So a work related question as my usual self checks say no but I would like some thoughts on this. Post stroke have issues mainly with my hand and grip and that’s about it but recently have been asked to rip out old flooring, paint rooms, move furniture. I work with kids in care so this is goodwill mainly not a requisite I can’t really manage furniture as one handed is more than difficult.
I have already been excused from some duties and am fed up as I have more able bodied colleagues who wont help. My thoughts are it;s time to say no as these are really only goodwill and not in my contract, is this unreasonable?
Is someone deliberately trying to make you feel or appear ‘useless’.
It’s really all ‘horses for courses’.
I’m sure you have your own skill set. I assume you are paid for using your skills.
As @Janetb rightly said ‘you are not employed as a handyman’.
The assumption can’t be made that you are ‘jack of all trades’ (and master of none), if you feel you want to do a little extra then it should be doing something of which you are capable.
Incidentally I think Health & Safety would be concerned if you are given work that possibly poses a risk to yourself or to others.
On reading your post, my immediate response would be to say “No, you are not being unreasonable”. It’s as simple as that.
But then I feel I should look a little deeper to understand how this situation has arisen.
For example, you say
So what exactly is your job? What is it you do with kids?
Then, how did it get to the stage where from working with kids you are being asked to become a maintenance person?
And finally,
Who has excused you and why i.e. is this a change in your job role due to your medical condition and then who are these able bodied colleagues who are not helping?
What I mean to establish is that who is asking you to do this, and why? And then whilst there are able bodied colleagues around, is it in their job spec to rip up flooring?
Just asking questions to understand the situation.
Thanks everyone and thank you @ManjiB for your deeper dive into this.
My role is a residential childcare worker but contractually it dies say some light housework duties. But that’s where it ends as such. Light housework is household cleaning anything else is agreed on ad hoc basis.
My employer is aware of my limitations hence I am excused from physical restraint which is a physical intervention. But wardrobes and massive sets of drawers are waybout my abilities these days.
Again my whole team sees this jut still keep being asked to try and do things I’m not capable of.
Do you have a workplace adjustments passport in place? If so, perhaps you can have it written in there that your condition means you can’t do tjoae types of things. But you need to be careful that they then don’t view it as part of your job as a result. I would suggest speaking to your TU & they will help you resolve the issue.
OK @Jbob - thanks for the update and I do like deep dives every now and then as it gives me the opportunity to practice holding my breath and improve my breathing techniques, but we’ll leave that for another day
From what you have said and what has been discussed it seems clear to me that you are not being at all unreasonable and you should simply be assertive and say you are unable to help.
The above clearly indicates to me your employer knows this and it is on record i.e. you have been excused.
The above is again clear, it is work you do on an ad-hoc and agreed basis. This means that if you do not agree because you are incapacitated or maybe you just don’t agree then you can’t be expected to do it.
And finally,
I don’t your team well enough to comment, but it could be they are just being silly or they are ignorant or they see you as a soft touch. Whatever the situation, they are not your boss and if they ask you can politely refuse.
Practicing saying no is challenging when confronted on the spot, but it doesn’t have to be a bitter no, it can be a feedback sandwich, a technique I used in teaching … moving that wardrobe makes sense, but I can’t do it because of my condition, you are good with coming up with solutions, can you rally around some people to shift it and I’ll clean up behind it. So, the technique is, positive, negative, positive.
Again thank you everyone, I think again that I’ve realised this is an issue partly of my own naking. I now realise that again I was in too much of a rush to try and prove to the world that I was fine.
Went back to work again to prove I was fine so tried to do what I had before and stupidly as @ Rups said never learnt the value if saying sorry no I can’t do this. And with that and some soul searching concluded that it’s fine to look at pastures new.
No, Jbob, you have every right to refuse to do any work when you no longer have the ability to do it. Able bodied people just don’t have the imagination to understand how hard it is as a stroke survivor. Good luck.
Thanks to everyone for your responses, I have been screen time free since last week as I had an overload emotionally linked to this and ended back in hospital with severely high blood pressure and a chronic and blinding headache.
Signed off work for a month so taking time out to relax., decide what I want to do next in life.
Thank you @Mrs5K , I simply had an emotional overload this in turn spiked my blood pressure causing the grandmother of all headaches. I couldn’t speak properly so paramedics came took meto get checked, another night in hospital.
My conclusion is no matter how much I love the job it’s not worth dying for.
When I was younger, I had a problem with leaving unsuitable employment. Later in life, I came to the conclusion that an occupation is a false bond and there is nothing wrong with walking away or quitting. The first time I did this I felt free and new opportunities soon presented themselves. I think you know what is best for you and it doesn’t sound like that job was doing you any favours. This could be a refreshing chapter in your life, but I hope the stress of it dissipates quickly for you.
