What to do about terrible job??

T

TwilightZone

Guest
My partner is out sick from work presently this is due to the immense stress and bad treatment (cliques: ganging up, excluding etc. ) from work colleagues (managers are part of the cliques so cannot approach them) in a small office. The usual from management, made a few redundant and the rest are told they are lucky to have a job and forced to work late nights and weekend with no pay or time in lieu.

She is in a bad way and cannot face goin back. We have a joint mortgage but I can cover the bills myself (just about with some sacrifices) and I am trying to tell her to leave because I can see the terrible effect it is having on her health.

What options do we have? will she be eligible for the social welfare if she gets a letter from doctor that she cannot continue in that job? Will she be refused the welfare because its a joint mortgage?

We are in a viscious circle if she goes back her health will deteriorate so the money we have will just be going on doctor and possibly hospital bills. If anybody has advice on what to do it would be greatly appreciated.
 
Hi TwilightZone,
My sympathies go out to you and your partner for the awful time she is going through. I really cannot stress highly enough how important it is to get your partner out of this situation. Constructive dismissal is a possibility but it is somthing that is very difficult to bring unless she has sufficient evidence gathered up. I think a letter from the doctor citing extreme stress from her job will suffice for social welfare purposes. Has she enought PRSI paid to qualify for unemployment Benefit.?

Your partner's health is paramount if she is forced to return to this awful working environment she may suffer a severe nervous breakdown or worse and that is no good to you or anybody else. I heard a psychiatrist talking on the radio about a year ago and his advice to people who were suffering extreme stress and bullying at work was to 'get out' for the sake of their own mental health. Speak to the Community Welfare Officer re applying for mortgage interest supplement and maybe after a little or maybe longer, your partner will be able to pick up a more enjoyable parttime job. In the meantime take care of her,give her plenty of support to help her get over this awful distressing period in her life.

I should add that also your partner is perfectly entitled to go on sick leave from her job, please get her to go to her doctor for the sick certificates whilst you decide what to do.
 
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Thank you very much for taking the time to reply Marietta. Yes she should have enough PRSI as she has always been working and is in her present job 6 years. It is a lot of mental bullying alright and cannot be sufficiently proven. I have told her to remain out on sick leave for as long as possible but she is worried about this also. My main concern is that she cannot leave if she is not eligible for social welfare as I can afford the mortgage but I cannot cover everything, the social welfare would be needed for us to get by. I saw a thread in the social welfare forum that a girl was not able to gain the welfare as they had a joint mortgage and her partner was working. Would this apply to us also?
 
If she has enough PRSI paid well then you have nothing to worry about she will be able to claim unemployment benefit for up to 12 months. Otherwise if she continues to feel unwell, she is entitled to draw sick benefit for up to 2 years.

In the other thread you refer to, the girl probadly did not qualify for unemployment benefit as she maybe did not have sufficient PRSI contributions and she was been means tested on her partners income for unemployment asssistance. Your case is different as you say your partner has been working for up to 6 years. Good Luck to you, everything will be ok.
 
Hi Twilightzone,

I feel for you, I understand completely, I was bullied by my manager for almost a year, in which case I had to leave on stress, I had a bit of a melt down, they were trying to give me what can be seen as a warning re - my performance and honestly it was like the waters parted and I could see clearly I walked out crying and told them I would contact them because I was heading straight to my doctor. I did this, I couldnt stop crying all day, and then I realised how much stress I was under.

It seems so scary going out on leave and sometimes there is a stigma re - going on stress, but your wife HAS to do this - after all, you can be sure the bullies or company DONT care about your wifes mental health, when she has left for a few days she WILL start to feel much better and it will only be after a few weeks when she realises how much stress she has been under, for me, its been nearly a year and I think Im now back to myself. I ended up having to go to a solic, and playing hard ball, which I cant believe I did it (long story) - baby steps - your wife leaves on stress she will get sick leave quite quick, its like because your still employed they prioritise the applications.

I know it can seem hard because of the bills, but nothing is worth this, there is even a group on facebook - No job is ever worth this !!!

I wish you both the very best of luck, and if your wife needs to talk, she can send me a private message and it might help :)

Blueeyes
 
get out its not worth the stress both of you are under she shud be able to get the dole under the circumstances even after claiming on her stamps contact the citizens information center on the parade for more info as for the mortgage the community welfare officer is there to help best of luck with this
 
My advice would be to encourage her to get out of there. No job is worth that amount of stress. You could go to your bank and see if they could do interest only on the mortgage for a while. The fear of what might happen always hinders people from taking a leap of faith but maybe it will all work for the better. Theres usually always a better way. Your health is your wealth at the end of the day.
 
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