I belong to a disability group at work and they’ve posted a link to a survey carried out last year which indicates people with disabilities are more likely to be bullied at work
see cecollect.com/ve/ZZ65i68V82D80917629y901/VT=0/page=11#2
for further details - this is a links to an article on the Equality and Human Rights Commission website.
Mole
too right…there’s a long thread on the “after treatment has finished” forum detailing the problems some of us have had and in some cases are continuing to have.
Thank you both for your comments as at times I have felt so alone when I returned to work after lumpectomy and radiotherapy. I was already classed as having a disability due to a long term back problem - the cancer has aggravated the right shoulder & arm but I returned to full-time work in June and my life last summer was hell.
Comments included: I didn’t look like I’d had breast cancer as I looked really well (which I suppose is a back handed compliment as I don’t want to look ill)
My manager thought I wasn’t that ill as I hadn’t had chemo (classic)
A male colleague asked me if I’d got a dent in my boob.
Another manager accused me of having a bad attitude when one day I cried and said I couldn’t cope with the workload.
Things came to ahead and I went to my workplace disability group who in turned put in a complaint about my treatment. Since then things have improved slightly but I have to take annual leave if I want to attend the disability meeetings to stop staff having a dig at me.
Public sector workplaces are the worst apparently according to the report…i work in the NHS which is just supremely ironic, and had a lot of extremely weird reactions from colleagues, you would have thought i’d had leprosy and they were afraid they might catch something. and yes, a lot of stuff about “not looking like a cancer patient”…if you look OK then you must be OK, and i sometimes wished I could whip up my top and show them the size of the scar…
I returned to work Mar 08 after 5 months of chemo, bilateral mastectomy and radiotherapy. I was still having Herceptin every 3 weeks apart and on my first day back a work collegue turned round to me and said, Its a shitty day for you to start back, meaning she didn’t want me there. This was then followed by skitty comments on “Oh another medical appointment and whats this one for then”. She got worse and worse until I discussed her attidtued to the GM who said he would have a work with her. In Sept 08 things had got that bad i raised a formal grievance as advised by ACAS at witch point i found out nothing had been said to her as agreed. Since the grievance i have been feeling that my GM has been wanting rid of me and in Jan 09 he accused me of tampering with my timesheets and so was scheduled to have a discaplianry meeting for Gross Misconduct. A lot has happened and in the end he changed it to Misconduct but i still finsihed up with a written warning which i was going to appeal against but was re-dignaosed with secondary to the bone (spine).
There is a lot of discrimination towards people who have or have had BC. My work have made my life hell for the past year. I have now to face my GM since being re-diagnosed and have a strong feeling that he will say that i am unfit for work and put me on long term sick (SSP)
sorry for the moan.
Karen r
Karen the treatment you’ve received makes me mad!!!
You have many rights, you are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act. I chose to leave work but did go back for a year…I chose what days, what hours I worked…
I could have had special chairs, computers…could have had a taxi pick me up to and from work but I chose not to have any of these as I didn’t need them…I only lived a 10 minute walk from work.
I was also able to choose not to deal with disgruntled students…(I worked in a further education college and part of the job had been dealing with student grieviances)
Do get ACAS to do more. You have many rights and cannot be treated as you have done.
This link may be useful, direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/RightsAndObligations/DisabilityRights/DG_4001068
and here’s some more info…
The Disability Discrimination Act
Under the DDA, it is unlawful for employers to discriminate against disabled people for a reason related to their disability, in all aspects of employment, unless this can be justified. The Act covers things like:
application forms
interview arrangements
proficiency tests
job offers
terms of employment
promotion, transfer or training opportunities
work-related benefits such as access to recreation or refreshment facilities
dismissal or redundancy
Reasonable adjustments in the workplace
Under the DDA, your employer has a duty to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to make sure you’re not put at a substantial disadvantage by employment arrangements or any physical feature of the workplace.
