Part-time & disabled - am I being treated like a 2nd class employee...

[Startingagainandagain]

I am starting to consider whether I am purposely being treated less favourably at work and the best way to deal with this.

I work for a charity 3 days a week. I have a long health condition which comes under the 'protected characteristics which I declared to HR.

I am managing to do what is basically a full time role over 3 days, have had good feedback for my work from my manager and other staff and even took on additional responsibilities that are not in my JD to help. I am the oldest one in my department.

In return I have had:

• no access to training opportunities or any career development
• no formal, written reply to the request for reasonable adjustment I made for home working after they tried to force me to attend the office once a week. Commute would be 4 hours for me and I was hired under the understanding that I would only need to commute 1 day a month
• now I have just a refusal to update my title to reflect my true responsibilities. I did not request extra pay, just a recognition that I am responsible for an entire area of work for the organisation. I was told there was 'no justification for a promotion' when all I was asking is for my title to reflect what I currently do and did not even ask for a pay rise...

I was also treated poorly when I had some health issues that needed time off (this was serious enough to be life threatening) and was asked on my first day back at work to ignore the GP's recommendations on my fit note. I was later referred to Occupational Health who expressed surprised at the employer's behaviour.

Long term I want to find a new role but I am starting to think that all of the above just isn't right.

Any advice on what to do/how to handle things before I manage to find a new role?

Well the standard reply on here would be to phone ACAS, or ask your union if you're in one.
No access to training/development - an issue only if you're being treated differently from other employees.
More office days - was once a month only actually part of your contract? If not, they're well within their rights but they have to formally respond to your request.
Title - there's no law that requires an employer to agree to this!
Ignoring OH recommendations - clearly bad.

Thank you for the reply.

Yes, everyone in my team seems to be treated differently from me: they have had their job titles enhanced, career development opportunities and been sent on training courses. Nothing for me.

I share the management of an assistant who support two different functions, including mine. Yet only the other manager is the only one who gets to officially manages that assistant/does supervisions with him while I am left out although I set half of that person's workload.

They never formally responded to my request for flexible working in writing and instead made some vague verbal assurances and went back to pressuring me.

Basically I seem to be put aside for everything and just expected to carry on doing a full time job over 3 days without any recognition or career development.

Living 4 hours away it does not make any financial sense for me to commute once a week on a part-time salary and they know full well this is made more difficult because of my disability.

Basically I think they are just trying to push me out.

Was your request for flexible working done formally?

@chillberri

Yes I made it in writing. I requested that as an adjustment I would continue to only travel to the office once a month as had been agreed when I was interviewed for the role and due to my health condition.

My manager never officially addressed it/formalised any arrangement but just said verbally in a catch up meeting that it was fine for me to travel to the office only when really necessary rather than regularly but of course the pressure to do more than that started yet again shortly after.

The result was that I ended up having a complete breakdown/suicidal ideation and was off sick for a month and a half.

On my first day back to work they again asked to travel to attend events late in the evenings although my GP had written a fit note stating I was only fit to work if I could work from home as I continued to recover.