i finished treatment 18 months ago, mastectomy and LD recon, no chemo, no rads…good prognosis, all OK at review, back in a year. i went back to work in April and it’s been a nightmare. my employer has been completely unsupportive and i got moved to a new team who didn’t know i’d been ill. there was no induction and i’m being seriously bullied. my OH department were hopeless and i can’t take it any more. i wouldn’t qualify for ill-health retirement because i’m not sick enough, but i have been paying into a PHI policy since i started in my present job. i could take early retirement and would get my pension…what i don’t know is whether my PHI would pay out, since i am physically capable of working and considered “cured” from the BC point of view. has anyone had any experience of trying to claim on a PHI policy and how did you get on?
hi Catkin19
hope you don’t mind me joining in.
i don’t have any experience of PHI, but i do know that your personnel department should help, being diagnoised with bc means that we shouldn’t be discriminated under the disability act, maybe your employer needs reminding. do you mean occupational health by OH? I think it is personnel or HR that you need it could be they are breaking employment law, it could be that OH don’t know what to do in these circumstances because it is to do with employment law. if your HR personnel department are worth their weight in salt then they should be wanting to ensure you are not discriminated against or bullied.
take care
sue
HI Catkin
You are definitely covered under the Disability Discrimination Act because of your diagnosis of cancer which protects you in the workplace.
There is a website ‘point of diagnosis’ which is supported by Macmillan and Cancerbackup which might be of help to you in understanding what your rights are.
As Sue says, you should take this further with your Personnel or HR department (if you have one) as it sounds as though you are being discriminated against and you might well have adequate grounds for discrimination.
I don’t feel it’s about the PHI policy but about fair treatment from your employer and I’m amazed that they aren’t aware how vulnerable they may be if you took this further.
Pinkdove
Hi Catkin,
a PHI policy only covers you if you are unable to do any job and then you have to fight for it as with any insurance policy they dont like paying out. My husband was taken ill, had 5 Doctors reports that said he was unable to work and they still refused to pay him. Eventually after many solicitors letters and taking it to the Ombudsman they finally started to pay 18 months later! You need to speak to ACAS (the numbers in the phonebook or on line) as you can make a claim for constructed dismissal even though you havent been dismissed. Good luck and dont let the buggers grind you down - let us know how your doing.
Clarabelle
Hi Catkin,
I can’t help re: PHI but I can totally relate to the way your employers have treated you.
I returned to work on the 7th January to be told that my job no longer exists but it is up for consultation and any views that I put across will be considered! I was given some tasks to do and had to watch 2 people doing my job- this upset me. I didn’t go to HR as they think that my manager can do no wrong (whilst I have been off, there have been loads of issues raised about him but everyone gets told that he is doing nothing wrong). Eventually, I raised the issue with the ‘welfare’ section of the HR department. The person that I spoke to was very sympathetic but unfortunately informed HR, who in turn ‘tipped off’ my manager. He tried to recall e-mail’s that he sent, that would have been sufficient evidence for a claim of constructive dismissal, however, I had the foresight to forward the e-mails on and print them out. I was also strongly advised not to take action as ‘I should look after my health’!
I knew that this was going to happen on my return to work so had already secured a job in another borough but wanted to stay in my present job as I felt that I was clutching at straws and taking a job for the sake of it. Anyway, I had no option but to leave my present job and ironically, the stress was worse than what I experienced going through my treatment. It has taken me 2 weeks to calm down and feel less anxious. I cannot decide whether to take out a complaint of constructive dismissal or let it be.
My conclusion is that HR departments are there to safeguard employers and the establishment, not the employees.