workplace politics causing problems

[ars320]

I am in an awkward position at work. I don't exactly have an employer - employee organization. I am one of the 3 "partners" and we have 7 staff. One partner acts as the head of the department mostly to coordinate things between us and the staff, to avoid mixed messages mainly.

I went to him to explain my need to change my schedule, since I need more time to get all my responsibilities done, knowing this would decrease my income. My cognitive difficulties and fatigues have really been slowing me down the last couple of years and my ability to compensate for it is not working that well. He seemed OK with it, and said we would change it any way I need - he knows about my MS.

The problem is that changing my schedule to meet my needs (like the ability to get home before 9 pm and get my work done on time) changes the schedule of some of the staff, and they are upset about it. They told me I really had to switch things back or they would have trouble with their jobs. They are exagerating, really. I am asking them to spread some of the work they do 2 days a week, out to 2 1/2 days a week, maybe once or twice a month. Now the problem is that my "head" partner, whenever asked about changes that the staff might not like, does what the staff wants (or "the girls" as he calls them. They're all women older than me, and when I joined 6 years ago as a younger woman, I didn't really fit into that, but that's another story). He likes to talk about how our department has had very little turnover because we are so good to the staff, and we need to keep them happy. There is definitely some truth to that, but keeping the "girls" happy will make it very hard for me to do my work.

I am asking for readonable accomodations, but if I use that phrase my partner's ears will perk up thinking I'm going to sue or something. I just want to work and put off going on disability. Aargh... stupid office politics. Makes me want to scream, or cry, or vomit, or something.

[Bob698]

This sounds like something your boss should be dealling with.
A manager's job is to make sure the work goals get met. They aren't supposed to be everyone's best friend as much as they aren't supposed to be a dictator. It sounds like your boss wants to keep everyone happy, which doesn't always mean the work gets done.

You have an issue which needs to be addressed. You might like the outcome or you might not. The people you work with might like it or not. That's your boss' job to find the compromise which works best.

[Trestle]

Hello,

I've been dealing with ms and work for 15 years with 4 different employers. One good the rest so-so to criminally bad.

I would do two things.

First
In a sense you are your boss right? Do you have a contract of some sort with the other two? Is anything written down? You need to establish something in writing, if you don't have anything now. The other two need to have some boundaries and parameters. Rules are good. You can work in labour law language and human rights. Talk to a contract lawyer even if you think that doesn't apply to your situation- they can give you good advice. Even on how to broach the topic if you have nothing now. If you own this process, you can mold it to your needs without them realizing it.

I get what you mean about using the RA phrase. If they knew the rules of the relationship, you'd have a foundation to start from in your approach to the topic that would be less scary for them, but let's be honest - they should be afraid, sometimes you need to play that card that way.

Second
Older female employees you say? *nods* Oh yes. Not knowing them or you.... here goes. Can you schedule an employee training session? Even over an extended lunch hour? Buy them pizza. Have a disability org or the ms society come in and give training on human rights and disabilities - let someone else deliver the message! You'll need to screen the person and the content first of course.

This should make them change their tune. It's not like they'll have a choice, right? And maybe one or two of them truly didn't understand, who knows...

Once that training has set in, can you, with the scheduling partner, call a meeting and ask for volunteers to help you with your workplace needs. Give them the opportunity to feel they're doing you a favour and feel like a hero. (yeah, I know, gag) I suggest this as they seem persnickety and prickly. If no one volunteers ask them for references of someone that could be hired to fill in for those times - that does two things, it's not threatening because you're asking them for help, and yet - it is threatening. teehee.

If that doesn't work for you, ask again, I have other ideas.

People are just deep down mean sometimes. I find shame works.

[ars320]

Thank you for the advice above. I was still seething that day, and had trouble thinking clearly.

I am not exactly a boss, more like a junior partner, I guess. I have very little say in how things work, except to discuss things with the other partners, and either get a nod or overruled.

So yesterday I asked to meet with the head partner, who had already met with the office manager (leader of the staff). I explained my need to take more time with my appointments (I'm an MD), in order to be productive and not make too many errors. He has a tendency of talking to me in a very patronizing way, as if I'm his child, and disappointing him by not doing everything the way he suggests, and being just lazy. I have been in the office about 12 hours a day trying to keep up with the paperwork, and I'm still getting behind. He told me that it was "impossible" for the staff to change their schedule in the slightest (again, I asked for one or two half-days a month, doing the same thing they are doing now but spread out over more time so I could keep up). He said staff would quit if we asked for any change like that, and there were already morale issues because of my changing schedule, so I needed to do what they wanted. It was very important to have happy staff.

He then said I should just come in an hour earlier every day (I already struggle getting there at 8:45), and why can't I see each patient quicker and not ask them so many questions. And how is your health anyway? Can't you just take steroids for an MS flare? And he kept asking me why don't I just get a nanny so I don't have to spend so much time taking care of my preschool-aged kids, or why can't my husband just do all the housework... I left his office trying to hold back tears, which was mortifying, and not completely successful.

