Hi there. Just need a bit of a rant.
I am 4 months in to a healthcare job working from home and have recently been put onto a new quite demanding contract. The appointment times we are allocated are not long enough to complete the assessment and so I am having to work over my contracted hours and have developed arm pain because of the non stop computer work. I haven't had any time off sick as I work part time. I have just got on with it for the last few weeks hoping it will calm down eventually. My colleague on the same contract is having similar issues with workload.
I let my team manager know I was having problems with the workload and asked for a slight reduction in assessments to help. He escalated this to the manager above him who has said I am not working at the required work rate at the moment so other than looking at a few other things that could help I am left with the impression that I am being told I am not working hard enough and actually should do more.
What has really irritated me is the manager speaking separately to the team leader and suggesting that menopause could be a factor in this situation. I have been on HRT for two years and have no current issues or any need to tell work that my performance is affected by any menopausal symptoms. While I appreciate someone looking holistically at this situation I did not appreciate how it was approached. The manager spoke to me and said that she told the team leader in this separate meeting between the two of them that it could be down to "hormones" and he wouldn't know about this because he is male. I mean WTAF??? So annoyed. Why assume this rather than ask me directly and sensitively if there are any other issues affecting my work? Working my arse off in this job and seriously considering leaving after this experience as I feel totally patronised. I am two years younger than the manager so I'd rather been spoken to as an adult. Aaargh! Thanks for reading.