Lived Experience Forum

[Koko24]

I was hoping to get some advice from someone that has been through the work safe and workcover process.

In the last 5 years I have been working in a toxic environment and was put in dangerous situation where the company was liable and swept the issue under the rug. 

I was struggling getting over what happened with nightmares, not sleeping etc. 

My manager then started isolating me from the team and I was being put under more pressure and stress and clearly trying to the environment uncomfortable for me so I would leave, but in my mental state I was not in a position to be strong enough to leave let alone start a new job.

I felt targeted and bullied and things kept escalating and they kept pushing me watching my mental state get worse each time.

I have hung on for a year but my mental health now is not good and the doctor has diagnosed me with PTSD. 

my manager then tricked me into a room where other directors were waiting for a meeting i didn’t know about. In this meeting the manager told me they would like to offer me 4 weeks paid leave to mutually terminate my employment and for me to leave the next day and sign their agreement stopping me from speaking to anyone about the meeting, offer and that I was leaving and I could not speak negatively about my manager or get 3rd party advice. 
This triggered my trauma ans ptsd I have been on stress leave and can’t even get out of bed or leave my house at rhe moment.  
I feel trapped and stuck in a dark hole with no way out. I can’t afford to not work and I am struggling to live off the income I am currently on and I know the process of looking for a new job, interviews and having tor meet all new people and a new job is all too much for me, and I don’t I want to be having mood swings and losing it at a new job. 
I feel like my work place caused this and broke me and now want to discard me and avoid any responsibility. Everyone keeps telling me to just quit and get a new job but they don’t appreciate how hard and overwhelming just the idea of this is to me right now. 

any advice would be great ! 

[lavenderhaze]

Hi @Koko24,

I'm sorry to hear about your difficult situation.

What you’re experiencing sounds incredibly tough, and understandably, you feel overwhelmed.

It’s important to know that your feelings are valid and that seeking help shows strength.

Have you had any meetings with Work Safe, discussed this with them, or got legal advice?

The situation you've described sounds like bullying, as you said, and I wonder if there's something they can do to help.

I would also suggest that you keep records:

A detailed record of incidents, including dates, times, people involved, and the impact on your health. This documentation will be crucial for any claims or legal actions.

Medical Records: Keep all medical documentation related to your PTSD diagnosis and any other health issues resulting from your workplace situation.

Please keep connecting here and prioritise self-care. I know this must be so exhausting for you. 

[Owlunar2]

I hear you @Koko24  - that is a rotten position to be in - your health seems to have been wrecked through all this chaos and that is definitely not fair.

I really don't know a lot about it - there is something about Fair Work Conditions and Trading - I don't know what it's called - no one should be working under such conditions.

Is there any chance you could get sickness benefits and gather your resources to fight this situation - I take it you didn't sign the rider - I hope not - you might need to leave where you are and recover before you can continue your battle in the future.

You may be entitled to disability support if your health doesn't improve.

Please keep in touch

Owlunar

PS - I am glad you found us and I am welcoming you to the forum. People here really care

[Snowie]

Hi @Koko24 

Welcome to the Sane forums.

I am on work cover at the moment. I have been on it for quite awhile now. I had some incidents at work.

I would keep records of everything, even writing down the incidents that have happened.

Make sure you keep all paper work, emails, everything documented.

You should be able to get a certificate of Capacity from your local gp. It can state that you are not fit to work at the moment. It can be done so that it covers you for one month. Near the end of the month you can go back to your gp for another certificate for another month and so on. There are no limits on how many of these certificates that you are eligible for.

Also through your doctor you can apply to see a psychologist and a psychiatrist. These can be covered by work cover too.

Of course your work cover might work a bit different from the company that my work cover is through.

If you have any other questions I am happy to answer them. 

Snowie

[NatureLover]

Oh no, @Koko24 ! Sorry to hear 😢

I feel for you, and am sending wished for you... 