I would like to keep working, and it has taken a lot for me to accept my limitations and my need to decrease my responsibilities. I have been in denial and trying to compensate for slowed thinking and exhaustion for years, and I think my current routine is bad for my health. I don't get enough sleep, have no time to excercise or do anything relaxing, and I don't get to enjoy my children enough.

Now I am wondering if will need to go on disability earlier than I planned, because my workplace is being so inflexible. I'm still seething, and ranting, sorry about that.

Abby

[Trestle]

Holy smokes. You work 12 hour days, take care of a house and have children? AND YOU HAVE MS?

The person you're dealing with has no clue. To say that staff would quit or be unhappy is a violation of the duty to accommodate, and no where near being a valid case of undue hardship. He's full of it and he either knows it or is too ignorant to understand. My guess is both.

You need to talk to a lawyer. I wish I could make you. Then a benefits specialist to find out your rights - contact the ms society for help with that.

This is off the charts. You're right to be upset, you're being set up for failure, but in your case, it's not just your job, but your health and the quality of your life including your family.

From what you've said, and if it were me, I'd get a note from my doctor for 3 months disability leave and use that time for counselling (ps you're being bullied) and to look for another job. Removing yourself from a bad and unhealthy environment isn't giving up - it's winning.

We need to take extra care of ourselves.

[LisaL77]

:He told me that it was "impossible" for the staff to change their schedule in the slightest (again, I asked for one or two half-days a month, doing the same thing they are doing now but spread out over more time so I could keep up). He said staff would quit if we asked for any change like that, and there were already morale issues because of my changing schedule, so I needed to do what they wanted. It was very important to have happy staff."

Really, why are there 'morale issues' regarding your change in schedule? Who is in charge here? Let me remind you about our crummy economy. If 'the girls' don't like it, they can go find a new/better job. They are not your equal. When there is a delegation from above, I can voice my opinion on the matter, but ultimately, I probably just have to switch gears and do it.

You don't have a good work/life balance at this place even without MS. Pre-school aged kids? They will be packing for college and you won't know where the time went if you stay here. You should have asked him how he balances life and work, seeing how he has such awesome suggestions about assigning your husband the full responsibility of house and child care.

[Redwings]

Hi ars320:
Based on your second post, I agree that you should talk with an attorney specializing with labor issues. However my take on your situation is a different than some of the other posters'. You second post is important because it shows that your work situation is different than the impression given by your first post.

If you were an employee working in a regular office environment, your rights and approach to securing them would be more clear cut. But that isn't the case. You're a junior partner in a medical practice, so "worker's" rights either apply to you differently than if you were an employee, or don't apply at all. And that's why you need an attorney.

As a junior partner, it's likely that your association with the practice is by contract. (Whether it involves a "buy-in" is irrelevant to this situation. Your balance of work and home life is also irrelevant.) So part of what your rights are depends on the terms of your contract. Your contract probably involves an agreement by you to perform to some level of productivity. So, strictly from a contracts viewpoint, your inability to meet the productivity level you agreed to is a breach of contract by you.

However, since the performance of your contract involves working conditions, the ADA might apply. If it does, the subjectivity of "reasonable accommodations" also applies. What might be reasonable for a multimillion-dollar corporation might not be reasonable for a three-doctor medical practice.

There's truth in what your senior partner said about not upsetting the schedules of your staff. Medical practices have to run like clockwork. There are problems when they don't. Changing even one gear in the clockwork can upset the entire mechanism. I actually quit a healthcare practice once because I knew it was easier for the doctor/owner to replace me than to find new auxiliary staff, making the staff more valuable than I was, even though they were relatively "unskilled" and paid much less than I was.

Aside from all of the patient service issues that can arise from changing schedules, there are also staffing issues, including breaks, overtime, and the staff's need to also be home at a reasonable hour. (They have kids, too, and your need to be with yours isn't any more important than their need to be with theirs.) If you've ever been involved in staffing issues for a health-care practice, you know that there are limits to how much flexibility can be allowed in one person's schedule. One person's schedule can't be allowed to unreasonably upset the schedules of 10 or 20 other people. No matter how many people are waiting in line to take the job of a staff member who quits, the loss of staff and trying to find a qualified replacement are major disruptions to a medical practice.

And your senior partner is probably trying to tell you -- in different terms -- that you aren't bringing enough value to the practice to be worth upsetting those 10 or 20 other people. If you put yourself in the position of the staffing partner, you might see how much easier it is to deal with the issues of one person than the issues of 10.

