PLEASE just let the driver speak, especially if we have asked you to repeat yourself 107 times. we aren’t stupid or deaf, we simply cannot understand what you’re saying to us.
so recently my store manager clarified to us that our DM’s official word is, if we call out for any reason and don’t have enough sick time to cover our entire shift, it’s a write up.
listen, i understand reliability and attendance are important parts of a job. however. when we only accrue one hour of sick time for every 25 worked, it leaves little room for true emergencies. one of my coworkers was written up for calling in sick with no sick time… they were in the hospital.
i take this job as seriously as i need to, and that is, it’s my only hope for access to both health insurance and a bachelor’s degree. i really want to make this job work for the next few years while I pursue my degree, because i truly can’t afford to get my education any other way.
i have two conditions that cause me to have to call in on occasion. i get occasional migraine attacks— im pretty good about catching them early and warding them off because ive had them since i was a teenager and my early warning signs are all the same. however on the occasion i don’t catch them in time, i quite literally would be a liability both on the road and behind the bar. my vision is impaired, i slur my speech, i can’t keep my eyes open. if i push myself too hard during a migraine it’s common for me to throw up. if i push myself too hard get to work just to prove to them that i’m incapacitated, im stuck there once it hits full throttle because i cannot drive. if it hits full throttle before my shift starts, again, i have to put my life and others’ lives in danger just to get myself to work so they can take one look at me and send me home anyway, or, i attempt to work through it and possibly injure myself or get sick.
i also have insanely heavy periods, and a mystery condition that my doctors have always dismissed and i haven’t had looked at properly. without going into detail, it’s common for me to have a day or two where i am quite literally doubled over in pain and in the bathroom for the entire day no matter what i do, what medications i take, etc. this happens a few months out of the year, on average.
i don’t currently have health insurance to get proper documentation of these things. i’m really concerned that if one of these conditions flares on a day i’m scheduled to work (which is most days), i am going to have to risk my job—which for me is quite literally my whole future— just to be able to rest when my body needs it.
i guess this is more of a vent than it is a request for advice. i understand the need for coverage but i’ve never worked for a company that was this unreasonably strict with their sick policy. you’d think if our job security is tied to it we’d accrue our time a little faster than we do.