Complete Job Change- Not My Choice!!

[Lifevoyager]

Hi all

 

I currently work within a social services team and my role involves working as a team and visiting people in their own homes to assess them etc. I have worked with the same team since 2004 and was diagnosed with Aspergers in 2009. I chose not to disclose this to my employers (the County Council).

 

Although there are obviously many challenges within my job, and many changes such as new software systems, office moves etc I feel that I have coped with them all and am considered competant within my job. I have worked with my colleagues for years and have developed good relationships with them (I don't have many friends outside of work). They are not aware I have Aspergers and I feel I hide it fairly well.

 

However, due to the Government cuts the council is undergoing a process of restructuring and we were informed that there may be job losses. As part of this process we were each required to complete a form detailing the top 3 choices of where we would prefer to work. As my senior colleagues had been through this process and had been able to remain in the team, I felt lulled into a false sense of security and after putting my current role as number one choice, I did not give much thought to the other two choices I made.

 

I was rather shocked to be told that we had to lose one team member at my level and as the choice I had put down as second had a vacancy (and nobody else chose that option) I will now be moved to that team. I am the only one leaving the team.

 

It will mean moving to a completely different team with a different Manager and totally different area of work. I am devastated as I really can't cope with change on that level and have worked for many years to build up relationships with my colleagues.

 

I disclosed my diagnosis to one of the Managers and a senior colleague yesterday (that was a fun conversation to have!!) and was told that had they known beforehand it may have made a difference... but had I known beforehand that one person would definately need to move from the team I may have chosen to disclose it earlier. As it stands, it looks as though I will still need to leave the team but may be moved to a role that's closer to my current one.

 

I can't believe it and am not sleeping well etc (been awake since 4am this morning!). I really do not know how I am going to cope in what is effectively a completely new job. My actual Manager is currently on leave so I haven't been able to talk to him which hasn't helped. The difficulty is that a worker still needs to be lost and everyone else has now been offered their current job.

 

I was wondering whether anyone has any suggestions or whether there is anything I can do? The sad part is that a colleague was desperate to take voluntary redundancy but this was refused... if it had been allowed then nobody would have needed to move!

 

Thanks in advance, apologies for the length of this post!

 

I

[Mike_GX101]

Fight!!! That's your only option on this one. Do you know how difficult it is to find another job out there? Over 150 people go for every job advertised - that is how desperate things have become. Gone are the days when people have the 'right' to work in the country in which they were born in. Gone are the days when people have the 'right' to money in the country in which they were born in. And yet the 'right' not to pay taxes still does not exist whoever you are - penniless or not and the prison doors are always open.

 

If you're in a Union give them a ring and ask for their Disability Advisor. It seems they will look after ASD clients but not ASD members of staff. Do not fight this alone. Do not take voluntary redundancy. Do not just walk out. Fight your corner and don't give the Council an easy ride. What they do is atrocious especially when the managers doing the firing are probably sat in their nice comfy offices with big smiles on their faces having given themselves bonuses for making costs cuts for the Council!!!

Edited August 25, 2012 by Mike_GX101

[Lifevoyager]

Thanks Mike, the annoying part is that if they would have given my colleague voluntary redundancy she would have been really pleased and I could have stayed- but they wouldn't as it would have meant giving her a pay out, yet some very senior people have managed to leave with huge pay outs when they wanted to!

 

I have just joined the Union so will contact them to see what they can do. Just seems so gutting that I am having to leave a job which I know I can do and feel comfortable in for one which is totally unknown for what was little more than a lottery!

[LancsLad]

I suspect there is very little you can do if you look at your contract. There are many of us without a job if I am honest. You are an adult and as such you had a choice to disclose your condition at the point you were diagnosed. You chose not to do so and as such can't blame the employer for not knowing. I also don't think it will do you any favours focusing on other people and their possible redunadancies and early retirement. Again the employer has the right to do what they feel is best for the organisation.

 

You should have found out a bit more about the forms you were asked to fill in, if you didn't give them too much thought who's fault is that? It is easy with hindsight to make different choices but what is more important is that we learn from our experiences.

