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Talkin' to the boss

Mon, 05/01/2006 - 10:41
After an absence seizure on Friday caused me to voluntarily submit my driver's license to my husband, I decided to suck up my pride and go talk to the boss. He was surprisingly understanding. He doesn't have a clue what it's all about, and he admitted to not being able to help me at all, but he was very understanding. I'm no longer allowed to work alone at night. I have to be gone when the last person leaves. He won't go telling everyone, but he is leaving it up to me to make sure I stick to that. I also told the receptionist... just in case anything crazy happens. The bottom line is, if I need time off for tests and stuff, I've got it. He was so fantastic about the whole thing. He wants me to keep him apprised as I see the doctors and neurologists over the upcoming months. This is a contract and it only goes until December. I will probably take a significant portion of time off between this contract and my next one.

Comments

Re: Talkin' to the boss

Submitted by andy m on Mon, 2006-05-01 - 11:56
Hi there, After losing countless jobs due to having seizures at work, partly because i gave them an opportunity to do so by lying on application forms about medical conditions. Which of course leads into the whole vexed area of to lie or not lie, buts that's a can of worms to open later. In the job which i hold down at present I actually had a seizure during my interview after having lied on my application and I still got the job. When I was asked why i had lied i said that it had become normal practice for me and they couldn't understand why as they had absolutely no problem with it. I was told that i could have as much time off as i needed for tests, hospital appointments etc. There is no big fuss made of it in fact as people have come and gone there are not really that many off my other colleagues who know I have epilepsy. All the management know obviously but in all honesty i can't remember the last time it was mentioned. Are attitudes changing or have i just struck lucky, in fact i am been offered a shot at promotion now. Anyway I hope things work out for you both health and employment wise. Andy.

Re: Re: Talkin' to the boss

Submitted by fzMousie on Mon, 2006-05-01 - 12:05
You may have struck lucky, or they may have a written anti-discrimination policy. Is there a union? See, at my place of employment there is a strong union presence. I am not a member of the union, since I am a contract employee. However, if I were to be let go because of this, I could still take it to the union steward or to the employee equity office (we have one of those). Normally I am not a fan of unions, but for cases like this, they come in awfully handy. :)

Re: Re: Re: Talkin' to the boss

Submitted by andy m on Mon, 2006-05-01 - 12:33
No there is no union at all, in fact if I told you who I worked for you would LOL. There is strong anti-discrimination laws in the U.K. but in saying that i did lie on the application which just about anywhere would have them showing you the door and they would be well within their rights to do so. So I guess that I struck lucky!! Good health and good luck to you. Andy.

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