Examples of the sort of adjustments your employer should consider, in consultation with you, include:
allocating some of your work to someone else
transferring you to another post or another place of work
making adjustments to the buildings where you work
being flexible about your hours - allowing you to have different core working hours and to be away from the office for assessment, treatment or rehabilitation
providing training or retraining if you cannot do your current job any longer
providing modified equipment
making instructions and manuals more accessible
providing a reader or interpreter
Things to consider at work
You can play an active role in discussing these arrangements with your employer. You might also want to encourage your employer to speak to someone with expertise in providing work-related help for disabled people, such as an occupational health adviser.
Issues for you both to consider include:
how effective will an adjustment be?
will it mean that your disability is slightly less of a disadvantage or will it significantly reduce the disadvantage?
is it practical?
will it cause much disruption?
will it help other people in the workplace?
is it affordable?
You may want to make sure that your employer is aware of the Access to Work programme run by Jobcentre Plus. Through this programme, employers can get advice on appropriate adjustments and possibly some financial help towards the cost of the adjustments.
Access to Work - practical help at work Redundancy
Your employer cannot select you for redundancy because you are disabled or for any reason relating to your disability. If your employer is consulting about any future redundancies, they should take reasonable steps to make sure you are included in the consultations.
Your employer must also make reasonable adjustments to any selection criteria they create for selecting employees for redundancies, to make sure the criteria do not discriminate against disabled employees. For example, a reasonable adjustment for your employer to make could be discounting disability-related sickness absence when using attendance as part of their redundancy selection scheme.
Take Care!
x
Hi Belinda thank you so much for your comment.
It has made me quite angry especially when i read the part (Examples of the sort of adjustments your employer should consider, in consultation with you, include: allocating some of your work to someone else) my MD transefered about 90% of my work load to other staff and when i asked him why he replied by saying it was none of my business and that if he decides to allocate to to other staff that is his business and doesn’t need to justify anything to me. It was at this stage that i told him i was on his case and felt that he was trying to get shut of me or make things difficult so that i would resign.
Hopefully when my claim for DLA is assessed i will be able to go back on long term sick. The laughable part of this is my MD wife is a macmillan nurse so you would have thought he would have an understanding what having BC involves with treatments and side effects etc… I have been told by HR to ignore the normal response time and if i wish to put a letter in stating that the appeal to be done by letter form only due to the stress that it can cause me by attending meetings.
I am currently writing my story at the website found on my profile page, all of this will be entered as i am writing from my journal and feel that people need to be aware of what does happen.
thank you again and I WILL contact ACAS and the Disability discrimination for advice on what to do next. I WILL NOT let them get away with it.
Karen x
Hi Karen, I can’t believe the MD’s wife is a Mac nurse. 
You’ve been through so much they should be doing their upmost to make work life easy for you…you just don’t need this extra hassle.
You take care…x.x.x hey I had a look at your page… 
found it hard to stomach reading how badly you have been treated by your employer. I do hope you get some proper helpful advice from ACAS. i am going to talk to my friend tomorrow as she has written a manual on bullying in the work place. i hope she can give you some support. She said it is always about dignity, treating people with dignity and expecting to be treated with dignity. how awful after all you have been through with the cancer that you have to deal with the stress of this.
be kind to yourself and focus on you.
Much strength from me to you
xx
IOC
Seen my MD for the first time today since being re-diagnosed. Told him what he needed to know etc, medical appointment dates, when he asked what each was for i told him, he didn’t really need to know. A grievance letter has been handed in and so i am waiting to hear what is going to happen next (maybe he will fire me). I don’t want the stress of it, but don’t see why he should get away with putting me through all the stress that could have been avoided.
Thank you to you all for your kind words and support
Karen x
Hi all. So glad to find this topic.
Not sure if any of you are aware of the situation i ound myself in after returning to work following mx in Sept 08?
Briefly i was bullied, harrassed and disciplined constantly to the point of being dismissed in April 09. I am currently in the process of working with a solicitor on my chances at a tribunal.Scary!!
The question i need to ask desperately is that i now want to start applying for other jobs. What do i do as far as refernces are concerned?
