Good blog post on being sick at work

[iolaire]

Found this good blog post about being sick at work in my RSS feeds this morning.  I recently loaded someone's ompl list of programmer bloggers and am not yet familiar with the author.

What I Know About: Being Sick at Work
https://blog.bonnieeisenman.com/blog/being-sick-at-work/
Bonnie Eisenman  - Software engineer, author, knitter, Esperantist. Member of NYC Resistor and author of Learning React Native.

I like the advice and background on how to communicate well your limitations within a company.  I found it similar to my experience. When I asked for reduced hours on starting dialysis my company could not really accommodate it pay wise, maybe because I'm salaried, and thus I was able to leave work early with no penalty - but in the long run I probably still got my 40 hours per week as I work a lot normally.  I never hid my needs and found most people didn't question it when I asked for accommodation with meetings and the like because I left early.  Our SFL guy even came to work early for 7:30 am daily meetings to work around my schedule but then he probably also liked getting home early as well...  I think the article communicates it as well but having no shame for your needs is important.  It would be harder to get along with co-workers and your needs if you prefer to keep your disability private since they might wonder if you are just slacking off or what.

[MooseMom]

Thanks for posting this!  This is a really good blog post, and I'd encourage everyone who has any sort of physical limitation to read it.  I especially like the part at the end where she emphasizes the fact that SHE is the foremost authority on her condition and does not expect her co-workers to remember all of the details.  I LOVE it that she does not feel hurt, insulted or betrayed that they are not all the experts that she is! 

I think this mindset would work well for all of us in our personal lives, too.

I really like her advice to be as matter-of-fact about your condition as possible and that others pick up on your cues. 

Having ESRD is invisible until you show your great stonking fistula to your co-workers! 

Thanks again, iolaire!

[cassandra]

Thanx Iolaire! Really good, and to the point.


I agree with MM that it would be usefull in all parts of society.




Love, Cas

[PrimeTimer]

Thank you for sharing this, Iolaire. I think her advice is pretty straightforward and can be applied to many different situations and not just to medical/physical limitations. I printed this to share with others. 

[Paul]

When I was first diagnosed with kidney problems it took a couple of months to get the full diagnosis, and I did not tell my immediate family until I knew the full SP. Friends and non-immediate family had to wait about another six weeks as I announced it at my 50th Birthday party, which kind of put a dampener on the festivities. However my boss I told the day after I knew. This was because I was going to need to take lots of days off for tests. It only seemed fair that he knew why. (His reaction was "Well that should not be a problem, just save up the money I pay you, then go to Turkey and buy a new one.")

There have been a few times where I have had my own company (yes, I have several failed businesses behind me, I believe that qualifies me to be president of the USA). I never had any sick staff, and I never thought to come up with a policy in case I did. But if I had (and this is what I think I would have done back then, without the experience of being in that position) the policy would be: If they came to me and explained, and they wanted to continue to work for me, I would have moved heaven and earth to sort out a work schedule to fit in with their medical needs. But if they did not tell me, just kept taking time off without explanation, I'd fire them. And if they later came back to me and said "Sorry I was ill" I would have replied "You should have told me and we could have worked something out. But you didn't. So - that square thing in the corner is the door, don't let it hit you in the ass on the way out."

Having been sick myself for some time, if I opened a new business now, that would still be my policy. If someone is paying you a salary, and it effects their business, you owe them the truth.

 

[PrimeTimer]

I hate it when people call off from work when they aren't really sick. It hurts everybody they work with and the company. That's why some people who really do need time off or accommodations are afraid to ask for it...in fear they will be viewed as one of the slackers. I've worked with people who were "sick" the day after the boss had scolded them for screwing something up. Would happen every time. The rest of us had to pick up the slack. Their excuse was "ate some bad soup". In other words, people who cry over spilled milk irk me. Slackers. I don't have patience for slackers but anyone putting forth the effort who sincerely want to be productive, I've got all the time in the world for. I had a friend with MS who worked all the way up to the day her doctor finally told her it was time for a wheelchair and some rest. I also worked with a girl who called off to attend her mother's funeral. Funny thing tho...her mother "died" twice. She wasn't employed much longer after that one.