Stress related illness & time off work...

[indeep]

I'll try to make this brief - I'm in a bit of a bad situation at the moment, various issues at home and work are mounting and, for the first time ever, I am feeling very stressed out.

This is now starting to make me feel physically ill (tightness across chest / nausea etc.) and I think I need some time off. At the same time, I'm also now looking to leave my current employer (one of root causes of my stress).

If I was to take some time off due to stress, how is this likely to reflect if / when I come to seek employment elsewhere? Is this something that could come up if a reference was sought?

Any thoughts appreciated.

[indeep]

anothernameitist said:

More than likely to be a question asked at reference stage

Ok thank you.

Jasandjules said:

Is there anything your company can do to reduce your stress? Have you asked them?

What about taking a few months off as a sabbatical?

It's a difficult time at the company for commercial reasons and we're all having to muck in a bit. For me that has meant taking on something that has more than doubled the length of my commute and is outside of my normal area of expertise.

On top of that, the people that could help me navigate through this are all on leave for the next few weeks so I'm floundering. This is what is causing me the most anxiety - I hate being the guy that's parachuted in to do something but can't!

In isolation, neither of these issues would cause me any grief but in combination (along with some personal stresses) it's all getting on top of me - which is not something I thought I would ever find myself saying.

In terms of alleviation - I'm not sure what can be done until a few people are back from leave. I am feeling a little better today as I've had some help / input from a couple of people.

Things also seem to be moving in the right direction in my hunt for a new job. With this in mind - I think I will just ride it out for now, raise my concerns with people from leave are back and keep on the hunt for something new in the meantime.

indeep said:

I'm also now looking to leave my current employer (one of root causes of my stress).

To clarify, it's not looking for a new job that's causing me stress - it's my current situation at the existing employer.

[indeep]

I spoke to my line manager (who is now on leave) and he suggested that there's nothing that can be done immediately and I'll have to suck it up for the time being. Have spoken, unofficially, to HR. Again, pretty useless chat, they gave me the number for the Employee Assistance Programme or whatever it is (basically a counselling service of sorts).

No sign of them stting themselves.

Meh. I'll get through next week and then raise it with the PM I am working for and see what can be done. If things get bad I'll have to see a doctor and get checked out. I think it's mainly tiredness (related to the commute) that is doing me in.

[indeep]

No.

I am looking to leave and will need a reference, I do not want the reference negatively impacted - this is my concern.

[indeep]

davepoth said:

Hand in your notice then.

Seriously. If you want to leave, get on with it - no point making yourself ill.

This is a serious consideration at the moment - my wife and I have already discussed it and agree that it is a workable option. However, money is a little tight (but manageable) and I wasn't sure how leaving without having something lined up would look going forward.

Could a "void" period in my CV be an issue for a new employer? Anyway, the option is there as a last-resort and we wouldn't end up homeless / hungry as a result.

As I said, there's not any single issue that's kicked all this off, it's been a slow build of a lot of little things and the new role / commute is what has tipped things over for me.

Honestly, I'm not a brain surgeon - I don't hold anyone's life in my hands with the work that I do. So I'm going to do what I can until some key people are back and raise it with them.

mikees said:

An employer will not and cannot mention anything in a reference other than your salary and job title. Can of worms to mention anything else.

Mike

I thought they could mention anything they wanted as long as it was the truth.

Things are starting to look positive on the job hunt though - had someone contact me about a role that sounds right in a location that's good and the company have confirmed they want to get me in for interview. Just waiting on their MD to get back into the office next week to confirm. Every cloud...

[indeep]

EAP? Isn't that the Employee Assistance Programme?

That's what the HR lady gave me the number for - it's basically some kind of counselling service AFAIK.

And why would I mention the Equality Act? Am I missing something

[indeep]

Quick update - felt awful on Friday and took a sick day. Back at work yesterday, the chap who "dumped" me on a project was back and said that wasn't ideal (no st) but that he wasn't expecting anything to have moved on significantly as "it usually takes people months to ramp up"

Something of a relief and that has definitely made me feel better about things. However, I'm still certain I need to leave the current company / role as it's not really giving me any real satisfaction.

Couple of leads, phone interview that went well (face-to-face being arranged) and investigating the opportunity for freelance / contract work. The latter seems more appealing at the moment as I'm tentative about jumping straight back into employment.

I have spoken to a couple of the directors at work about things (cards on table type thing) and they too have suggested I give the EAP a call before I make any decision so I am going to take that up.

[indeep]

No, feeling well enough that I don't currently see a need to. If I still felt like I did on Friday, I definitely would have.