PSYCHOLOGY|CULTURE

So This Is What It Feels Like To Be Treated Humanely By An Employer

Much better late than never in making this long held dream finally come true

It has been 23 days since I last wrote and published a story on Medium which is the longest I’ve gone since I began writing consistently September 23, 2021.

On May 10, 2022 I started a new full-time job in northwestern Germany and I love it much more than I expected, but when my lunch break and commute are factored in, it takes away 52.5 hours of my week.

That doesn’t leave much time for writing, especially since Medium took away the ability to write and publish stories with our cellular phones.

However, I must admit that part of me needed and wanted a substantial break from Medium and being on my laptop as much as I used to be (I used to teach English online to kids as well).

My new job gave me loads of new ideas for stories that I wanted to write. Also, JA Vassili and I have been talking about what we want to do for our next writing challenge or prompt for our publication Pure Fiction.

I planned to write again soon and then, as I came to the completion of my fifth week of work at my new job, I started to feel like I was getting sick.

Working with a bunch of kids between the ages of 3 and 6 is bound to expose me to all kinds of microbes, but I did not think that the first time I got sick I would go down as hard as I did.

3 rapid antigen tests and 1 PCR test later, I learned that I do NOT have COVID-19 which was partially a relief (I didn’t want to have to isolate for 14 days, but I kind of want the “booster” effect).

In early March of 2016, I woke with a tingle in the back of my throat that I thought would go away by mid-day.

BOY WAS I WRONG!

I was a licensed massage therapist at the time and while working on my first client of the day, I began feeling feverish, light-headed and very sick. After my session concluded, I told the manager that I didn’t feel well and needed to go home.

Not once in the previous year had I called out sick nor had I ever left early to go anywhere.

My manager gave me one of the dirtiest looks I’ve ever received, looked away and didn’t look back at me as she said, “Okay.”

My body felt like death was taking over it slowly, warmly and icily, and yet I felt GUILTY for leaving work in “the WELLNESS industry”.

Unfortunately this is the ugly reality for many service oriented jobs in America.

Employees are NOT paid when they call out sick and tend be given a hard time by employers when they do call out sick, even when it’s something life threatening.

I only recently found out that Verizon, my mom’s old employer did NOT give their employees any sick days. She told me that if she called out sick it would be considered an “occurrence” and that 3 occurrences resulted in a suspension. After a suspension comes being fired- for being sick.

Who is the sick one?

One of the reasons I moved to Germany was to become employed as a full-time employee with all the benefits:

• half of my wonderful and affordable healthcare paid for by my employer
• contributions from my employer towards my pension
• paid holidays (usually at least 10 depending on the region)
• at least 24 days (just about 5 weeks) paid vacation per year with unused days that roll over to the following year
• clear professional boundaries that are respected (it’s illegal for employers to contact employees about anything business related without prior consent)
• PAID SICK DAYS- up to 6 weeks at 100% pay with a doctor’s note that’s usually required after the third consecutive day.

When I called out of work this past Friday, I felt no fear nor anxiety about it whatsoever…

…and it seems crazy to me that I was ever made to feel that way by most of my previous employers in the United States.

My current employer, and all that I have heard of so far in Germany, encourages employees to stay home when sick so that, OF COURSE, infected people do not make other employees ill.

IMAGINE THAT?!

…I did and now, here I am.

I went to the doctor’s office first thing yesterday since it was my fourth consecutive day being sick. I had blood drawn, a PCR test done and a prescription written for antibiotics.

Do you know what I paid before leaving?

$0.00

The cost of my prescription will be reimbursed by my insurance company that communicates with me primarily in English and allows me to submit everything via their app- for my convenience.

When I called my supervisor to update her, she was kind, compassionate and caring after I told her that the doctor told me that I should not go into work at all this week.

I was treated humanely and I never want to go back to any other treatment especially when it comes to my health and well-being.