Civil Service: Phased Return - how can I make it work?

[Usernamechanged24]

I have been a civil servant for over 20 years. Am returning to work after my first ever absence (unfortunately a very long one) . OH have advised, by way of a reasonable adjustment for my disability, that i should have a phased return over 6-8 weeks. They have suggested that i build my hours up over this period until i am full time.

HR initially welcomed this and said that as it was a reasonable adjustment they would pay my full wage (for 6-8 weeks). Today I have been told they have changed their minds and I will only be paid for the hours I work.

I understand that this probably seems reasonable : you should be paid for what you work. But I just don’t know how I am going to make it work/ survive. The amount I will earn will be very low , even if I am allowed to top it up with a reduced benefit rate , and won’t be sufficient for me to pay travel costs to and from work plus housing and food: let alone other bills.

I asked if I could return on full time hours but they said no because OH have advised I won’t be able/ I need to phase back in. What am I going to do?

I have been on nil pay for a year. I have used up all my savings and have borrowed to the max. I currently live from benefit payment to benefit payment , have maxed out credit cards and overdraft. I feel so fed up : just like giving up.

WWYD? Has anyone been in a similar position? If so how did you make it work. Thank you.

I'm the same but I think it depends how your workstation is set up and how you function with notes. I can read from notes without looking like I'm reading from them so I tend to do well out of a teams interview.

But equally if you don't know the people and you know they do go into the office regularly you may give a good impression going in person.

This is great news OP well done!

Ask someone to do a mock interview for you so you can practice.

Always write down the question and make sure you actually answer the question asked rather than regurgitating your prepared answer for that behaviour.

There's a guy on YouTube called Don Georgovich who I've always found super helpful for interview tips.

I'd got for a teams interview for the same reasons as everyone else - you're in a familiar environment and you can have your notes all around you or even on the screen.

Good luck 🤞🏽

Thank you all so much. I am really grateful.

As I've got a couple of interviews I thought I might try out both options? I'm not very confident about getting the jobs (not sleeping at all lol) so it might be worth using them as mocks until something I might be a strong candidate for comes up? My confidence is so low at the moment I think I would just be pleased if they weren't a catastrophe....

Please can I ask those who prefer Teams interviews (which I have never done before) whether there is a particular background filter they like ( for team meetings I normally use the blur option but it doesn't look great /very professional for an interview). Any tips about lighting/ how you set up your space? I was thinking about buying a stand for my laptop- does anyone have any recommendations?

I do hope you dont mind my asking these questions. Thank you.

I have a Teams interview next week. I have been asked to do a 3-5 minute presentation on the challenges of the role.

I haven't done this before. Do you think it would be okay to do one or two slides (show by sharing my screen) or would you just stick to written notes?

Thank you - and apologies for asking so many questions. I'm just anxious/low in confidence and dont' have anyone to discuss it with irl.

Ask them re the presentation. They should really have said in the invitation whether they expected slides - in the past I’ve been on panels where we actively wanted presentation materials as part of the assessment and others when we really didn’t want them and were assessing content over presentation skills. They won’t mind being asked.

I'd say use max 2 or 3 slides for the presentation. Make sure you know how to share slides in advance, practice on a call with anyone ! Even your mum.
Make sure you share window not desktop or upload the slides.
I think a few bullets per slide, not too much just to anchor the conversation and help you structure thoughts
Good luck

Thank you- I have looked on Teams and the only option available to me seems to be to share your screen. So I suppose I should just have the slides ready for when I am asked to start presenting. Unfortunately I don't have anyone to practice with - my Mum can't turn her computer on without help (lol) and I haven't told anyone in my team about the job interview but I will give it a go.

Unfortunately I haven't had a lot of information about the interview - have sent them an email asking for more detail but would be surprised if I received a response in time I expect they will be assessing content rather than presentation skills - although if I completely mess up the presentation assume that will count as well!! Will try my best. I do appreciate your advice. Thank you.

