Tag Archives: work

Apr 02 2013
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Work and Studying

Backing The Bullies

This Summer, The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill will be introduced with Vince Cable, the business secretary, stating that ‘people who work hard and do the right thing (will be) rewarded.’

Sounds fair? Dig a little deeper.

Staff who feel they’ve been unfairly sacked will find it much more difficult to raise a case – there will be a cap on compensation for unfair dismissal and new charges for bringing a claim.

This is on top of the time employees have to work for their company before they can file an unfair dismissal claim – a shocking rise from one to two years.

As many of you will know, I was unfairly dismissed from my job last Autumn for having MS. Thankfully, I had worked for just over two years and recently the case was settled in my favour. However I know of people in low-paid jobs who are routinely ‘dismissed’ from their jobs right before the two-year cut off, only to see those same jobs quickly re-advertised.

Until now, taking a case to a tribunal has been free. Once the bill is passed, the proposed new fees will be £250 for lodging a standard claim and a further £950 if it goes to a hearing. How many people who are sacked can even contemplate these charges? And with legal aid being drastically scaled back, few will be able to fight back.

Even more Orwellian is the introduction of ‘protected conversations’, where an employer can take you aside out of the blue, offer to pay you to leave and you won’t be able to use anything said in the discussion as evidence in an unfair dismissal claim (discrimination cases are exempt from this). This protects your employer, not you. Presently, employers only have this protection once a formal dispute has already been raised regarding your performance.

For people already fighting to keep their jobs in the midst of a recession, especially for those with a disability, this is devastating news. Bullying bosses have been handed even more power, and this time it comes government-backed.

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Mar 19 2013
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Work and Studying

It’s Not Working….

When The Teenager was six, his class had to present a short talk about what their parents worked as.

According to reports, he proudly announced to the class that ‘My mummy studied for four years to become a psychopath and she has her own clinic where she sees people.’ A quick call from the school later, and I had reassured them that I was actually a homeopath.

Some would say they’re not dissimilar. Telling people you’re a homeopath is akin to confessing you boil up frog skins and sulphur under a full moon, whilst chanting naked, trusted cat by your side. According to the media, we are a bunch of charlatans and confidence-tricksters who prey on the vulnerable and disenfranchised.

The recession and ill-health forced me to take a sabbatical from my clinic and I miss it. Homeopathy never felt like work, it was a passion and for me, it was always complementary, never an alternative to orthodox medicine.

I am currently in the middle of looking for a new job. The builder can’t employ me forever and much as I like stomping around in my Caterpillar boots, eating bacon sarnies, slurping tea and reading The Sun, it’ll be time to move on soon.

Hours and hours of scrolling through countless job sites has left me shell-shocked and disheartened though. After putting in my location, the hours I want to work and my skill-set, I’m left with chambermaid, cleaner, carer and security guard jobs. I know there’s a recession on, but c’mon guys.

So a little idea is slowly taking shape in my mind. I finish my degree in October, my head will be clear(ish) and I could possibly re-open my clinic. MS has altered my planned career-path, so why not combine the homeopathy with the knowledge gleaned from this degree in health and social care? Hmm. If I had a brain, I’d be dangerous.

I’d like to have a job where I could make a difference, however small. Not just working for the sake of it.  Anyway, it’s just a thought for now. Who knows, my dream job may be just around the corner. Now excuse me while I light some incense sticks and pluck snails from my garden…

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Jan 15 2013
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Work and Studying

Why Work?

Quite soon after my MS diagnosis, a few people asked me when I would be giving up work. I was stunned.

Surely now, more than ever, I would need the security of a routine, wages and the confidence boost a rewarding job can give? It seemed to me that to stop work was an old-fashioned view and had no place in the 21st century, when there was so much understanding and support in place.

I stand corrected. Recent research uncovered the depressing facts:

  • More than 75% of people with MS report that the condition has impacted their employment and career opportunities.
  • Up to 80% of people with MS stop working within 15 years of the onset of the condition.
  • Up to 44% of people with MS retire early due to their condition.
  • People with MS lose an average of 18 working years, assuming a retirement at 60.

The report states that with the right support, people with MS could continue to live full and productive lives for much longer, yet during periods of economic downturn and job losses, people with long term health problems feel especially vulnerable.

