Challenging your organisation on Return to Work conditions

[Sea-girl]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time here but I’m a long time fan of Beyond Blue and would deeply welcome your advice. I’m in my early 50s and have lived with MDD since my early 20s. In the last 5 years it has been ‘treatment resistant’ and I have had three inpatient stays in a private psychology clinic where ECT and med changes and daily group therapy, healthy eating and exercise  have left me feeling healthy and enabled me to resume work. I am passionate about contributing to social justice and social change and have held leadership roles in the NFP sector for the past 25 years. 
I started a new Exec role in a smaller peak organisation 18 months ago. For a range of reasons it has been the most complex role I have done and the last 8 months I felt that some colleagues and young staff in my own team were working against me. Two made formal complaints that were so broad in scope and demeaning in nature that I began to experience frequent migraines for the first time and they did negatively impact on my performance. I have discussed issues and requested support from my CEO since early 2024 but was left to address issues on my own. In September I realised I was in a depressive episode and admitted myself to the psychology clinic for 12 weeks treatment in mid October. I completed an IMA 2 days after my release in December and asked for a meeting with the CEO and HR about my return to work (RTW) before Christmas so I could start 2025 in a good place. I was completely blindsided in our call last week about restarting work yesterday. The IMA made 2 recs. One was not a surprise as my psychiatrist suggested I attend a day program for 3 months (which I have been doing) and I return 4dpw for 3 months. I was okay with this. The second rec was a shock. It was to return as a Policy Officer (most junior role) for 4-6 months with no management responsibilities instead of my current role as Director. I felt completely blindsided especially given they were meant to provide me with the IMA in advance of the meeting.

I am not taking RTW and recovery lightly and have worked so hard through treatment, therapy and have built new social, fitness and mindfulness habits into my life and practiced the every day in the 5 weeks since I’ve been home so they fit with working full-time. The doctor who did the IMA didn’t ask me anything about my responsibilities and how I felt about approaching them. Post ECT I am thinking clearly and coherently, reading and writing and communicating well. I feel strong and capable and am attending a therapeutic day program.
Personally, I don’t feel that the negative impact on my mental health of sitting quietly (in order to respect an interim Director) while suppressing 20+ years of knowledge, experience and leadership of social reform initiatives) has been taken into account. Nor has any thought been given to the difficulty of then making a transition to a Director role after 4-6 months of exclusion from discussions with  own Executive and leaders in Parliament and Government on my confidence and capacity. Any advice on how to appeal while remaining professional and well would be hugely appreciated.

[white knight]

Hi, welcome

You didnt mention if you were on workcover, I assume not as you'd likely be "management".

I'll be the devils advocate- If you were given your previous role when you RTW, and some time later fell mentally ill for some reason eg stress with staff... I'd suggest they could be legally pursued by you as a workplace injury?

The system that workplace injuries come under is a farce imo whether it be workcover or other. I used to run my own investigation company and the said system has been very heavily influenced by the fraud cases up to 60-70% of cases. It certainly kept me busy for a few decades. 

You can write to the ombudsman but some companies in particular elected bodies eg local Government can plead that the Ombudsman hasnt any legal standing on them. (Been there done that).

I dont blame you for your reluctance in taking up a junior role following the office abrasiveness. Management would know such reluctance. 

I dont know if I can help further. During my 40 years working I did have 3 claims for workcover (Victoria) but returned after some months.

Reply anytime, I'm here daily if you think of any questions.

TonyWK

[Sea-girl]

Hi Tony, Thanks so much for replying. Work cover isn’t involved. I am asking for a second IMA as:

• my organisation provided a lot of content (and there was one reference to an ‘incident’ on a particular date that where I do not know what is being referred to)
• the physician completing my IMA made a significant number of errors in reporting my medical history and did not have any background in mental health. Nor did she ask me any questions relating to whether I felt capable of, or how I proposed to manage my responsibilities when I returned to work in the 90 minute interview.
• my psychiatrist was contacted as part of the IMA in December but said he would provide a letter rather than be interviewed by phone. The IMA was submitted without any content from him. Thus the only perspective informing the report was my organisation (pre-treatment) and my appearance as perceived by the physician in an appointment two days after leaving treatment. The latter was made in positive terms and no issues were raised about cognitive or socio-emotional capacity and no use of formal assessment instruments)
• As my attendance record had been poor due to epileptic seizures and migraines at a frequency I hadn’t experienced, I thought the IMA should have noted that I advised her that I was seeing a neurologist the following week. I am seeing her again on Saturday as I am now taking a new medication to prevent migraines and have had a Brain MRI.
• As I said in my first post, I am intending to request a second IMA and am seeing my psychiatrist and neurologist in the next week as a way to ensure that the information that informs any recommendations presents a much fuller and fairer picture.
• I worked so hard during my 6 weeks of treatment and have been working very hard to make all the things I found helpful in the therapy sessions and all that I learnt (from the psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, and fellow patients who were part of my treatment) into my life in a way that matches up with returning to work in my current role. Now that I’ve been  through a completely lop-sided IMA, this time I can go in well-prepared with clear questions to ask and statements to make.

Thanks again for all your advice.

[white knight]

It is a complex situation most if which I'm sorry to say, appea4s to fall out of our charter in terms of advising on mental health issues based on our individual life experiences. Advising on ways to recover from anxiety (for example) might not mean we have the capacity to understand the cause of the illness, sometimes we can generally suggest, like change of career/workplace/ombudsman/ seek legal advice.

I'm sorry that I can't help further where a workplace solicitor could be an appropriate direction to take.

TonyWK