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HR Rushes Heart Attack Survivor To Return To Work And Won’t Cover Their Sick Leave
A lack of empathy, bureaucracy, no adequate resolution, inefficiency, or poor training – there are a lot of things in HR that employees might gripe about!
However, this Redditor has it bad. The thing is, u/Rhunt2021 suffered a heart attack, and despite doc’s orders of three months’ rest, HR expects them to be back on duty in one month maximum.
More info: Reddit
RELATED:
This employee had to be defibrillated back to life after suffering a serious heart attack
Image credits: Alexander Grey (not the actual photo)
Their doctor and cardiologist advise allocating three months for rest and recovery
Image credits: National Cancer Institute (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Rhunt2021
“I had a horrible realization today” – this heart attack survivor took to one of Reddit’s communities dedicated to jobs and work-related struggles to vent to its members about HR, who insists they return to work in just one month. The post managed to garner nearly 20K upvotes as well as 1.1K comments discussing the situation.
You know how it’s always said that although life is unpredictable, you should embrace the unknown? Well, the advice only works well until you find yourself on a surgical table, brought back to life after suffering a serious heart attack.
It’s no big secret that such an unfortunate turn of events can take an immense toll on your life; you’ll be on a medication burden, with physical limitations and a heck of an emotional impact – which is why the recovery process is so important!
Sadly, though, we live in a world full of greed, alongside a lack of concern and interest in others’ well-being; but what’s worse is that it mainly shows in a place where we spend most of our time – our jobs.
The greater part of us are already somewhat adjusted to the so-called apathy we face at work – however, we’re still human and like to believe that people have our back in times of crisis.
Don’t get me wrong; it’s not all that depressing, and some companies genuinely care for their employees and are willing to go to great lengths for them. Yet, it doesn’t change the fact that every single one of us has a story or two about workplaces doing us dirty.
However, HR refuses to cover their sick leave and expects them to return within a month at most
Image credits: Olga Guryanova (not the actual photo)
This netizen has suffered big time and was advised by their cardiologist and doctor to have three months of rest.
HR was not on the medical professionals’ side, and apart from requesting super-detailed paperwork about their condition, have also demanded they be back in the game within one month at most.
The paperwork in question says that the OP can’t engage in physical activities, and since they do office work and their company’s nurse had a stent installed and was back to work in less than a week – they’ve decided that four weeks will be more than enough to recover.
The heart attack survivor then began looking into the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which allows people to take 12 weeks of unpaid time, and realized that the company could pay – it’s just that they are not obligated and, well, don’t want to.
Naturally, the discovery and the whole HR malarkey had evoked some negative emotions, which prompted the Redditor to take it online and essentially vent.
The r/antiwork online community members supported the OP and also shared their own stories about their workplaces failing them.
What are your thoughts on this, Pandas?
Fellow online community members shared their thoughts and opinions on the situation
Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Headway (not the actual photo)
What do you think ?
Mechanician 2 years ago
I am so sorry. This is evil. Of course, the company has protection from being named & shamed. Any job applicants deserve to know how this goes. Anyone at any age can become disabled, temporarily or permanently. Anyone.
CatLady 2 years ago
My last job, I was on doctor-ordered leave after an unaliving-myself attempt, largely because my employer was making me continue to work with the man who had assaulted me. Because of my vulnerable mental condition, I was, at dr.'s orders, to be off for three months, no stress, and he was filing a complaint against the company for what they did in forcing me to work with my abuser. I got almost daily phone calls from my supervisor telling me how hard I was making it for everyone. HE was the one who decided my assault claim was "invalid" (there were witnesses) and that I should continue to work with the man. My dr refused to sign off on me going back earlier (and it's law here you can't go back after something like this until the dr says so). So they urged me to quit and go on long-term disability, which they promised I'd get, but of course I didn't. My dr helped me get gov't disability instead. And now that company is falling apart and I don't care.
Deirdre Segraves 2 years ago
I had an employer call me AT THE HOSPITAL 5 hours after my 9 month old had open heart surgery asking when I would be in for work.
CatLady 2 years ago
OK I thought my boss calling me days after an unaliving myself attempt asking when I would be back was bad... this is worse.
Load More Replies...
Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago (edited)
This is why I am so happy my husband started his own company. I am the one in the office running that side of things. If an employee gets sick like that, I will NOT be harassing them. I will check in periodically, like once in a great while, to see how they’re doing and if they feel like they’re getting well, but out of human concern, not to try and push them to come back before they should. Because I have had that same thing done to me. Twice. I know full well that you only get one good chance to heal properly, and you should take it. The company can hire a temp, or finally make a couple slackass managers do a full day’s work to cover you—-which is part and parcel of a manager’s duties, btw—-to take up the slack until you get back. There are plenty of temps out there who don’t want to transition into full time, they just want to temp so they can decide whether to take up an offer of work or not. So it isn’t a case of work not being done, or someone coming along who could easily take your place entirely. It’s a case of the company having zero ability to come up with a creative solution, plus their laziness in not exploring common sense temporary solutions until you get back, fully recovered and ready to work. I WILL look into solutions, both creative and common sense, if I end up with that kind of situation. I am not one of those people who say “Tough. I had to do it, so you do too’. No. I want my employees—-my colleagues, my coworkers—-to have it BETTER than I did. That’s part of the way good companies retain loyal employees. We want our company to be one of the good ones.
Fun Fan 2 years ago
Geez, that's a really shítty situation. I can bring thousands of examples from the "socialist/communist" Europe, even from it's eastern part to show you, how such things in normal functioning countries are going. But I just say: I'm so sorry for you, guys working in the USA, because of this fckd up system.
XenoMurph 2 years ago
"Vive la Revolution!" Seriously, they should be clamouring for change, but they are clamouring for MORE repression. OK yes, I know it's ironic I'm typing this from the UK, a large section or our society are similar.
Load More Replies...
Josiane Roy 2 years ago
Wait a minute, you mean to tell me HR did not bring you a workstation at the hospital ? Because in their mentality recovering and healing is for quitters.
James S 2 years ago
HR is not your friend. The primary purpose of HR is to protect the company from the actions of its employees. They do this by ensuring that you are trained, aware of legal & regulatory rules and laws. Then, when a employee makes a mistake, they can blame them "they were aware/trained but broke the law/rules anyway".
Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago (edited)
In this kind of case, HR is just trying to keep the s****y insurance they offer as cheap as possible—-meaning trying to keep employees from actually using it, which drives the cost of covering your particular company higher. Why do you think they actively try to push older, top of the pay scale employees out and replace them with young people who have little to no idea what they’re doing, and will work for less pay? Because 1) those older and experienced employees are making the max salaries, and 2) older people generally go to the doctor, and have age-related health issues, more than younger people, so drive the insurance premiums up. Replacing them with 22 year old recent college graduates lowers the premiums, as stats show that they don’t go to the doctor as much and won’t have those chronic health issues. Not to mention they’ll be paid an entry level salary, like half what the older employees are making. This is part of the reason we NEED Universal Health Care, to rip this cruel excuse to dump their most knowledgeable and experienced older employees right out from under a*****e corporations, and make them retain people until they choose to retire. Of course, we’d also have to get stricter about retaliation tricks, like constant write-ups for stuff that no one ever got written up for before, just to make their work life so f*****g miserable that they’ll retire much earlier than they wanted to. Just because someone is old doesn’t mean that they’ll go from a top employee with rave reviews to a struggling, low performing, troublesome employee from one year to the next. I hate to say it, but the management that pulls these a*****e tricks are generally way younger than the employees they’re trying to force out—-young enough to have been trained and mentored by those same older people. It’s cruel.
Load More Replies...
Andrew Dunford 2 years ago
Yet Another Reason, if any more were needed, to be Glad that you're not American!
MrsFettesVette 2 years ago
...or wish that you weren't born in the land of the "free".
Load More Replies...
Cyndielouwhoo 2 years ago
When my doctor put me on leave and I informed my work, my boss asked if they could call when they had questions about stuff. My doctor's office said they would contact him and explain the word "leave". It's always an uphill battle and no one is going to make it any easier, but you have to take care of yourself.
Mechanician 2 years ago
I am so sorry. This is evil. Of course, the company has protection from being named & shamed. Any job applicants deserve to know how this goes. Anyone at any age can become disabled, temporarily or permanently. Anyone.