I would usually just tidy enough that my background is okay for an interview or blur the background as you do.

I sit my laptop on top of a stack of books so the camera is at the right height. I have a 1500lumen daylight bulb in the ceiling light so I am well lit no matter the weather. My multiple screens light me from the front.

I don't think any of the above is ESSENTIAL, but I think you should make sure you're not backlit (i.e. sitting in front of a window) as you can look like a supervillain, and do try and make sure your laptop is the right height. If you have paper notes, make sure they are pinned at camera height and with big text.

If you want to do slides, I would go for it as long as you'll resist the temptation to read from them. Equally though, if you're worried, you can ask the interviewer.

If you’re not familiar with screen sharing on Teams I really wouldn’t put yourself through the stress of doing it for the first time during an interview. Presenting your ideas will be enough. If you were doing it in person you wouldn’t be expected to produce slides.

I would also practice the presentation by talking not just running through it in your head. You don’t need an audience.

Create a teams invitation and invite yourself on a personal email. Then dial in with your phone and test it that way

Thank you all. Had the first interview today - the presentation went okay (I managed to get to the slides!) but I had a hot flush in the middle of it. was literally dripping with sweat (sorry)- the fan I had on did nothing to help. Agh.

Just wondered what you would do in s such circumstances? I carried on and pretended it wasn't happening - am sure that's not the right approach.

Can you get medicine to stop it happening?- perhaps something I could take on the day of an interview. Obviously I used anti persperant etc but when I'm stressed I just seem to get water running down my face. Not good and extremely embarassing...

There’s no right or wrong way of dealing with an ‘issue’ in an interview
You carried on and completed the interview - that sounds like a result to me - and for what you have been through going by this thread carrying on through is an excellent result

An alternative would have been to acknowledge the hot flush, pause for a breather & to relax then continue
If there was a situation that needed more to resolve then you could call a halt and either abandon or ask to reschedule - which may or may not work out

I have had two very memorable interviewees, one put me into a panic due to very short / one word answers and I couldn’t draw anything out of them (there were two of us interviewing even bouncing back and forth we couldn’t get anything)
I could see the clock on the wall behind and it had only been a few minutes. I couldn’t let the interview end in such a short time, so I went for general chat about them and offered to answer questions about the job.
Eventually them told me that it’s probably not really the job for them - they came from an academic type of specialism and this job was in warehousing.
I managed to get to the bottom of it - they were in the surplus pool and their existing manager was telling them that they had to apply for every advertised job - I told them that’s not entirely right, they were obliged to apply for all suitable jobs not every job

The other overran time and ended with the interviewee leaving in tears …… there was quite a backstory, following an accident at work and long term absence.
By the time I got to my office the word was out and questions were awaiting for what I had done to them !

Thanks again for all your advice and support. I am continuing to apply for posts and have several interviews lined up - everything seems to take so long and my interview technique isn't great (trying to get lots of practice) but I have to keep going.

In the meantime I have been called to a meeting with my line manager and HR. They asked OH for a new report and to recommend new reasonable adjustments (have been back in work for over seven months now and no sick absences etc ). The RAs seem fine (hardly anything eg allowed to take annual leave in line with policy etc ) except one where OH have said I am 'vulnerable to relapse particularly if subject to serious stress caused by hostile behaviours' and so recommended ' to reduce the risk of future relapses it is important that she is placed in a supportive environment at work'.

I know what OH are trying to say (I was previously shouted and sworn at etc which had a negative impact on my health ) but HR are saying this RA can't be accommodated. I will keep looking for and applying for jobs but am worried about how to handle discussions around this recommendation. I just wondered whether anyone else had experienced anything similar and , if so, what you did? Thank you.

HR saying that they can't accommodate a supportive environment at work ?! Wth!
If they are really this inept just write to them formally stating all you require is that your line manager doesn't shout or swear at you. You can propose alterations to the RA proactively btw
Put in writing and force them to write back and say if they can't accommodate this as I can assure no ET would believe it !

