Feel intimidated

[eimsRV]

Sorry for the long post but hopefully someone will have some advice for me.

I have been employed by my company for 7+ years, I am currently on maternity leave.
Last year I suffered from anxiety which was as a result of bereavements in my family and also one member of my team was causing me major issues and stress. As a result I missed a significant amount of time from work, all of which was certified by both my GP and the company Doctor. Shortly after I returned to work I became pregnant and due to problems with the pregnancy again missed time from work. The complications with pregnancy resulted in the baby being born prematurely.

Around that time my manager left the company and a new manager took over. I never really got the opportunity to work with my new manager and I feel the only exposure he has had to me is negative. I also received a warning for apparently not following policy in relation to notifying my manager when I was sick.
My paid maternity leave is now up and I’m now on to unpaid maternity leave. This has been agreed between myself and HR.

Prior to my sick leave/maternity leave I was highly regarded in the company and in our annual performance reviews for each year came in the top 20% with regards performance. I never had any issues with attendance or any other problems before last year.

Over the past week I have received several calls from the HR department that have left me reeling. The latest one is relating to expenses I claimed over 2 years ago! I submitted them in accordance to policy and approved by my manager, and as far as I’m concerned have been paid and closed out. The other day the hr girl asked me for details on them which I provided, she then emailed back and said I wasn’t entitled to claim those and that I need to pay it back straight away. I have a written email with approval from my manager at the time so I’ve sent it on. I have no idea why they are now looking at this now, I have checked with other colleagues informally and they have not been approached about anything like this.

Another example is I had a company phone which is now in my name, they asked where the handset is. I got the handset through the company over 3 yrs ago and have since paid for an upgrade myself as the account is now in my name. According to the company policy once you have the company phone a year you do not need to return the handset if you transfer the account to your own name or if you leave the company. The handset was not working and I recycled it some time back.

I’m now on tenterhooks waiting for the next call from them. I’m honestly beginning to feel like they are looking for a way to terminate me. I know I haven’t done anything wrong so they will have a hard time finding something. Over the past few weeks I had found a great crèche for my baby and I was looking forward to getting back to work and back in to a routine. But now I’m stressing that when I return to work after my leave its going to be in to a hostile environment where they are waiting for me to slip up.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can approach this?
Thanks!

 

[micheller]

Well, for a start document everything you can now, right back to when you started having issues- the problems, dates, everything you can remember.

Are all the queries coming from one person in HR? If so, would it be possible to try to tackle this 'head on' and give them a call explaining that you have noticed some odd queries coming your way. Just be nice and calm and inquisitive Ask are they doing some kind of audit or is there any issue you should know about?
Again, note the conversation, who with and the responses. Best of luck, hopefully it's nothing too sinister

 

[MANTO]

Hopefully things are not as bad as they seem, maybe your company along with most others are compiling a cost saving analysis and asa result are going through expenses - as you have the written approval of your manager at the time i wouldnt worry about it;

As micheller said, and for your own piece of mind why not give HR a buzz? Good Luck

 

[Jewel]

If I were you I would call my manager and suggest a meeting to "discuss my return to work and get update of any changes since I've been out".
Then, I'd go in, meet with my manager - explain my concerns i.e. that maybe we had not had the best start, that my sicknesses and maternity issues were all just incidently coinciding with their moving into the role as my manager.... that I was concerned that he might only have negative impression... that I was now completely free of any previous illness issues, and obviously pregnancy related issues were now gone, and that I was looking forward to coming back and getting back to being a top performer on the team again.
Say it all straight out, and when you are looking him face-to-face, it will be easier to judge if there is some other issues on his mind. Hopefully it will clear the air and he can reassure you that he is looking forward to your coming back.

While there, you can judge whether to raise the expenses/phone issue. Personally, I probably would. Maybe ask him if he was aware of these contacts you've had with HR, maybe explain the situation with regards to approval of expenses (show the email) and the phone (show him the policy) ....

Rather than guessing and second-guessing, I would recommend a straight conversation. Being open achieves more I find.

 

[el88s]

Definitely sounds like intimidation ... Could you contact your old manager and tell him the problems youve been having or have you a union representative. I would definitely follow up on this as its harrassment and disgraceful. I agree you need to set up a meeting but bring someone in who may be of support,such as your old manager if possible. good luck

 

[annR]

The old manager may not be around anymore, or have any influence. I agree with Jewel that she should clear the air with the new manager and try to rectify any dodgy impressions he might have. I think she should also be quite assertive about asking him to confirm whether or not there is any problem or she is being investigated for anything. I think she should bring along all the dates and information to this meeting just in case it does get that far and the new manager has initiated something. She should leave that meeting either completely happy there is nothing to worry about, or with an understanding of what is going on and agreed next steps for proper discussion.

 

[eimsRV]

Thanks for the response so far. I will phone my mgr next week to discuss my return to work and request a face2face meeting. I also need to find out what role i will be doing as i had moved in a different role shortly before my daughter was born prematurely but that role hadnt been established and they weren't sure if it would be a permanent post.
Bringing my old mgr isn't possible as one has left the company, and the mgr I had prior to that is in the states but still with the same company. I'm going to phone him later on to discuss it with him too as he has always been a good mentor.
I haven't heard back from hr since i provided the details on the expenses.

I'll let you know how I get on. Hope everyone has a nice weekend! E