If i put my previous employers details down they will totally discredit me and my chances of being employed again will be zero.My ex colleagues are too scared of their job security to help me so i am totally alone and scared that i may never work again.
I am 53, worked or a charity for 5 years and prior to bc had fantastic supportive job which i loved. Which sadly all changed once i went back to work and discovered serious mistakes that had been made during my sick leave. Once i made management aware of these mistakes my card was marked and my days were numbered sadly
Would appreciate any help on this matter. Please
Hi mounties
I have read some of your posts on the thread ‘being bullied at work’ which i find totally sickening It seems that as son as we open our mouths thngs start to exculate to our disadvantage. I sometimes wish i’d never said anything about the work collegue harrassing me as from then it esscualted to having the MD on my back with accusing me of fraud which i had a disciplinary and a written warning.
I have been intouch with ACAS but after getting off the phne with them was more confused than ever. The only thiing i can remember is they told me to put in an appeal which i have. I am scared to death about it all but determined that the comapay will not get away with it.
At least you have a solicitor on your corner to take you through the tribunal. Don’t give in.
As for the job hunting. All I can say your previous employer cannot by law give a bad reference or discredit you in any way, but they can refuse to give a reference. Another point is I don’t think that everyone tells the truth of thier job history.
I wish you all the luck in the world for both the job huning and the tribual
Hugs
Karen x
Karen Thank you for replying.
I have also just got off the phone with Acas and also ended up more confused then i was before i rang. So thank you for your sensible and straight forward advice.
As for your case. All i will say is watch your back. I also had a disciplinary which resulted in a written warning. I was never given the written warning.
After that i appealed and that was my downfall. These people hate you challenging them and once i did the next disciplinary followed 2 weeks later and i was sacked.I still cannot get my head round that part but hopefully it will help me a great deal at a tribunal.
Just be careful and as i say watch your back. They know they have to give you a written warning before they can fire you so make sure you have as much evidence as you can get yours hands on and as many witnesses as possible.
Very best of luck to you. I hope your fight has a happier outcome then mine
Mounties, I am so regretting putting in the appeal now. I have ahd the feeling that they have been wanting rid of me for some time and I think I’ve just ran straight into there plan. As for witnesses, well you find out that your so called friends at work are just work collegues after all. Only one collegue can vouch for me as some of the times that they have occused me of tampering with timesheets are an hour an half before my start time, with the added bonus of being half way through my chemo and on sleeping tablets. There is no way on this planet that i could have been up and out at that time. plus one of the dates is may last day of work before my oncologist told me it was time to go on sick leave.
I have had a letter/minutes from the disciplinary held at the beginning of April where it does say that i was being issued with a written warning, but as to date I have received nothing.
Your right about them hating being challenged, if I’d just kept my mouth shut and took the harrassment from the one collegue then i probably wouldn’t be in this mess. All she got was to say sorry. (ha ha) her appology was an understatement. Never mind, I’m still strong and will fight back with whatever they give.
Are you applying for the job?
Karen x
Sorry Karen if i have made you feel negative about your chznces of winning your appeal. You may be one of the lucky ones that gets listened to and believed. Do you know who is holding your appeal? Is is someone higher up the chain and who hasn’t been involved in your disciplinary? Are you a member of a union? If not i presume you intend to take someone to your appeal hearing with you?
As for me i am still recovering from Ld recon 2 weeks ago so early days yet though i have seen my ideal job advertised in our local paper and i am so tempted to apply and see what happens if nothing else. Drs would probably sign me off the sick in a couple of weeks.
Suppose just nervous of refernces as friends i had were work colleagues so i know none of them would give me reference. Professionals i worked with may discuss my requesting a reference with prev employers which would mean they would ultimately refuse. Previous organisation i worked for 5 years ago has since closed. So who and where can i get those damned references from to enable me to return to work. I hate being at home.Don’t feel old enough or retirement at 53 either.
