Working and Having Mental Illness

LLeoFender on 16/10/2014 - 00:33
Last edited 16/10/2014 - 13:27

I'm 35 and have had depression and panic attacks since I was in my early teens. My resume shows I've worked around 5 years in Tech Support/PC builds/Help Desk jobs over the last 16 years, with huge gaps between jobs due to illness and hospitalisation, then unsuccessful attempts at finding work again.

I've had 3 jobs in the last year, one for 2 months travelling an hour each way into Melbourne from Frankston, another was local for around 2 months again, and my current job which I've been in for almost 5 months is a 15 mins drive away.

Here is the problem. My current job has me working on a project at a supported pay of 60% of the minimum wage in Vic. While I love the work, I only have an 8 hour week to do things, the rest I am doing at home and don't get paid for it.

I am looking for advice from others that either know someone in their family in a similar situation to myself, or have personally gone through this themselves. Ultimately I want to know how they've found work that is flexible enough to allow for 3 day working weeks to allow for stress relief and is reasonably paid?

edit: assessed at 50% capacity, paid 60% of minimum wage in Victoria.

Financial

Comments

  • windsurfer-sp on 16/10/2014 - 05:54
    +2

    Disability employment services - http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink…

    A good DES should help you find a job you can do at minimum wage. All the best finding employment bro; doing some work is helpful to mental health!

    • LeoFender on 16/10/2014 - 12:50

      Thanks for your reply. I've actually been with around 10(? or more) different DES agencies over the years, and 8 out of 10 have been pretty useless for my circumstances. The 2 that have been the most useful helped me get my first job and my current job.

      The problem with the other 8 is that they were setup to just meet each week or fortnight to reiterate the same information about how to conduct a job search, they weren't interested in using their contacts and knowledge to actually help find work for me.

      There was once a situation where the Job Network agent was advertising an IT job in the local area and I had to tell the person handling me about the job. They didn't even know about it! Long story short: I didn't get the job because the agent lost the employer due to incompetence. I left that agency soon after.

      I really like my current job, but I don't know if they would be willing to pay more than the current 60% of the minimum wage, especially if I ask for more hours. Thats the problem, I don't believe they're likely to keep me on once this IT project is completed.

  • [Deactivated] on 16/10/2014 - 09:44

    If its manageable, just dont disclose it and apply for all the jobs!

    • LeoFender on 16/10/2014 - 13:06
      +1

      It's funny, there was one time where I was in an interview for a promising IT job and I was pretty confident that I had this interview won, so I decided to test how they would react by disclosing my history of mental illness. Their tone suddenly changed and the interviewer had trouble trying to think of words to say. I got a call later that day from the agent that advertised the job saying that while it is great that I am an honest and honourable person, I will not be considered for the job.

      I will never disclose my mental health history in an interview again. Not even mention it to another employee until I've been in the job for at least 6 months.

      The 3-6 month probation period sucks as anything can be considered "poor performance" when there is no metric to compare.

  • arcticmonkey on 16/10/2014 - 10:52
    -1

    I empathise with you but I'd keep quiet about having a mental illness with the heartless, cruel and lying Liberal party in charge.

    People like you who may be ill through no fault of your own are likely to be suffering from the next cuts:

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-09/disability-pension-cha…

    You could also have your income managed by Abbott's cronies:

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/01/tony-abbott-doe…

    Abbott's buddies, the Conservatives in the UK have just had an MP state that people with disabilities could be paid less than the minimum wage:

    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-29628557

    I wish you all the best but I worry for the future of this country and the less fortunate with this government in charge.

    • LeoFender on 16/10/2014 - 13:17

      Thank you for your words. I believe the MP in the UK was probably alluding to the supported wage system, which I am on with my employer. It means a person that cannot perform the same duties in the same time as another employee will be paid according to their ability. So, essentially if it takes you twice as long to stack some shelves, you're paid at 50% of the award rate or an agreed higher rate.

      There are more details to it, but right now I am paid 60% of the minimum wage because I have a disability.

      • gevidian on 18/10/2014 - 20:11

        Glad to see your sane intelligent response to arcticmonkey's ranting and rhetoric.

  • LeoFender on 16/10/2014 - 18:49

    I've been contacted by my DES person, will hopefully have some news next week.

  • suchis on 18/10/2014 - 11:25

    Have you considered applying for I. T. Jobs in community sector. If they live up to their aims they would be a great place to work for…. Less pay but you can go to work in a better state?

  • enforcer on 19/10/2014 - 23:48
    +1

    Have you considered jobs with plenty of writing? You seem to write very clearly and logically.

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