[SkySeeker22]

Hi @Koko24 

I can totally relate to how you are feeling at the moment.  I'm so sorry you are going through this.

The work cover process can be an arduous process, and I have been in it for a number of years.  While it can be a process in itself, it really helps with having the time off you need to get your mental health back to a place where you can actually deal with the situation and make decisions about the next steps forward.

If you can get an appointment with your GP they will be able to guide you through the process and issue you a certificate of capacity.  The certificates also outline treatments that you need and these will be covered by the work cover too (ie. psychologist, psychiatrist, meds etc).

With my case because of the complex trauma that my workplace caused I was referred to an occupational physician and a rehab provider (by my GP) which really changed the course of my recovery as I had multiple people in my corner helping to navigate what I needed with my workplace.  This may be something that you could consider when the time comes.  As part of this they did a vocational assessment and explored other employment options for me from the findings of the assessment.  While I'm still my the same employer, this was very useful as it made me realise that there were other options out there for me if I did have to leave my employer.

Please make sure that you take the time that you need to work through this, and get the treatment and support you are needing to recover for you. 

Warm regards

SkySeeker22

[Koko24]

Thank you for your message and sorry to hear you have had to go through all this. 
I went to my doctor and broke down, having someone acknowledge my feelings and fears and diagnose it with PTSD lifted a huge weight off my shoulders and I realise now work were aware of my condition and were triggering it on purpose to make me break and leave - instead of accepting responsibility and fixing it. 
I applied for work cover and have been on sick leave for 2 weeks and nobody has reached out of checked in. On Friday I got advised by workcover I’m entitled to provisional payments and my claim is now with insurance agent for assessment. 

the silence was broken by my work too and the HR people emailed me at no point asked how I was or how I was feeling……instead they said they had my work cover claim and would be taking me through the next steps ans returning me back to work. They wanted to know if I was returning to work this week and if not when would I be returning. They also asked me to provide them with all the evidence and supporting documents I had because they didn’t receive this with my online application.

Their email immediately filled me with anxiety and stress and physically ill and I was immediately paranoid and filled with fear, I so badly wanted to think they were going to help me through this but every part of my body was telling me it was a trap and don’t reply. 
I don’t know how I’m expected to provide a date of return I don’t even know what the 2nd half of my day will be like at the moment. Some days I’m numb and can’t move off couch and other days I’m so anxious and restless and frantic over everything and anything and unable to do anything functional. I can’t control my brain and haven’t even been able to see the pyschologist yet, the earliest appointment I could get was 3 weeks away. I now feel pressured and stressed and a deadline and I’m now terrified at what the environment will be like because they havnt even addressed tjr triggers that caused all this and what’s been done to fix that ans make work safe for me. The fact nobody has even contacted me not even woek friends to check in knowing what kind of condition I was in mentally. 
im scared I will be isolated and hated by everyone or they will fire me now that I have lodged this claim. 

[PizzaMondo]

Hi @Koko24 🙂

It sounds like your recent diagnosis and support of your doctor has been very helpful for you right now. I am glad you were able to go through that process and feel like a huge weight has been lifted from your shoulders!

I think it's important for you to recognise what you need and what is important. You making this claim sounds very important and how the employer or workplace will react or what they will do is out of your control, but in some ways, if there are negative outcomes rather than supportive, sometimes those things can be evidence of toxicity also.

It sounds like HR is just going through their processes for following up with you, rather than providing emotional support or checking in with you - which sounds like it's what would be nice. I can understand this, I feel that sometimes we seek in places something that they cannot give. Sending you a great big hug because it sounds like there's a lot going on right now ~

I'm wondering, who in your network do you have that you can lean on in this time? That you trust and feel safe with?

Warmest,
PizzaMondo 🙂



P.S. For next time, when you are responding to someone's post, tag them using the @ sign and their member name, e.g. @SkySeeker22 (now they will see your response!)