Do i have anything to worry about?

[crazygirly]

Hi All

Hope you can help...

Last July i was signed off work for 3 months. For years i have suffered from shingles. To those of you who may not know what this ailment is...the best way i can explain it is, that if you suffer from coldsores on your lips, then imagine the 1 coldsore but in a cluster of many blisters on a certain area of the body and the pain. These are brought on by stress, anxiety, worry, being tired or run down.

I had lost my grandma 2 years previously and this was taking its toll on how i felt. Id taken on a job at work that was very stressful. Id had a bad time with some tennants living next to me and having to throw money at a car that id bought off my friends son. To add to all this. my great aunt (my grans sister passed away and as my parents live afar, they asked me to register my great aunts death and arrange the funeral as my great aunt didnt have children and her husband, my great uncle, had died many years previously. That is why the sorting of her funeral etc became my job.

I attended the GP and was given medication for the shingles which i am on indefinately. I was also prescribed antidepressants to which i am still on. I returned to work after 3 months and life started to get better. I dropped a grade at work, which has been the best decision ive made. No stress etc.

The tennants next door that were trouble have now moved out (about 4 weeks ago). 2 weeks after the tennants had literally made a run for it, the 2 outhouses that are attached to my outhouses and attached to our houses as they are terrace houses, were set on fire causing considerable damage not to mention worry to me as my home was gutted with smoke. A week and a half later on the other side of me, my nextdoor neighbour but 1 going up the road had her outhouse set on fire. These 2 fires happended both during the week and at roughly the same time in the early hours of the morning.

This has set me back slightly and now im really scared that there will be a third fire. after the first fire happened, id been sleeping on the settee as i couldnt rest. I then settled back upstairs and started to think it was a one off, only to be woken by the loud sound of crackling and a blarring amber light. Another fire had been started near enough as close as the first one.

My manager is aware of what has happended lately. I am now due to see a councillor this week, which work pay for. On Monday afternoon i broke down at work as one of my colleagues who saw me last year when i went downhill asked if i was alright. I confessed to her that the fires had really freaked me out. I went to the GP's yesterday morning who have changed my antidepressants and forward dated my prescription to next Tuesday before i can get the medication. This has left me a week from yesterday without any antidepressants as the GP said i need a weeks rest from my last antidepressants and taking the new ones. I have spoken to my councillor on the phone today to make an appointment and he has said that im not to worry about work and if i feel i need to stay off work this week then i could self certify myself off.

My overall worry is that i had 3 months off work poorly last year and now i will be taking another week off work because of the fires that have both happened within a week or so of each other and at roughly the same time in the early hours of the morning. At work people are now on annual leave and there is a big workload to be done.

Am i putting my job at risk?

All advice is greatley appreciated.

[ojread2]

No, you are not putting your job 'at risk'
If the only time you have had off sick is the 3 months last year then you are in no way putting your job at risk for taking a week off now
Quite apart from that, your employer cannot just unilaterally take away your job when you are off ill, there are procedures to follow but you are not near them yet
Keep your employer informed at all times what is happening and a week off now could mean you won't need a month of in a couple of weeks
Your employer can see you are making strides to 'get over' this, you have everything in your favour
You'll find the answers to many questions here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm
You can call ACAS for euclidean as well: http://www.acas.org.u...x.aspx?articleid=1410

Good luck