Embarrassed and uncomfortable.

[Natalie22]

On Thursday after my lunch break I got called into the directors office and asked if I take any medications at work. I said no, but I have my ventolin if needed. He then said that it has been brought to his attention that I have been taking pills from a blue canister. I was confused. I told him that I am starting a new medication on the weekend and he told me that I needed to give him the nam and side effects. As I was about to leave I pulled out a blue tin from my bag and told him that I have a blue canister of mints. He said that he did not need to show him. But I felt I needed to as I had basically been accused of taking drugs. Spoke to him this morning (Friday) and he told me that I was being aggressive and that I had been aggressive to my co workers after the chat. My anxiety has increased as I am embarrassed that they would have such a low opinion of me, did not speak to me directly and ultimately I had to supply private medical information. I am to an aggressive person and I have clearly came across the wrong way as I was frustrated and upset.

[Ggrand]

Hello Dear Natalie,

I think in a way your director did the right thing by asking you if you take medication at work,  and if you do for you to give them the list of any side effects you’re going through…..the reason I say this..is many different medications can cause drowsiness, dizziness and can be very dangerous for you to work with or around certain machinery, drive, walk up n down stairs throughout working hours etc…..

The co worker/s responsible for informing your director that your taking meds at work, could maybe  have come to you and talked to you about it first…if they did then they know your only have an odd mint or two….I know that if I saw a co worker taking some type of pill..I would certainly have approached them out of care and asked if they’re okay…I’m sorry your co workers didn’t come to you first….

You have nothing at all to feel embarrassed and uncomfortable about….You have done nothing wrong…the person who did wrong, was the one who talked to your co workers before knowing the true facts…which is disrespectful towards you and they need to be held responsible for making you feel the way you do..

Thinking of you with kindness…

Grandy..

[tranzcrybe]

I can see why you would have been annoyed by the accusation from your colleagues. The director's approach gave credence to the complainant before presenting you with the reason (not merely the derivation) for your attendance.

In fairness, he should have begun with "I have received a report...." to ensure you were presented with the facts, and ideally with the complainant present to substantiate the allegation in the interests of transparency and without prejudice.

In the absence of following due process, your desire to confront your accuser(s) is quite a natural response when falsely accused, although remaining calm will be paramount when raising your own objection to the treatment you have received from colleagues and director alike.

Of course, depending on your position in the company, mandatory notification of any medication is often required for the safety of workers.

[quirkywords]

Natalie

Grandy has replied and given you help advice and tranzcrybe has replied with understanding.

In your position I would have reacted like you do. I can be called agressive or defensive when I think I am just standing up for myself.

Take care 

[Haydennn]

Thanks for sharing, Natalie22. That sounds like a really confronting experience, I hope you’ve taken the time you need to practice self-care. 

Without knowing the size or structure of your workplace, I would enquire about the following:

- is there an Occupational Health and Safety team you can work with to make a health declaration? These are professionals who work with external professionals to ensure that declared health conditions and medications are assessed to ensure you can be provided a safe and meaningful workplace experience.

- if there is an HR department, you should speak to a representative about the interaction you had with your Director and the subsequent feedback you received. Depending on your industry, your Director is not a trained medical expert and cannot make decisions about your employment based on information you share with him. The information relating to your health has to be assessed by the right professionals with your consent and participation.

- From an employment / industrial relations prescriptive, it would be considered reasonable that you left the interaction you described in an agitated state. Any inappropriate behaviour may still warrant performance counselling feedback, but consideration must be given to the inappropriate interaction that you described that you had with your Director.

if there is no internal OHS/HR teams/in addition to the above:

- the Human Rights Commission has some resources that you could look through to see if you’ve experienced unfair or potential discrimination. They should have a hotline you can call too.

- Fair Work might also have a support line you can call to ask if this interaction you’ve described was unlawful under the Fair Work Act.

Lastly, if there is an Employee Assistance Program through your work, contact a private counsellor and seek their support through this process. If no EAP, the free services from BB might be able to help you explore what’s important to you in resolving this matter and feeling safe at work again.

No worker should experience a psychologically unsafe workplace, and the law is on your side, and so are we. 

[Natalie22]

Hi .

I spoke to fair work and told them what the drug and alcohol policy said about prescription medication (get advice from pharmacist and doctor about possible side effects. They referred me to job watch as it regarding policy.

The ended up saying that if i did not follow a direct request they could take disiplinary action against me.

Gave director a letter stating that it was a very safe  and common medication and will not affect my job performance.

I am about to start antibiotics and i dont want to give thdm the name of this either but may have to to avoid drama.

Boss said it was not about getting  clearance, it was about being informed.

So much for medical privacy in the workplace!!!!

[Haydennn]

I hear you, it can be very confronting talking to work about your health when we don’t know how they’ll respond. 

Recently, my GP told me that I don’t need to tell them the specifics of some of the challenges I’ve been going through, and that correspondence from my GP is sufficient to inform the workplace. As to the impact on performance, your GP is again best placed to write this correspondence to keep your workplace informed. It sounds like you may have done this, so good on you for reaching out for support and getting advice. 

Depending on the state you’re in, there may be specific legislation relating to health privacy - in Victoria there is the Health Records Act, for example. A Google search might be able to help you find more info on your rights, as well as any obligations employers may have when handling information you provide about your health. I hope this helps, and that you start feeling better about this matter. All the best, thinking of you.