I mean honestly if they said they couldn't do that I can't see how an Employment Tribunal wouldn't shred them, but I'm not a lawyer.

Maybe ask OH to clarify what they mean by supportive work environment?

WTF, that is a fairly clear RA.

I agree, go back again to OH and ask them to explain in detail what this RA means to you e.g. not being pressurised to take ill health retirement, being given work appropriate to your substantive grade, being found a permanent role, being supported to find a permanent role e.g. interview practice, not being made to feel like you are a problem to HR and your manager, not being shouted at etc.

🤞 for the interviews.

I don't even think that is a reasonable adjustment - it's an absolute baseline requirement for all employees. I agree that you should ask OH to clarify a bit. A supportive work environment isn't the same as a stress-free one, which may be what HR think is being asked for. My work environment is sometimes stressful, and sometimes people are pretty bloody rude. However, I would still describe it as supportive because my manager supports me, backs me up where needed and the workplace culture as a whole has a strong sense of what is and isn't acceptable, even if not all our stakeholders do.

I don't even think that is a reasonable adjustment - it's an absolute baseline requirement for all employees.

Well, quite. Gives an insight into how this situation came about in the first place. What an appalling business. @Usernamechanged24 youre doing so well to stay positive. Keep fighting, you are in the right, and don’t let them grind you down or doubt yourself.

Hi , I hope you dont mind my coming back to this thread. I am continuing to apply for posts. I have been offered three roles- unfortunately two were withdrawn after I was told I was successful (I think my current line manager may have said something when they have discussed release?- although I can't prove this as I was simply told 1) that they had not got funding and 2) on reflection they didn't think I was confident enough). I have been offered another post today but am terrified that this again will be withdrawn. It is so humiliating and each rejection is knocking my confidence again. All of the posts have been within my current department - perhaps I should try elsewhere.

In the meantime my line manager has decided that following the workplace reasonable adjustments process isn't the right one. I dont really have any workplace adjustments in place at the moment so that is probably the right decision. He says that there isn't a post for me in his area and that in the new year he will be starting the redundancy process. All very upsetting but I am continuing to go in and do any tasks allocated to me/ volunteer for corporate work etc. Haven't had any time off and try to appear positive (a mask).

I suppose the only option is to keep applying for jobs ? Focus on trying to get a role in another directorate or department so I can have a fresh start? It's all so frustrating - seems to take so long and my confidence seems to be taking a hit with every rejection. Just wondered if anyone else had been through anything similar and how you keep going (any tips? - especially for confidence/resilience building?). It seems to have been going on forever and I'm pretty exhausted with it. I know I just need to keep going but am feeling exhausted/broken if I'm being frank. If you have any suggestions I would really appreciate them. Thank you.

With your latest revelations I would be submitting a Subject Access Request to your Data Protection Officer. I would also be contacting the DPOs of the two jobs you have applied for and also requesting a Subject Access Request - I know they can exclude references but you know you were successful so any discussions about the post once selected for the role may be revealling.

I would then raise a grievance against HR and your manager. Submit it to your Perm Sec and ask for an independent investigator (this can be outside your dept or even the CS). Submit a timeline and all the supporting documents showing where they have not followed policy and procedures and them pushing you to ill health retirement.

I am sorry you are going through this. It sounds very extreme behaviour for the CS.

Use annual leave to cover the hours you will be missing. Ask HR how many holidays you are owed.

I am aghast that they have not told you you could have taken and been paid for) holiday whilst off sick. Shame on HR!

Has to be taken within 18 months of the end of the leave year it was carried over from - so use oldest leave first!

Holiday accrued 1/3/23 to 29/2/2024 has to be taken within 18 months of the end of the leave year (So before end October 2025). HR are wrong ... I will try and find the case law for you. I have had a few discussions with ACAS about this fact who have confirmed this.