Problems with my management at ASDA (WAL*MART)

[Sam.maidment2012]

Ever since I was diagnosed with my renal failure, I just feel like i am mis-treated by my management, Everytime i go home ill or phone up sick they always make me feel bad for not going in. And always say how much im going to leave them short. It just feels like they are doing a constructive dismissal. Every time i phone up sick they ask me whats wrong, normally theres not anything i can really explain symptoms wise. And my management have accused me of "taking the piss" with having repeated time off sick. I have been ever faithful to this company and have worked for them for 5 years, just feel like im constantly fighting a battle with them and wondering weather its just easier to give up my job and concentrate on getting better, having transplant etc... but without this job me and my wife would be broke sometimes i just wanna tear my hair our I just doint know what to do!

There plenty more they have said but its too much to go through!

Any thoughs, anyone been in the same boat with this company?

[frankswife]

My husband worked for this company for 7 years, They are absolutely horrendous. They literally stole sick time and vacation time from him. He finally left in August on full disability. Frank is a diabetic, and he is prone to episodes of low blood sugar. Every time he had one at work he wasnt allowed to return to work until he had a DRUG TEST. There was a kid working there who has epilepsy and they did the same thing to him. Sometimes the test would take several days to set  up and Frank would lose those days pay. They are real f$*#s but we needed the job like you do. Google the parody song "friends with low wages". It wont help your predicament but it might make you laugh till you wet yourself and maybe make you feel a little better.

[Sydnee]

My husband works for Lowes and they a very strict about time off. He had been working for Lowes for 6 years when he went onto Dialysis. Because Ed filed for FMLA paperwork they have been easy to deal with for this last year. However if he hadn't had FMLA he would have been fired because of occurrences (company policy, 10 day gone or 20late/leave early. And that's even if you have sick leave)
Good luck with your job. File for FMLA.

[Sam.maidment2012]

Thankyou both for your replies

What is FMLA? Does it work like ESA (employment support allowence?) Its lucky my sister in law is so inscence in helping me, my wife ness is just literally so scared in rocking the boat with them shes scared i may lose my jon, but at the same this would help my case cause if i left on my own accord i wouldnt be able to claim benefits as easy as if they fired me, I hate the benefits system, I hate using this example but if i were to have say....cancer no questions would be asked! I am just so frusted and tired of being treated like a kid1 I am 23 years of age for god sake!!!

[noahvale]

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[Sydnee]

Sorry for some reason I thought you weren't in the states.

If they don't have a problem with someone with cancer taking off like you need to, educate them (we can't go into remission)
Have you shown them medical evidence of your sickness. My hubby still gets comments "I didn't know you were sick" or "I just thought you had a cold or something" this from people that should know he is on dialysis.

[Sam.maidment2012]

Oh thars awful, I have a written  a letter with a few choiced words, to my store manager, in this past week i have been ask how long im going to be on dialysis, and ive just phoned work this working letting them know i wasn't coming in and her reply was "is it to do with your kidneys" i felt like slapping her honestly!!

No worries i know why u probably though i was in the states, cos  i put wal*mart, but that was only to show that its the same company lol

And to your answer, I don't its as easy to get home haemo here in the UK, the National health service find it easier to stick people who are active enough in a center, i dont mind going there really nice to see people!

[Poppylicious]

Does it work like ESA (employment support allowence?) Its lucky my sister in law is so inscence in helping me, my wife ness is just literally so scared in rocking the boat with them shes scared i may lose my jon, but at the same this would help my case cause if i left on my own accord i wouldnt be able to claim benefits as easy as if they fired me, I hate the benefits system, I hate using this example but if i were to have say....cancer no questions would be asked! I am just so frusted and tired of being treated like a kid1 I am 23 years of age for god sake!!!

I may be wrong but I think you can still claim ESA or JSA if you leave a job of your own accord.  I waited the six weeks I thought I was supposed to wait back in 2001 when I left a job of my own accord and was told that I'd been given false information and could have begun claiming immediately. A few years have passed since then, but it's worth looking into.  If you're so sick that you're having to phone in ill a lot then maybe you'd be better off not working or speaking to your manager about decreasing your hours/making your shifts shorter in length. This may not be financially appealing but it might help with your physical and mental health.

Don't Asda have some sort of Occupational Health team?  Presumably you've seen them and explained your situation? Also, if you feel you're being unduly bullied and nobody is taking account of your ongoing medical issues then it might be better to escalate it to Head Office. Perhaps a 'nice' letter which enquires as to the training of Managers with regard hiring people with ongoing medical needs.  Have you had warnings about your time off?  From their perspective, every time you ring in sick they have to make arrangements for your shift to be covered and if this happens a lot then I can see why they're upset (which isn't to say I excuse their behaviour).  It may also be that your shop-floor colleagues have noticed and are making comments and perhaps they don't know the reason why you have so much time off work.

Are you claiming for DLA?