Research shows that many employers lack knowledge about the condition and may not always understand that the needs of employees with MS can and should be accommodated in the workplace. MS is a ‘hidden disease’ and the extent of its impact is not visible to others and over 80% of us are affected by fatigue.

In my case, my chosen career path has veered off in a completely different direction than pre-MS. I was steadily building towards a new career once The Teenager was old enough for me to work full-time. I am a matter of months away from completing my second degree.  It’s ironic. Just when my whole life was opening up, when I could put the years of child-care behind me and finally take on a much fuller role in my career, along comes MS and puts paid to my plans.

Life has a funny way of turning round and smacking us in the face when we least expect it. I could either crumple or make the best of a whole new situation and right now, I’m planning to work for as long as I possibly can.

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Jan 09 2013
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Symptoms and Treatment

Toilet Humour

I spent most of yesterday sitting on a toilet in work. Ok, it was unplumbed, yet strangely comfortable. We are in the middle of fitting two bathrooms and ran into some problems, so a lot of the time we were hanging around discussing how best to fit the pipes.

This was quite handy as I had yet another one of those out-of-the-blue MS crashing waves of tiredness and wasn’t fit for much else, bar a gentle spot of sweeping up, resting my elbows now and again on the handle, head to one side.

Typically, I was full of energy the day before, and was whizzing round the shops with my mum, stocking up on sausages, body spray (an absolute essential  for building work) and printer ink.

And that’s the really annoying thing about MS – the sheer unpredictability of it. It’s just so darned inconsiderate. MS has appalling manners. There’s no point booking anything in advance as you haven’t got the foggiest clue how you’ll feel on the day. My most common phrase is, ‘can I let you know?’

If I arrange to meet a friend for coffee, I pray the night before that I will wake up with some energy. I can’t remember the last time I went out with friends on a Friday night and at our age, it’s so hard to do anything spontaneously, when I do have the energy – babysitting, work, lack of money, can’t be bothered, etc.

So yesterday, the wave hit me around midday and I could pretty much write off the rest the day. I know the score. Get home, rustle up some dinner for The Teenager, quickly wash the dishes and lie on the sofa for the evening. Boring. If I’m lucky, I’ll have a few magic pockets of energy where I’ll suddenly leap from the sofa and dash round the house doing as much as possible in the least amount of time before crashing again.

Anyway, this job should be wrapped up by early next week, then it’s on to the next one. Variety is the spice of life, and at least I now know how to plumb a toilet….

 

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Jan 02 2013
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Daily Life

Back to life, back to reality

Christmas and New Year are well and truly over and it’s back to work today. I am torn. Part of me is excited and full of plans for the year ahead, yet  part of me will miss the lovely unreality of the last few weeks. After a truly terrible year, it was a chance to kick back, relax and recover.

Aside from celebrating Christmas, catching up with friends and family and all the usual over-indulgence, Christmas is an excellent excuse for suspending real life. Normal routine is put on hold and I could say, ‘oh, I’ll do that next year’. Well, now it is next year and reality is breathing down my neck. Even though I worked between Christmas and New Year, it felt different, as there were still ongoing celebrations to look forward to.

Christmas time cushioned me in magical possibilities. Dreams can come true and weird and wonderful plans were discussed late into the night, the Christmas lights twinkling softly in the background. I will be taking them down in the next day or so and will miss them and all my lovely decorations. Oh, and the chocolate coins and Christmas cake. I will miss the sense of expectation in the air. Stripped of the Christmas trappings, life comes back into sharp focus once more.

Anyway, I guess it’s time to concentrate on the here and now. The Teenager comes back from London on Saturday and normal routine will definitely be back with a rude bang – the schoolwork, the laundry, the rugby matches, the grunts, the mysteriously vanishing food. My final year at University starts in February and I will be knee-deep in study notes, essays and books.

Does anyone else find January a dreary and grey month? The only thing to look forward to is Valentines Day. If you have a partner. Which I don’t. I was joking with a friend the other day about how hard it would be to find a new man in my situation. If it was tricky enough before being diagnosed with MS – 30-something, divorced, single mother – imagine my lonely hearts advert now: 30-something, divorced, single mother and oh, by the way I have MS. I mean, what are the chances?

 

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