good give some advice for a friend of mine who’s under a lot of stress.
she’s been with the company she works for, for just under 4years. They are aware she suffers from mental health & stress. Past few weeks have been a nightmare for her as the company have put her down for all the late shifts, spread her 2 days a week off separately rather than 2 days off together & a lot of alone working. This becomes very stressful for her as she ends up finishing after her kids are in bed. She’s spoken to her manager and they’ve said another colleague who’s just moved from another store to hers have said they will move to the store on some conditions: pay rise, no late workings, no 1 day a week late working (store is open until 9pm on a Wednesday). They’ve accepted these terms and moved the colleague over but now my friend is having to do all the lates etc.
she’s told them to divide it equally but they won’t.
she gets UC and she really is no longer happy in her job anymore & loosing sleep over it. Can anyone advise what steps should be taken?
should she take them to tribunal?
resign on medical grounds? Would she be sanctioned from UC?
many thanks

She needs to dig her staff handbook & her contract out and read carefully.

it may be that she signed to accept that 2 days off together aren’t guaranteed and that there are flexible working patterns needed to cover all the stores opening hours.is she in a union?

If she is stressed then she could be signed off sick, if a dr says she unfit for work then universal credit remains the same. I don’t I how long for though.

www.derbyshire.gov.uk/social-health/adult-care-and-wellbeing/benefits-debt-and-legal-matters/welfare-benefits/universal-credit/ill-or-disabled/universal-credit-if-youre-ill-or-disabled.aspx

Unfortunately 2days off together are not in the contract & it is ANY 2 days off. Others are getting 2 days off together but she’s only getting it once a month. She feels as though she’s being pushed out.

Dr will sign her off if she feels too stressed out, they’ve told her in the past she needs to call them and get a sick note when she feels like she can’t carry on. She also takes medication for her condition.

I will read into the link you sent, thank you.

Regrettably, unless she has a specific agreement with her employer, then she isn't entitled to particular working times even if that had been the norm before. She'd have to put in a flexible working request - but they could turn that down if they can't accommodate the hours she wants now.

I don't see any grounds for a tribunal based on what you've said. Why do you think that? Is there a reason?

I think due to her mental health - she’s told them she can’t work alone as it gets too busy, their expectations are too high & she isn’t able to complete everything on her own. They are aware of her mental health condition & how bad it is. However she doesn’t want to sit at home and do nothing either. I think the fact they’ve excepted this other colleagues requests of Pay rise, No late workings & 2 days off together it’s wound her up. Because now she will be lumbered to do all the lates as this colleague is for the store she is at. Which in my opinion it’s abit u fair for the company to do this.

Can she apply for about her job somewhere else?
Job vacancies are so high at the moment, esp in retail etc.

She could try getting a letter from her GP explaining why her mental health condition means she needs 2 days off together. But unless her condition comes under the discrimination act then they may well take no notice!

In which case she needs to look for another job and check the terms of the contract carefully to make sure she gets 2 days off together.

Unfortunately, we are all stressed, especially when we are experiencing the loss of a loved one.

@Mumofoneandanotherontheway clearly the store is struggling for staff as they had to agree the colleagues working pattern. Due to GDPR any disabilities or protected characteristics which may support the colleagues working pattern are confidential.

As pp have said, realistically long term your friend needs to look for another job.

As your friend has mental health & stress conditions and takes medication she may meet the criteria of being disabled as set out in the Equality Act (EA 2010).

• Her GP could sign her off with work related stress or more sensibly give her a fit note using the option that she “may be fit to work”. The GP would say “work related stress is exacerbating existing medical conditions and reasonable adjustments are required. The recommended reasonable adjustments are 48 hours uninterrupted rest in each 7 day period, no alone working and no more than 3 (2) late nights each week. Referral to OH is recommended to determine long term reasonable adjustments.”

Notes:

• Legally you are only entitled to 24 hours uninterrupted rest each week so splitting NWD is reasonable.
• The employer may chose to meet some requests and not others e.g. 2 days rest is probably more achievable than the other two.

• As a pp said your friend needs to check her staff handbook and ask in writing for a referral to OH (occupational health). When she goes to the OH meeting she needs to be really honest about her MH, Stress and the impact of her working pattern on her conditions, particularly on her worst days I.e. Don’t do the stoic woman masking.

• Your friend also needs to check out the HSE website on Stress https://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/. Many people don’t realise the H&S at Work Act imposes a duty of care on employers and they can easily ignore stress. In the letter/email asking for referral to OH your friend should also ask for a stress risk assessment https://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/risk-assessment.htm.
• Your friend should keep a time line and a record of all correspondence. If they tell her things verbally she should email them along the lines of “further to todays conversation you advised me …… and I told you…. (Impact on her health).

UC my understanding, happy to be corrected, is if she resigns she may not be eligible to have it increased for a period, if off sick she will get it. This is why it is much better if she can’t resolve it that she gets a new job.