This is obviously a common predicament, after 11 months of it, I would have thought some of the above would have been mentioned, I notice on Backcare.org.uk that Surgery is necessary after 6 weeks.

After trying different anelgesias at £7.65 a go, it was only after 3 months that I was told of the pre pay prescription card which reduced my outgoings on prescriptions. I am synical that due to my age money is being saved somewhere.

Unfortuantely at present a chiropracter is out of my price range.

As my Dr said in so many words "live with it"

Well, my advice would be definitely to revisit your GP as soon as you can and don't hold back on explaining how much pain you are in and how this is blighting your life. It must be horrendous to suffer continuous pain. I can only think the pain patches referred to are Fentanyl transdermal plasters. Does your hospital have a pain clinic that you can be referred to whilst your condition is investigated further? Perhaps try to do some internet research on your condition. There maybe other people out there who have found treatments that your own GP/consultant has not presented to you due to cost or just plain lack of awareness. It's easy for me to say, but try to stay positive and believe that this is only temporary.

Been back to GP, told me to go back on Gabepentine due to numbness returning, told me as long as i can elevate myself on my toes and heels there is not much they can do, they will only consider doing anything when I am unable to do this, explained that pain is now further up my back than previously, and have been told to stick with the anelgesia that I have been on for what seems like forever.

No mention of pain clinic, which we have at a hspital 15 miles away.

Thanks for your kind words

My introduction to CAG was through these so called "fines" I followed their advice and have heard nothing after 18 months! Ignore, Ignore, Ignore

Have not heard of pain patches. Do I ask for a second opinion through my GP?

am now on my second week of cutting out one gabepentine tablets and can feel slight numbness on my left lower leg. it feels though i have an elastic badage on.

Totally fed up with it all, cant get into Gp today so will have another go in the morning.

My main worry is if it is getting more serious as I have pain higher up in my back, sometimes feels like a shooting pain in my spine

I am 51 and expect the odd ache or pain, but not continuously for 10 months

thank you for the reply

Hi all

Since September last year I have been suffering with a bad back, this has cost me a few weeks off work, at present I am on amended duties which hopefully is working quite well, have only had to have 2 days off since,

Originally my GP sent me for an x ray at our local hospital which showed a damaged disc, I had Physio for a few weeks but it got worse especially the sciatic nerve.

In March this year it was progressively worse so my GP sent me for an MRI scan which showed up a prolapsed disc plus some degeneration. She made an appointment for me to see a consultant, however the waiting list was 3 months.

when I finally got my appointment, it took me longer to get out of the car after driving 50 miles than i actually spent in the consultants, he said the mri scan was next to useless as it was 3 months old!

He told me to cut down on the Gabepentine over a period of 6 weeks to see if my leg still hurts, I feel absolutely devastated as I expect my expectations were probably too high, but after 10 months of pain I do not know what to do

I am on at present Tramadol, diazepam, naproxen, gabepentine and omeprazole, plus Zapain as and when required.

any advice please?

I hope this may help with people tryng to assist me

The following is the grievance Procedure.

We wish to ensure that any employee who feels dissatisfied with any matter relating to his/her work has an immediate means by which such a grievance can be aired and resolved.

At all stages of the grievance procedure you have the right to be accompainied by a work colleague to help you explain the situation more clearly. Alternatively, you may be accompanied by a trade union official where the nature of the grievance arises our of our duty under statute or common law. If you wish to exercise this right please inform your immediate superior prior to the grievance being heard.

If you feel aggrieved at any such matter during your time with us you should

1. First raise the grievance with your line manager

2. Agree with that person a further time at which the mattr will be discussed with a view to resolution or, if no resolution of the problem is initially possible a time at which your grievance can be heard by the General Manager/Chairman whose dicision is final.

My grievance was put in on 06/06/12 and was heard at 1500 that day by my line manager.

the last part of the transcript from the meeting was " The process is that this (Hand written transcript) will be typed up and a copy given to you for your signature and then it will be passed to the Operations Manager, any further action will be taken by management"

I had supervision by my line manager on 27/7/12 where I bought up the question of what was happening with my grievance, I was told to chase it up with the Operations Manager, I asked if that was his job (Line Manager) he replied no.