 

As I see it you have two clear choices, take the move or hand your notice in. You need to think carefully about both and not jump to an emotionaly driven conclusion before you have to. I think we need to remember Aspergers is a condition not a disability. For arguments sake let's say you were wheelchair bound and where disabled and the same thing happened what would be different. You might be able to say is the new office fully adapted for wheelchair use if it was then I guess you are in exactly the same situation as you are now. If the environment was not suitable then you might have a case but again the employer might say we will get it adapted and move you anyway.

 

I think you need to get this into perspective. You are not the only one facing these issues, you might have lost your job. I know one thing if you hand in your notice there will be plenty of people lined up to take up the offer you turned down.

 

A lot of people don't like change but it is an inevitable factor in life. There will be change one way or the other, you simply have a choice as to what type of change you are willing to embrace, a lot of people don't have that choice be gratefull.

[Shnoing]

I hope after the first shock you'll be able to make that move; to be unemployed atm is not a good option in any way. I wish you the best.

[Lifevoyager]

Hi Shnoing, thanks for your good wishes.

 

Lancslad- I appreciate what you say but just want to clarify a few points;

• I chose not to tell my employers at the point of diagnosis as I just could not bring myself to do so- and it was not affecting my current role significantly. Had I known that there were to definately be job losses I would have chosen to disclose it earlier but we were not advised of this. I don't blame them for not knowing.
  
• When I say I didn't give much thought to completing the form that wasn't entirely accurate, rather that the choices were somewhat ambiguous
  
• I know I am lucky to have a job and that many others are in the same situation, but am scared at the prospects of leaving a comfortable environment where I have lots of friends and feel safe for something totally unknown... unfortunately Aspies are not always known for their adaptability to change!
  

I am aware that change will be inevitable, I have just found out and am reacting I guess- it's very raw at the moment. As you say, hindsight's a wonderful thing... I just wondered whether anyone else had been in a similar situation and could give any advice.

[Mike_GX101]

And I gave you my advice - I say to fight/make a stand against their proposals because jobs are too precious these days.

 

Jobs are like gold dust in that they're incredible hard to find and get especially when so many thousands of other people are looking. Sit down with a calculator/spreadsheet and work out your outgoings. Look at your income. Then when you've done that deduct that income and look at the alternatives you might be able to get.

 

It just isn't worth it at the moment. If it wasn't a recession and petrol wasn't about to go up again and everything else thereafter, and if there was a job for everyone in Britain then I'd be saying something else. Hang on for dear life - even if you don't win at least you can say you tried, and that's worth more than anything.

[Lifevoyager]

Thanks Mike, I appreciate it, you are right, It all seems to have been a bit of a lottery and just goes to show how impermanent job situations can be, even if you work for local Government.

[Shnoing]

If the change is inevitable, I'd prepare for some time to get settled there (a year?), and maybe it would be an idea to inform the new colleagues about your condition (cautiously, though, and more like a description of what you like/dislike, not just the "label") in order not to miss their "too high" expectations.

 

Maybe one of your present colleagues agrees with switching places with you? Would that work?

[robert7111a]

In many walks of employment, voluntary redundancy is a no-no as it involves a fairly large payout in one go depending on how long that employee has been with the firm. Any many employers cannot afford to make such a payout. Some would not even want to and if a person walks out/hands in their notice then no redundancy payment needs to be paid by the employer. Imagine employee "X" who has worked for company "Y" for 20 years. If that employer was to make person "X" redundant (or they accepted voluntary redundancy), the statutary payment would be about a week for every year of service - or in some cases, one month's pay for every year of service. That soon mounts up and many employers (such as social services) simply cannot afford this.

 

In this climate, I would count yourself lucky you still have a job to go to. I would bite the bullet, see this as a new challenge and move on. It is hard leaving colleagues but you will make new friends.

 

If you fight this, your present employer could possibly fire you (with no pay) for not disclosing your condition.

[Mike_GX101]

Speak to your union before you do anything. Make some independent enquiries before you rush into anything.

[A-S warrior]

unemployment is not such a bad resort. you have all the space in the world to grow and develop as a person. sure the money sucks but the hours are awsome. ive taken 2 years and i am beggining to pursue a career as a mentor. 2 years ago i was a mechanic. see the contrast? unemployment isnt all bad, it gave me time to decide who i am.