A labor attorney can help you to determine what accommodations you might be entitled to under both your contract and ADA laws. The attorney for your senior partners can argue that there are no accommodations for cognitive problems in the delivery of medical services. The attorney can argue that your needing extra time to see patients and needing more time off must result in reduced compensation to you, which would be a change in your contract. The attorney can argue that your reduced productivity is not a "reasonable accommodation" because it forces the senior partners to spend even more money to recruit another doctor to make up the productivity and income they would have to give up by accommodating your need for more time. Their attorney can argue that the lost income from your reduced productivity affects not only the senior partners, but every employee in the practice, which isn't reasonable.

Another option you have has already been suggested -- you get out of your current partnership and find another practice situation that has more favorable terms for you. Bear in mind that your cognitive issues will always be relevant, no matter where you go, and that an inflexible, unfriendly workplace doesn't qualify someone -- especially someone who is highly educated and skilled -- as "disabled."

Your partnership/contract/service status makes your situation complicated. That's why no one here can advise you about what your rights are. I hope you can get legal advice and get your situation straightened out soon.

[ars320]

I appreciate all the advice. I do have a lawyer that focuses on employment issues, and i'll be contacting him today or tomorrow, but I have trouble getting to a phone during business hours.

My department is part of a mulidispecialty doctor-owned clinic. My contract is with the clinic as a whole, not with my partners. I don't have a productivity requirement specifically, just the amount of $ I bring in, minus my share of the overhead, is what I bring home. I know that overhead wouldn't go down proportional to decrease in number of patients seen, so I will see a larger fall in my income, and I can accept that. When i interviewed for the position i asked them if working parttime in the future would be a possibility, and i was told i would be able to do that.

What I was asking the staff to do is not extra work or extra hours, but to spread some of the same work over more timeonce or twice a month. . This is work with lots of breaks, and they are usually multitasking during it anyway.

Hopefully I will be more clear about my options and their implications after discussing things with my lawyer. I was using this site more for venting.

[Redwings]

You're in a tough spot, so feel free to vent away!

[futurmil2b]

I am in an awkward position at work. I don't exactly have an employer - employee organization. I am one of the 3 "partners" and we have 7 staff. One partner acts as the head of the department mostly to coordinate things between us and the staff, to avoid mixed messages mainly.

I went to him to explain my need to change my schedule, since I need more time to get all my responsibilities done, knowing this would decrease my income. My cognitive difficulties and fatigues have really been slowing me down the last couple of years and my ability to compensate for it is not working that well. He seemed OK with it, and said we would change it any way I need - he knows about my MS.

The problem is that changing my schedule to meet my needs (like the ability to get home before 9 pm and get my work done on time) changes the schedule of some of the staff, and they are upset about it. They told me I really had to switch things back or they would have trouble with their jobs. They are exagerating, really. I am asking them to spread some of the work they do 2 days a week, out to 2 1/2 days a week, maybe once or twice a month. Now the problem is that my "head" partner, whenever asked about changes that the staff might not like, does what the staff wants (or "the girls" as he calls them. They're all women older than me, and when I joined 6 years ago as a younger woman, I didn't really fit into that, but that's another story). He likes to talk about how our department has had very little turnover because we are so good to the staff, and we need to keep them happy. There is definitely some truth to that, but keeping the "girls" happy will make it very hard for me to do my work.

I am asking for readonable accomodations, but if I use that phrase my partner's ears will perk up thinking I'm going to sue or something. I just want to work and put off going on disability. Aargh... stupid office politics. Makes me want to scream, or cry, or vomit, or something.

OH MAN.. I can relate a bit. My Administrator and Manager know I have MS. I went to my manager first and shared it with her because I needed my hours changed to 7am-3pm... they were 8am-4pm. My manager agreed. I have been working these hours for over a year.

Ok.. we had a meeting and my manager stated that me and the other rep have to rotate hours starting Monday.. our meeting was on Friday.. her hours are 8:30pm - 4:30pm.. but our new hours would be rotating 8am-4 and 9am - 5pm.. We were both VERY UPSET.

I could not believe it.. she knew what I was going through with my ms. Ok.. so I went to the head Administrator and talked to him.. I told him I can bring him a note from my Neuorologist.. he was like ok.. that would be good.

Got a note.. which stated something to the fact that due to my ms, I get leg spasms, fatique as the day goes on around 2pm, (which is true) and therefore he recommend my hours stay 7am-3pm...something like that.

Ok.. we meet and do you know even with the note...they still wanted me to change my hours back. I was LIVID. But my hours are still 7am-3pm..what the problem is, there are others that would like to change their hours but can't.. however companies has to keep in mind that others do not have the same problem as you do and their job duties are not the same... its crazy and unfair.. but I always say KARMA IS A ******...

I never ever wish ill will on anyone.. but the way you treat people, has a way of coming back biting you in the butt. I am not perfect but I try hard to treat people fair. When I was a manager with a different company, my staff loved me because I cared about them as people first and employees second.

Jay