Any advice desperately required as I am now thinking of ET.

I have been advised by ACAS to e-mail my Ops manager and set a time limit for a response, due to recent activity at work I do not feel this will be received well, but I have been keeping a log of goings in just in case I require it.

I feel I will be leaving this position one way or another as it is now affecting my mental health and disrupting my home life, will be visiting GP next week.

Many thanx

Moll

Still awaiting to hear re my grievance, should I be asking questions?

Just spoke to a colleague who unfortuantely had 8 weeks off last year due to depression, none of the conditons or hoops I have to jump through were mentioned to him, he says he just got a nice welcome back chat and that was it. Doesnt remember being on half pay after 6 weeks, however I dont have a problem with the half pay, its the conditions put on me. I will be speaking to the HR firm later to see why they gave my manager the impression that I was fit for normal duty with no medical ?

HAve just been summoned by my Ops Manager re Reasonalbe adjustment due to my back, They have taken advice off of Croner who say

a) I am fit enough to do my old role of running a hostel? No medical taken place or offered.

 

b) I have to inform a line manager if I take medication

 

c) they have spoken to my Doctor (thught they would need permission for this, but she supports my position)

 

d) Other members of staff are allowed to work from home, I have asked that If I have to go early I can possibly do some work from home, as I am putting a course together on basic life skills to present to our clientelle I could easily cover any hours taken off, I have previously done plent of unpaid work out of hours which I have never claimed it's just a part of the job.

 

e) Other members of staff if they go off sick still get paid no punitive messures against them.

 

f) If a manager feels I am not fit for work they can send me home and it will be treated as sick leave therefore half pay (wouldnt that be medical suspension?)

 

I want to challenge this and really am in need of some sound advice and support

This is where the thread gets complicated with issues going off on tangents

I have a Grievance in re False and malicious allegtions, being dealt with thank you for advice on this.

my present plight is the above which I feel is unreasonable.

This is what I want to challenge, no other member of staff has or ever have had these restrictions

.

Ifeel I am being harrased due to the grievance I have in

.

I have told my Manager that I do not think it is right and have requested a meeting with the Chief Executive, I would like something cast iron (if poss) to go in with.

This is likely to go on, so please be patient with me.

Also thanks everyone for the notes of support. These people are true bulllies and hopefully other employees will have the confidence to challenge them once they have seen they are not acting as they should be.

Sorry Pappa

My Grievance is in, re a false allegation at work by my line manager, I have had an investigatory hearing and this is nothing to do with my back.

The above is due to my back problem. I was taken out of the Hostel I worked in due to innability to do the manual work, stairs and trips into town to get supplies as It is at the top of a steep Hill.

My Doctor gave me a fit note to say I could undertake admin type work at Head Office which I am doing now. Occasionly if my back pain is too much (this has only happenned twice in three weeks) I will have to finsih and go home. The Medication I take makes me drowsy, I can take it later than I'm used too to stretch out my working hours.

Everything above is about making a reasonable adjustment, I feel discriminated against as I feel the above is not accross the board to other workers, apart from my back prob starting in Sept last year I have had an excellent sick record. Any other information you need I will gladly pass on

cheers Moll

Having to travel to Head office leaving at 5pm my bus is oviously a rush hour one, and often leaves me standing for up to 45 mins.

No other members of staff have had the above sanctions applied to them on return to work, so I feel as you stated before, they are out to get me and it is going to be a bumpy ride which I am willing to see out

HAve just been summoned by my Ops Manager re Reasonalbe adjustment due to my back, They have taken advice off of Croner who say

a) I am fit enough to do my old role of running a hostel? No medical taken place or offered.

b) I have to inform a line manager if I take medication

c) they have spoken to my Doctor (thught they would need permission for this, but she supports my position)

d) Other members of staff are allowed to work from home, I have asked that If I have to go early I can possibly do some work from home, as I am putting a course together on basic life skills to present to our clientelle I could easily cover any hours taken off, I have previously done plent of unpaid work out of hours which I have never claimed it's just a part of the job.

e) Other members of staff if they go off sick still get paid no punitive messures against them.

f) If a manager feels I am not fit for work they can send me home and it will be treated as sick leave therefore half pay (wouldnt that be medical suspension?)