Obviously its not the MD thats dealing with it now as the complaint is relating to him. Unfortunatley there is no-one above him, there are 2 shareholders in the company and he owns 75%. I have gone direct to the HR company that we hire, marking the letter ‘private and confidential’ so i am intrigued to find out if he knows exactly what i have put in the letter or even seen a copy. As so far there has been quite a bit of ‘breach of privacy’ One occasion with him walking across the office floor and asking if the time I needed off was for my MRI.
I no my chances are very slim of winning this battle but if they do fire me then I will make sure that everyone is aware of how the company has treated me afterall his wife is a macmillan nurse and secondly my company do a lot of work for the NHS, to make things better for the workers and the patients. Not a good advertisement I don’t think.
Hope your recovering well and pleased with your recon, I have my finishing touches done on tues.
My mum is looking into your job reference situation as she is very good with things like that. ACAS got me all confused, so she’s done a bit of research for me, and does make sense now. I’ll private message onto you with details later
I know what you mean about too early to retire, I’m not even 42 yet.
All the best
KarenR
Hi Karen. I added you as a contact on here by the way.
As for your point about your letter and breaches of confidentiality. That part used to make me laugh as i would send letters to the chairman marked the same then get a reply back the same day from the manager.So much for privacy.
You are lucky having a Hr company to relate to though. I worked for a charity and could only deal with the manager who was one of the ones making allegations against me.She evn investigated a allegation that involved her. No such thing as fairness sadly irrespective of the effects it has on your health.
Thank you for asking your mum to look into the point on references for me. Really appreciate any help i can get.
Decided to apply for my dream job just to see what happens if nothing else.I have been told under the data protaction act if i am turned down due to a bad reference i can ask for a copy of it. That will be interesting.Just very glad to be out of there even though its a struggle financially at home without my salary.
Hi Karen, believe it or not finally received the application form today. Only problem is today is the closing date for applications.So feeling little defeated now, as would have loved the job.
Did you manage to ask your mum about the reference situation? Sorry to ask but when i looked at this form it states one reference must be from last employer so would have to come clean as far as reasons for leaving is concerned.
Hope you are ok and your battle isn’t taking too much out of you?
Hi Mounties
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, been and had my op and with the added side effects of my radio my mind has been else where.
Sorry that your application came through late and you missed your dream job. Has anything else come up yet?
I asked my mum and she said that usually application forms do asked for a reference from your previous employer. And the fact that they will be on your P45 makes it impossible for your to miss them out.
There is an option that you can ask your previous employer to type out a reference that you can keep photocopying and sending in with apllication forms. Even though there has been the grievance etc… Sometimes they will do this. Its worth a try, plus it stops them being pestered all the time to write out fresh references for each previous employer for each job they go for. Saves company’s time.
Like I said before they are not allowed to write a bad reference, but they can refuse to give a reference.
My battle has been at a stand still as I’ve been off work for the past couple of weeks, but received a letter from the HR to ring her to arrange a suitable date and time to have the first meeting. First meeting again due to grievance i put in appeal letter against the MD. Spoke to him on the phone the other day and he seemed to be too nice. I will be back at work on Monday so will just have to see how things go. Good news is that i now have been awarded full rate DLA due to the cancer being incurable so at least the financial worry can take a back seat. Think once i clear my name I will hand my notice in but not before.
Hope this Helps
Take Care
Karen x
Hi Karen, sorry to hear of your ongoing battle with cancer. It makes it even sadder that you are also having to battle with your employers at the same time. I presume they know the situation with your health?
I did apply for my dream job and hand delivered it to them to make sure it was accepted. Sadly though i was rejected they said due to the amount of applicants. Which i can believe.
I have asked my ex employers for a refernce but they have said no. The only references they will give will be in relation to any job applications elsewhere i make. So obviously they want to bad mouth again.
I hope your meeting with the Md goes well and your views are heard. I don’t balme you for considering rsignation when your case has been dealt with. Your company doesn’t deserve you.
Please stay in touch and let me know how things are for you. I am also finding it very hard financially after working all my life i am now on £60 pw icb.