This is my very first time on here so here goes.
I have suffered from depression since my teens (so that makes it 30+ years now). During the early years I never went to my GP or took medication; I guess i just thought i had to get on with it and put it down to stress at home looking after my kids. But about 15 years ago I was so bad I had to take medication and sadly this has been the pattern ever since. I have managed to work all my life but have never been able to stay in one job due to my condition and having to take time off, but 5 years ago I landed a good job as a HR administrator for a large company and love it. The problem is that in the 5 years I have been there I have had 3 particular bad bouts of depression where I have needed a few weeks off, and have just gone back to work after a very bad time before Christmas. I love my job and have repeatedly told my manager that it is not the job that causes my depression. I was treated really badly by my manager in 2010 when I returned to work after only a week off, as I took the anniversary of my dad's death really bad. I was continually pressured to return and was issued a written warning due to the number of absences. This time, I had the home visit, the "don't worry about work just get better" speech and had my medication increased to the maximum dosage. However, I returned on Monday and had decided that I would do a phased return for the first week, but only worked 5 hours a day instead of 6. Unfortunately by Thursday I was totally drained and had to have the day off and work today instead. At lease I am only having 1 bad day now and again instead of all bad.
Yesterday, I was at work when my manager came in and said she wanted a chat. Apparently she had a bad appraisal the day before as she was saying that she had to cover me when I was off and was getting it in the neck from her manager and the Regional HR manager, you see i am the only administrator as the company has continually cut hours in HR. She said that when I am there I am excellent at my job and her right hand woman and all that crap, but, they didn't think that I should be doing this job due to my absence. She had rang our Employee Relations and they had agreed, and now she is waiting for advice from the occupational health people. I was absolutely gobsmacked. I cried, I couldn't believe that she was saying this to me, especially under the circumstances. I feel so let down by my employer as I have always had excellent feedback from staff. The more I thought about this last night the angrier I became. I can now see that there is no compassion or consideration for my condition and if I could afford to I would tell them where to stick their job, which frankly I believe they want as I have seen them cleverly move someone intentionally onto another department that the person hates as they know they will get rid of them quicker. The thing is I need to find out if they can do this to me, as I think that if I moved from the job I know and love to a position I will hate it will worsen my condition. I am sure that lots of you have experienced this type of thing and am I right in thinking they are discriminating against me as I know from research that this is hard to prove with depression. I feel totally let down and don't want them to get away with it. If anyone has any advice at all I would love to hear it.
