• Visitors can check out the Forum FAQ by clicking this link. You have to register before you can post: click the REGISTER link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. View our Forum Privacy Policy.
  • Want to receive the latest contracting news and advice straight to your inbox? Sign up to the ContractorUK newsletter here. Every sign up will also be entered into a draw to WIN £100 Amazon vouchers!

Contracting with mental illness

Collapse
X
  •  
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #21
    Originally posted by Old Greg View Post
    I know this is General, but there is an interesting discussion to be had. If HMRC want to force public sector contractors into IR35, then this is an area where some employment rights can be gained from clients. The fact that this is about mental illness shouldn't cloud the issue.
    If you want employment rights then go staff - I hesitate to use the term "Permy".
    Old Greg - In search of acceptance since Mar 2007. Hoping each leap will be his last.

    Comment


      #22
      Originally posted by Zigenare View Post
      If you want employment rights then go staff - I hesitate to use the term "Permy".
      If people are being forced inside IR35, then they should use the protections of the Equality Act.

      You could ask for a reasonable adjustment to pop out to the offy every hour.

      Comment


        #23
        Originally posted by HugeWhale View Post
        She should keep schtum. 'Her bosses' as you refer to them are not her bosses. They do not care about her. There is no HR department.
        They don't need to be dealing with her anxiety/pregnancy/liver failure/broken leg or any other ailment. They do not care and should not care. She is just the same as the plumber you call from the yellow pages to fix a leaking tap. And if that plumber couldn't turn up on time, you'd soon get another one.
        Don't be misled by her contracting to a government department either. Civil servants rarely get sacked so there are plenty of them just itching to pull the trigger on someone they can get rid of - the contractor.

        A concrete example - I was contracting at a government department a few years ago when I got a call that a family member was seriously ill in hospital. I left immediately and as I was driving back I got a call from the department head asking not about the welfare of my family member, but whether I'd be in the next day or whether they needed to get someone else!

        Also - and in the nicest possible way - your girlfriend chose to be a contractor. She does owe it to her clients to fulfil her obligations.

        Dilbert Comic Strip on 1993-09-06 | Dilbert by Scott Adams
        That isn't strictly true but does unfortunately depend on what is wrong with you.

        If you have something that can be managed with different drugs or would get better after an operation, lots of large companies/organisations are fine with it even the ******* agent isn't.

        However if you have something that is going to effect your capacity to work long term then only a minority are.
        "You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR

        Comment


          #24
          Originally posted by Old Greg View Post
          If people are being forced inside IR35, then they should use the protections of the Equality Act.

          You could ask for a reasonable adjustment to pop out to the offy every hour.
          Bottom line is don't contract within IR35 unless you need a crutch, physical or mental.

          Btw, I don't drink and I'm not from Scotland.

          Careful OG, you're beginning to make sasguru look smart!
          Old Greg - In search of acceptance since Mar 2007. Hoping each leap will be his last.

          Comment


            #25
            Originally posted by GreenMirror View Post
            Has she been to the doctor to get the medication looked at? Sometimes they can recommend alternatives.

            Also, has she checked what time of day she should take the medication? Usually they are taken in the morning as they can interfere with sleep.

            I take it she has tried the CBT and other ways of making things better?

            As a permanent she could claim equality under the 2010 disability act. This will not apply here.
            If there is an employer involved, the employer only needs to take reasonable steps. eg, you can't expect an employer to employ a paraplegic to be a steeplejack.
            "A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims, but accomplices," George Orwell

            Comment


              #26
              Why not go and work somewhere where they have the sign

              What happens in General, stays in General.
              You know what they say about assumptions!

              Comment


                #27
                I can totally empathise with the OPs partner as I have suffered from anxiety and depression periodically during my life and I have recently been through a chronic phase that has impinged on my contracting career.

                I've been on sildenafil for the past 5 years which has helped to a degree but the one thing that it doesn't help (and the Drs aren't willing to prescribe anything to help) is the chronic insomnia associated with my depression which in itself compounds my problems.

                As I'm sure that the OP can attest, it's a form of torture - imagine nights when you get literally no sleep at all and then have to face a 4 hour round trip commute and a day of appearing sanguine in meetings.

                It's untenable and it'can be hard to hold roles down. I have lost 3 roles in the past 5 years as a result of poor performance associated with my depression. I did not once pre-empt any of these terminations by talking to the client or the agent as I assumed it would fall on deaf ears. I did explain once I'd been served notice, though, and it fell on deaf ears - as I expected.

                I think the problem for me is that I've been contracting so long that I'd find it hard going back to perm. It wasn't my fault I got ill, yes - ill, some years into my contracting career.

                So, OP, I wish your partner all the best and I hope she manages to get the better of the black dog.

                Failing that I can only hope that she's in a better position than me to find a permanent position because I feel I've been left very washed up with absolute zero support.

                In my own case, I'm looking at doing something completely different. Something that won't pay anywhere near as much but with my apparent problems in holding down roles and the attendant downtime between roles I can't honestly say I'd be any worse off financially and I'm sure my state of mind will benefit too.

                Comment


                  #28
                  Originally posted by Zigenare View Post
                  Bottom line is don't contract within IR35 unless you need a crutch, physical or mental.

                  Btw, I don't drink and I'm not from Scotland.
                  You do a damn fine impression.

                  Comment


                    #29
                    Originally posted by Old Greg View Post
                    If people are being forced inside IR35, then they should use the protections of the Equality Act.

                    You could ask for a reasonable adjustment to pop out to the offy every hour.
                    But only admit it after you get the contract...
                    "I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
                    - Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...

                    Comment


                      #30
                      Originally posted by BlasterBates View Post
                      What about setting several alarm clocks and louder alarms. This would be preferable than to confessing to mental problems; though she could just say she's been prescribed sleeping tablets, which wouldn't really raise any eyebrows.

                      I don't think being late occasionally is a particular problem, just blame it on the traffic or the car.
                      This might help

                      LeonardRossiter.com: Reggie Online - Reginald Perrin's train excuses
                      Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X