Categories
Antiwork

How do I ask for mental health accommodations at work?

I included at TL;DR at the bottom. At my job, there is a day crew and a night crew. We all work in an office part of a larger facility, but day crew does most of the “on the phone” people work, while night crew handles billing related functions. All of night crew is part time, while a few members of day crew are full time. Recently, one of the day crew members quit. Their position is being replaced by one of us from the night shift, and since it’s one of the few part time positions during the day, our management has decided it will be filled by seniority rather than an actual interview. It’s between me and someone below me in seniority. That person will only get the position if I say no (although given what I’m about to explain, no one particularly wants to take the position).…


I included at TL;DR at the bottom.

At my job, there is a day crew and a night crew. We all work in an office part of a larger facility, but day crew does most of the “on the phone” people work, while night crew handles billing related functions. All of night crew is
part time, while a few members of day crew are full time.

Recently, one of the day crew members quit. Their position is being replaced by one of us from the night shift, and since it’s one of the few part time positions during the day, our management has decided it will be filled by seniority rather than an actual interview.

It’s between me and someone below me in seniority. That person will only get the position if I say no (although given what I’m about to explain, no one particularly wants to take the position).

The newly opened day time position is at
/least/, most likely much more, more than double the work. The day crew as well is made up of very catty individuals who always find a way to be negative/complain about their coworkers.

I expressed interest in the position when the announcement was first made maybe 2 weeks ago, and since then, have only talked to my supervisor twice about the details after seeking him out myself. Everything Ive heard about the position has been gossip amongst the night crew, and I have found out lots about managements plans for me FROM THEM. The two subsequent times talking to my supervisor have been because Ive gone to them directly and forced them to communicate with me what’s going on/what their plans are.

I sent an email asking for specific details that they did not respond to until I mentioned it in person (the response was a week and a half later). The two times my supervisor has talked to me have been after I sent the email. In the email I asked if there will be a pay increase— every other question was addressed BUT this one, and it was purposefully avoided in the two face to face conversations as well.

Long story short: I’m getting the impression they intend to force me into the position without answering my questions/even discussing it with me. The last conversation I had with my supervisor I asked,

“Will I get to talk to you before date mentioned by supervisor that I’m ‘supposed to take the position’?”

His response as, “If you’d like,” with a smile on his face.

Are you kidding me?! There’s no way I’m taking double the work, with a more hostile work environment, for the same pay. The position I have now is very cushy and I am very lucky. I even work at a similar time to my father, who occasionally will bring in food for me, so I seriously have absolutely ZERO incentive to take this other position.

The only way I’d be willing to is if it’s a pay increase, or if they’d be willing to work with me and my mental health needs. I have CPTSD, anxiety, depression, etc from a very unsafe environment as a child, and bickering/arguing/hostile environments are a HUGE trigger for me. My bosses don’t know the specifics, but I’ve already had issues with another extremely childish night crew member, so they are and have been aware of my sensitivities. There have been nights when things are so tense I have to make multiple trips to the bathroom in attempts to not throw up due to my nervousness/heart palpitations.

I have a feeling there is no pay increase which is why they are avoiding it. The only other way I’d consider it is if they give me more flexibility with my mental health needs, except I don’t really know what to ask for. Does anyone have any advice?

EDIT: The woman who just left had chronic migraines and was rarely in office, so I know there are accommodations available.

TL;DR: I think my employer is trying to get me to just “give in” to a new position with more work and less flexibility. They will not answer my question about if there is a pay increase, so I want to ask for mental health accommodations instead. What should I ask for?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *