Mediation

[Goldylion]

Following raising an informal concern of poor treatment by a colleague at work, our manager has hinted at mediation.

I don’t feel confident our manager can or will be impartial as she has known the other person longer, texts her outside of work & writes soppy posts to her on social media. Should I request HR lead on this instead? We don’t have another manager that could support.

I would agree to mediation but ask that someone independent of the situation conducts it.

Mediation should be led by HR and the person doing it should have had mediation training

I asked that the issue be kept confidential from the team & me & the other person be facilitated to resolve it. But it’s evident from group emails that the team are aware so either the manager or the other person has rallied the whole team against me. I’ve had to go off with the stress of it, which is unlike me as I haven’t had any sick time in years.

Hopeful bump.
I had the meeting with the other person, it wasn’t mediation, just a meeting facilitated by the manager to talk through issues. The manager assured me she would be impartial & had taken HR advice. The other person said they were sorry I felt the way I did but basically it was all in my head. The manager kept saying I perceived the issues & what did I want out of it. At the end she asked when I was coming back as she had loads of work for me to do. I’ve been anxious since & not really slept. My instinct is telling me I’m not ready to go back. Should I get signed off?

That sounds awful! Fancy having that manager doing it, ridiculous! I'd speak to your GP, get another sick note then try the citizens advice bureau to get some advice - good luck