Have you been to your local Citizens Advice Bureau?  They should be able to give you lots of advice and suggestions (especially regarding employments rights and benefits) ... find out where your local office is and make an appointment now.  In the meantime go and see your GP and explain the situation to him/her.  I imagine they will give you a sicknote and in the short-term this might benefit you.  You should get full pay (dependent on contract) whilst on sick leave because you've been there for five years, and one advantage for you is that however long this time off is (one week, four weeks, three months) it will be classed as just ONE absence. 

Home haemo is an option in the UK.  Ask your dialysis team about it.  Why did you have to stop the PD? 

Maybe it's time to start working for Tesco instead?!

[Sam.maidment2012]

Wow ha! U have raised a lot of questions and routes that have been exhausted, I claim DLA, but there's going to  be a reform, in April or may can't remember which, but only reason i could claim for DLA cos i was PD I had the care component but apparently if you come off PD you don't qualify for it any more,  but we are still receiving the payouts, we have written to them to tell them i am no longer on PD, my only guess is that they won't do anything because of the change coming soon. I came off PD because I was so unwell and my consultant suggested it would be better for me to be on haemo (boy was he right) i am not ill so much.

The ESA (employment support allowance) is a complete waste of time, about a year ago we applied for it and they declined us, we appealed and then we have to wait like 9-10 months before it went to tribunal, they reason they declined was they said i was "fit to work full-time"! I mean who the hell are they to actually decide this! They have absolutely no idea about this disease if they they most of us are capable to work full-time! This cause so much stress and money worries, but we finally had the it over turned recently (we only managed to get it overturned because of my payslips non of them had a full months pay because of all the time I had off sick) and had back pay for the last year which was a nice surprise, but there's no way we should of had to battle that hard for something that should be really easy to get for say people with depression!

My GP  know all about my illness as they are the ones that discovered it, anything i phone up for they literally just do it without question, I owe pretty much everything to them seeing as i probably wouldn't be alive without them!

When i became unwell i was only working 21 hours, because they would not give me any more hours its been like that for the last 5 years, anyways after i came back from having 7 month off in 2010 they said they would ease back in and started of with 16 hours gradually working my way back up to 20 hours which is where i am now. ASDA run a green, amber and red absence record, I am always on red, they have said they would never start disciplinary action on me because i was on red because of my condition  (that was at the start) but after months and months of being off sick they then turned round and said that if you keep being off then we will start disciplinary action, they have yet to do this, but i know its close. (Under the equality & disability's  they are unable to do so because of my health) They have made it quite clear that the only reason i still have my job is because of my ill health, and they know if they were to fire me i would go straight to the papers. They were quite unaccommodating when i changed to haemo, the slot i got offered was Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday but my work would not allow me to not work on Saturdays, they said i would have to work Sundays instead (but on religious grounds i don't work on Sundays). Most of my colleagues know what's wrong with me and you know sometimes can be understanding, but most of the time they don't understand the illness as such.  Recent things with my work in the last 2 weeks i have been unwell with a viral infection. I was at work and said i wanted to go home but i was not "allowed" home. And have been asked "how long i am likely to be on dialysis for" both of these things have angered me more and I have kept a log of how they have treated me but won't use it til i need to.

This letter that i have wrote just explains I am not happy blah blah but going to solicitors on the 28th feb, to see how i go about it all, as i don't wanna start a law suite. And last not but not least I don't get sick pay any more as i have used this up in 2010 and have not worked sufficient time to build it back up, and also not entitled to statutory sick pay i have had a certificate to verify this, so when i am off sick i don't get paid at all! Its very frustrating, i don't deal with all this i have no fight in me, i am very lucky i have a wife who will help me and do most of my abiding for me. I just literally don't understand why people don't help people that are on dialysis and work (and very little that i actually do)



I am sorry to of written a essay but wanted to cover everything and give you a bit of background information.

Happy reading   

[Poppylicious]

Ah, sounds a bit of a nightmare. 

When my Blokey was on haemoD he worked full-time so I don't know about claiming benefits and the like because his work were pretty good (despite lots of Hospital stays). However, he worked 'office hours' Monday to Friday and I think that helps.  I know that some supermarkets are flexible with (for example) mums (so they only have to work school hours and then just jiggle a bit in the holidays). Do Asda do this?  I would like to think that if they were truly accomodating you they'd be happy to work with you rather than against you and find some way of fitting your work hours around your treatment/life. 

With the ESA is there a maximum number of hours (16?) that you can work each week? 

Although tongue-in-cheek, my Tesco comment was a little bit serious.  Could you start looking elsewhere for a position, one which gives you more regular hours with a company who might treat you differently?

I'm pleased you're getting legal advice ... that's probably your best bet at this point.

"how long i am likely to be on dialysis for" ... "Until the day you give me your kidney, mate" might be a good response.  If nothing else it might get them thinking.

[Sam.maidment2012]

ahhhh so funny about your last comment! lol

Umm ESA yeah have to be working 16 hours or under, and have thought about going else where but can't really get a job elsewhere they will take one look at me and "he's gonna another shed load of time off etc.." and they are gonna go to get references from current employer and see the sickness record and put a big cross through my name, i don't lool too attractive to potential employers anymore its safe to say

although it could be worth a shot

Ive really enjoyed chatting with someone about these problems just good to know im not on my own