I want to challenge this and really am in need of some sound advice and support

I had the misfortune of 20 years HMP, I think I read on here somewhere about Meidcal suspension, where you are declared fit for work but yur employer wont allow you back, so they should be paying her.... Good Luck bud, I know how hard it is to reason with them

Any body know or had dealings with Croner, this is who my Ops manager says he takes advice off?

Having read the vast amount of threads on here, the majority are concerning bullying in the work place, it makes you wonder what sort of lives these bullies have outside of work, I know the few bullies where I work have very little in the way of social lives. Perhaps they were bullied themselves. With the help from the Caggers here more and more people should stand up to the bullies in their workplace, it makes life intoloerable for people who have to enter the work place with fear in their hearts. Only a minute amount of bullying cases are on here, just imagine how many there are in workplaces around the country. In a former life I was a Prison officer and saw bullying by inmates on inmates, staff on inmates and management on staff for the first 10 years i accepted it happens, for the last 10 years I didnt tolerate it at all in any of the aformentioned ways. We all know that Managers will stand by their colleagues which make many victims feel they cannot challenge. well you can, just be brave seek good advice and meet them head on.... rant over

If you come across a counterfeit banknote, it is important that the police are contacted in all instances. They may be aware of other retailers/businesses in the local area who have also reported counterfeit notes. They may also want to pass on warnings to others via a local business network which may prevent further instances and/or lead to an arrest. Counterfeit banknotes are part of organised criminal activity. Each counterfeit note is evidence.

The above is taken from the Bank of England website

If you are working for a large fast food outlet, surely they will have a) Insurance b) cameras around the till area. If the Police have not been informed I personally would do it myself. Who discovered the Note? maybe they are the ones to blame and could have swapped it over ... But you should certainly not be paying it out of your own pocket

The Ops manager is a bully, I will stand up to him no problem, then I hope the younger staff he tries to Bully with have the confidence to stand up to him too. I have done nothing wrong and am just asking for some understanding until I see a consultant and get my back sorted. This is a charity we work for after all, and I expect the same compassion as we give to the less fortunate we work with. As I stated earlier majority of managers are social climbers, very good at what they do, but no man management skills, as Buddha once said "a bully will never learn a lesson unless he is taught". They have now got two disciplinaries against me both thrown out, I have put in grievances against both, one upheld on 6 points, and the other I am dealing with now, thanks to the help and support I have received off here

I really feel for your predicament at the moment and i cant believe how heartless they are being. A grievance is the way to go stating that it is unreasonable for a person, able or disabled to catch a bus for 2 hours a day. That because of the pain you are in they might need to adjust your hours of work, seating arrangements, break schedule etc

Interesting day today, went to a county show and popped into a tent for a coffee and a sit down, did not know at the time it was a solicitors stand, selling insurance (12.99 pa) for dispute cases. Had an informal chat with a nice lady and gave her the outline of what was happening at work, she seemed to think like everybody else that the RA was not fair, and that I should out line the work hours I feel I could do due to medication and travel and if they disagreed to ask them to send me to an occupational health Doctor of their choice for their thoughts, then if their Doctor is of the same opinion as mine and they refuse my request (which would be 9-3) then get into dispute.

She was not trying to sell me her insurance, though I did take some leaflets incase any of my colleague s would like to take up their insurance scheme, which I think is better value than some unions (I was paying £11 a month when I was in the prison officers association 10 years ago

any thoughts?

Have checked the equality act, I have been up since 4am with back pain and unable to take any more medication. I intend to go into work but will be going in later than 9am will they be able to withold pay for the period I am late, similarly can they stop pay if I have to finish early, I am salaried not hourly paid. Normally I would go sick, but we are so short staffed and our clients will suffer, as said before we do have a passion for our work. once my medication has been taken I am pain free for about 4-5 hours and I believe some work is better than none, I need as much info as possible before I present the equality/disability act to my ops manager. My doctor has stated all my medication on my fit note and the effects once taken.

One good thing about being up is I have been able to get some information for another cagger by trawling the internet

I believe the conviction is spent after the period of disqualification is over, but the endorsement may stay on your license for 11 years, so if you have been driving an NHS vehicle there may be some insurance problems

Do they realise you are on that much medication? Tramadol, Gabapentin and Diazepam all cause drowsiness/sedation and in some cases confusion. I believe Naproxen is for epilepsy as well and causes heartburn and some stomach disorders.

