Confronting my boss today..

[Oatcake]

The day has come, and I'm going for my Return To Work meeting. I feel sick, and the GAD symptoms are all over the place. However, I love teaching, and when I walked the dog past a local school yesterday morning, I found myself checking out the displays on their windows and thinking about how I'd have done a better job at it :whistles:

This meeting means facing the Head, a woman who thought that it would be fun to push me over the edge by increasing my workload, setting me impossible targets and threatening me with incapability procedures. I will have my union rep with me, who is brilliant and dealt with her when she started all this about a year ago after I first told her about my GAD. The Head hates him, and tried really hard to arrange a meeting time which she knew he wouldn't be able to attend. She has summoned someone from Human Resources at council HQ. I don't know why that's necessary. On the plus side, she's leaving at the end of this school year, so no matter what, she's now only a temporary blip, and the thought of a new start for the school really makes me hopeful for the future of the place.

I have supporting statements from Occy Health, who have suggested a very slow return to work, and said clearly that I'm still "Psychologically fragile". My GP is happy to go along with it, but says she'll gladly extend the sickness certificate if it's not working out. The occy health report said I qualified under the Equalities Act too, so I'm going to find out more about what that means.

Since I have no idea what to expect, I've drilled myself with CBT techniques, and promised myself a McDonalds afterwards if I can get through it. "Shedding for the wedding" has meant eating like a rabbit for the past few months, so I reserve the right to order every single item on their menu :winks: Please keep fingers crossed for me, everyone.

[jelly2010]

I'm sorry I don't have much advice to pass on but I wanted to wish you the best of luck! You sound like you have good people fighting your corner and you have made all the right steps.
Best wishes,
J x

[Spot-the-frog]

Good luck, you seem to have good support, hope all goes well....
Karen x

[kittikat]

Best of luck to you, I hope it all goes well. I know only too well what you have been through and are still going through. Great that you have good support from your union and GP. Really hope it's a positive outcome for you :hugs:

Kitti :)

[Oatcake]

Thank you everyone for those supportive messages. Really appreciated all your kind words today :blush:

It was not a brilliant meeting. My boss lied through her teeth, to the point where even my union rep asked her if she was sure about what she was saying. The woman from HR at the council was not quite finished with her training, and couldn't really suggest any options. I got upset, and it was agreed by all that coming back to work was not the right thing for me as I clearly wasn't any better, and needed more help, starting with more occy health. Back to the GP for another sick certificate it is!

As we left the building, my union rep said to me "That's the last time you'll see that Head. I don't think you should go back while she's still there, and I'll put that in writing". He also implied that if I was referred to any sort of private specialist counsellor, or incurred any expenses, he'd make sure that it was paid for, either by union funds, or the council, because he thought it was their fault that my health had deteriorated so badly and it was the least they could do.

Moral of the story - trade unions are worth their weight in gold. I have no idea how to thank my union rep. Any ideas?

[Edie]

I'm glad your meeting is over now. I'm sorry you can't get back to work yet, but it sounds like the headteacher has been caught out and is going to be in trouble over it. I hope you'll be able to get back to work soon.

I'm glad you have such a good union rep. I think a card would be a lovely way to say thank you. It's always nice to receive thanks in writing.