I wonder if anyone can give any advice please. I started a new career about 3 years ago. I had to retrain and this was paid by my employer. I qualified into this approximately 18 months ago. I have to maintain a registration in my job, so every year have to update continued professional development. I also have to have a supervisor report which reports on my work.
I have found the work very hard. Just before I had been qualified for a year, I had a mini ‘meltdown’ and fell behind with the recording in my work. This was over a period of about 6 weeks. I didn’t reach out to anyone. I’m supposed to have reviews weekly with my supervisor but this didn’t happen regularly due to holidays, etc. When it did happen my supervisor didn’t notice. I naively thought that I would catch up and it would be ok. Before I managed to do this, I changed supervisor and my new supervisor became aware of how behind I was.
I was ‘grilled’ by my manager and new supervisor as to why I was behind. I said that I was burnt out. I have ADHD and I had been struggling to keep up. I was then grilled again by my old supervisor, asking the same questions and basically telling me how it was my fault (which I already knew). I was given a few days here and there to catch up. Coincidentally, I had already applied for access to work support through the DWP and the items they had agreed for me to have to help me with my job were coming through at the same time.
At my CPD renewal last year (my first one), my previous supervisor refused to support my renewal. The period if me slipping behind had been the 6 weeks prior to my CPD being due. They said they couldn’t evidence that I was competent. They wanted to request an extension of 6 months to keep an eye on me and make sure I didn’t fall behind again. There was no action plan - just that I made sure I did the recordings in a timely manner.
I wasn’t told how to request this extension - I had to contact the registration body and request this myself. They emailed me to say that they had my information and they needed a letter confirming this from my old supervisor. I forwarded this to them. A couple of weeks later, they went off on sick leave. The letter then bounced over to my manager, who didn’t know what to write. They then fed it higher up. My old supervisor returned from sick leave and it was stated that they would
do it. They have now been back a month and they have contacted me to ask how the extension is progressing. I have said that it is still awaiting their letter and they have basically said that they haven’t done it because I haven’t provided the information on what is needed in the letter.
I am a bit lost by this - I am an inexperienced and relatively new worker. They are a very experienced supervisor. I have no idea what should be written in a letter asking for the extension. I didn’t want the extension, they said I had to have it. In any event, I assumed the letter had been sent when the supervisor returned from sick leave. I have now found out they haven’t and my registering body have said that they are now removing me from my registration, as it has been 5 and a half months since my registration was due.
I am beyond upset by this. It feels no one has helped me at all. I have been shamed by having to explain over and over again to supervisors and a manager why I am inadequate and can’t keep up to date with my work. I had said that I was burnt out and nothing was done or changed, there was no support offered. I was left to sort out an extension that I knew nothing about, as a newly qualified worker and nobody even backed it up with the information that they needed to and I’m now about to lose my registration. The irony is that my supervisor’s complaint is that I hadn’t been doing things in a timely manner.
To add insult to injury, access to work agreed for me to have workplace coaching, provided externally, for my ADHD. It was paid for by DWP and my work needed to pay the sessions themselves and then claim them back. I have spent months chasing this as no one knew who dealt with it in the department or how to arrange it. I’ve had to sort everything myself and still no one has told me how I can get it started.
The help I need is to understand where I stand. I feel on the back foot as I obviously did wrong in the first place to warrant all of this happening. I feel I have no ground to complain or anything as these are the consequences if you mess up your job. I’m so embarrassed as I’ve always been so good at my jobs and I’m such a hard worker usually. Do I just suck this up? I want to leave but feel stuck because I will never be able to re-register elsewhere, I need these employers to support me to do so. I also am worried about having to explain how I got myself into this situation with another employer as job interview - it’s hardly something which would make me stand out as a good candidate.