Opening up: Asperger's & the new job

Its Day 4 of the new job, and while I am still waiting for that diagnosis (see previous blog) I have already made sure that both my line manager and the person I will be working most closely with, one of the office deputies, are aware of my situation.

On day 2 they decided to have a 10 minute chat with me about how it affected me, whether there was anything they could do to help and how it would manifest if there were issues.

I was really happy that it felt like someone was taking an interest without taking a negatively slanted view. Indeed, my line manager said that after she thought about what it meant, we could do with a few more with a touch of Asperger's in this line of work. It felt good :)

So, onto the job itself.  Mainly I am chaecking the structure of a data system and adding information to it under a strict set of guidelines with some complex user-tools.

Which means it suits me down to the ground.

I decided it would be nice to create a quick list of Pros and Cons comparing this job to the last one, and the results were as follows

Cons

• It pays less

Pros

• I don't have to deal with the horrific bitch who ran the last place
• My commute from door to desk is 8 minutes
• I am working in the same location that my wife is undertaking her teacher training and work placement
• My level of responsibility is significantly lower
• I am not responsible for other people
• It is less stressful
• Communication is much more open and honest, so there is very little politicking going on
• There doesn't appear to be any "us" and "them" within the department
• I can park 2 minutes walk from my desk
• There are gym facilities on site that I can use
• There is a library where staff can hire out DVD's. for free :)
• The atmosphere is much more laid back
• I get 4 days more holiday than I got at the old place, and thats at the starting allowance!
• There don't appear to be any periods that I can't book holiday during

OK, I'm only 4 days in and it already looks pretty good!

The other thing that is making me happy today is this: I have discovered that my former workplace have made my position redundant. Why does this make me happy? Because it reinforces my claim that they were trying to force me out, and it would mean that a case for constructive dismissal is more likely to succeed.  Added to that is the fact that they had a round of voluntary redundances a few months ago. I inquired informally about VR and was told that my position was too important to be made redundant, and so i was not eligible.

So, my former boss lied to me, denying me a redundancy payout, then bullied me out of the job and made my role redundant. 

I think i might just be talking to my union rep and possibly my solicitor very shortly.