 

In my opinion you should not be driving long distances under that much medication, so no it is not a reasonable adjustment.

I can't drive on that much, so I have to get the bus, which at peak times may mean standing which does not help, Falling asleep at work is obviously Gross Misconduct, perhaps that is what they are waiting for.. but at this time I am particularly synical

Grievance in.

I have only just been given the transcript of my investigatory hearing from May 4th! as I asked for them to write my Grievance.

it's a 2 point Grievance

1 Whilst on amended duties due to my back problem, I had no support from my line manager since our disagreement over internet access on 23rd March until the neglect allegation on 27th April, especially as I am a lone worker.

2 False and Malicious allegation re neglect of residents.

am I entitled to see the transcript of his part of the investigatory hearing, as i have no idea what has been said/

The Ops Manager is of the opinion that he has made reasonable adjustment to accommodate my condition by shifting me to head office to do Admin work which puts an extra 1hr 40 mins traveling time to my day and he insists that I have to be there from 9=5 despite my doctor informing him when I take my medication in the afternoon (for the medically knowledgeable amongst you it consists of 100 mg Tramadol, 300mg Gabepentine 500mg Naproxen and 2mg Diazepam) which i think normally would put down a Bull Elephant, previously I was allowed to leave at 3pm and was able to get home within 10 mins, Is this reasonable?

I feel Papasmurf is right and they are trying to make things difficult for me, fortunately I have full support of my colleagues which is a great comfort.

I have told them that I am still open to mediation, but have taken my time to put in the grievance to ensure I am not acting rashly unlike my line manager who i feel reacted whilst angry

Good point Papasmurf I may well do that and let you know what happens

I believe it was standard, and as per the IiP guidlines he called a staff meeting to inform us we had lost it, but not clear on why, thats why I wanted to see it, as we are a charity he is answerable to the board of trustees, and i think he has laid the blame at our feet to cover himself for not acting on what staff had already told him. We are due to be inspected again in November and from what the Ops manager has said the line managers may be a bit more assertive in their management.If thats the case I dont think the November re think will go down well either. We the staff are passionate about our work and are dissapointed we have lost the accreditaton and will not be held too be responsible for it after a tough year busting a butt to get our work done for the homeless, not to pander to a few social climbing egos.

Many thanks for the reply

Jasper keep a diary of all these events, ensure you keep a copy of all texts and emails sent. Then if they are ignoring your complaints then you may be able to put in a grievance. I'm sure if you post you grievance on here, Cagger will advise you from there. Dont feel you are being disloyal if you put in a greivance, and if following you putting in a Grievance your relaitionship with your manager deterioates further again keep evidence and put in another grievance, as long as you keep quiet you will have less chance of proving harrasment.

This is only my opinion and the Caggers on here will advise you more when they see the content of your grievance. Good Luck with it all as poor management appears to be rife throughout these threads. stay polite when dealing with your manager even if your seething inside.

Nothing to do with previous thread HB, Just want to know if we (staff) are allowed to see the Investors in People report on why we are not accredited this year. We believe it is through management failings. Following our meeting with IiP where we were told to be honest, the same things cropped up again and again, and as the tone was implying that it was our fault we would like to know what the report said that is all.

Some of the tenders we have applied for may fail due to our loss of Iip accreditation (that is what we have been told) and I smell a rat. The staff are very passionate about the work they do but the middle managers do not appear to have the same passion, more like social climbers. foreve telling us how hard they are working to save our jobs without acknowledging that the groud floor staff (house managers, outreach staff, resource centre staff, floating support staff) are working harder with less and are also saving their jobs. When I joined the staff team was very close and supportive to each other and still are, however upstairs has changed and are trying to run with authority instead of responsobility.

One manager sits at his desk and only moves when he gets a high score on his phone! (not the one I'm in dispute with) this has been mentioned to CEO by many staff and nothing is done, he is still doing it, and we would like to know if it was mentioned in the report, if so, why is nothing being done.

This is so frustrating HB especially as we are all doing extra work.