CatLady 2 years ago
My last job, I was on doctor-ordered leave after an unaliving-myself attempt, largely because my employer was making me continue to work with the man who had assaulted me. Because of my vulnerable mental condition, I was, at dr.'s orders, to be off for three months, no stress, and he was filing a complaint against the company for what they did in forcing me to work with my abuser. I got almost daily phone calls from my supervisor telling me how hard I was making it for everyone. HE was the one who decided my assault claim was "invalid" (there were witnesses) and that I should continue to work with the man. My dr refused to sign off on me going back earlier (and it's law here you can't go back after something like this until the dr says so). So they urged me to quit and go on long-term disability, which they promised I'd get, but of course I didn't. My dr helped me get gov't disability instead. And now that company is falling apart and I don't care.
Deirdre Segraves 2 years ago
I had an employer call me AT THE HOSPITAL 5 hours after my 9 month old had open heart surgery asking when I would be in for work.
CatLady 2 years ago
OK I thought my boss calling me days after an unaliving myself attempt asking when I would be back was bad... this is worse.
Load More Replies... Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago (edited)
This is why I am so happy my husband started his own company. I am the one in the office running that side of things. If an employee gets sick like that, I will NOT be harassing them. I will check in periodically, like once in a great while, to see how they’re doing and if they feel like they’re getting well, but out of human concern, not to try and push them to come back before they should. Because I have had that same thing done to me. Twice. I know full well that you only get one good chance to heal properly, and you should take it. The company can hire a temp, or finally make a couple slackass managers do a full day’s work to cover you—-which is part and parcel of a manager’s duties, btw—-to take up the slack until you get back. There are plenty of temps out there who don’t want to transition into full time, they just want to temp so they can decide whether to take up an offer of work or not. So it isn’t a case of work not being done, or someone coming along who could easily take your place entirely. It’s a case of the company having zero ability to come up with a creative solution, plus their laziness in not exploring common sense temporary solutions until you get back, fully recovered and ready to work. I WILL look into solutions, both creative and common sense, if I end up with that kind of situation. I am not one of those people who say “Tough. I had to do it, so you do too’. No. I want my employees—-my colleagues, my coworkers—-to have it BETTER than I did. That’s part of the way good companies retain loyal employees. We want our company to be one of the good ones.
Fun Fan 2 years ago
Geez, that's a really shítty situation. I can bring thousands of examples from the "socialist/communist" Europe, even from it's eastern part to show you, how such things in normal functioning countries are going. But I just say: I'm so sorry for you, guys working in the USA, because of this fckd up system.
XenoMurph 2 years ago
"Vive la Revolution!" Seriously, they should be clamouring for change, but they are clamouring for MORE repression. OK yes, I know it's ironic I'm typing this from the UK, a large section or our society are similar.
Load More Replies... Josiane Roy 2 years ago
Wait a minute, you mean to tell me HR did not bring you a workstation at the hospital ? Because in their mentality recovering and healing is for quitters.
James S 2 years ago
HR is not your friend. The primary purpose of HR is to protect the company from the actions of its employees. They do this by ensuring that you are trained, aware of legal & regulatory rules and laws. Then, when a employee makes a mistake, they can blame them "they were aware/trained but broke the law/rules anyway".
Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago (edited)
In this kind of case, HR is just trying to keep the s****y insurance they offer as cheap as possible—-meaning trying to keep employees from actually using it, which drives the cost of covering your particular company higher. Why do you think they actively try to push older, top of the pay scale employees out and replace them with young people who have little to no idea what they’re doing, and will work for less pay? Because 1) those older and experienced employees are making the max salaries, and 2) older people generally go to the doctor, and have age-related health issues, more than younger people, so drive the insurance premiums up. Replacing them with 22 year old recent college graduates lowers the premiums, as stats show that they don’t go to the doctor as much and won’t have those chronic health issues. Not to mention they’ll be paid an entry level salary, like half what the older employees are making. This is part of the reason we NEED Universal Health Care, to rip this cruel excuse to dump their most knowledgeable and experienced older employees right out from under a*****e corporations, and make them retain people until they choose to retire. Of course, we’d also have to get stricter about retaliation tricks, like constant write-ups for stuff that no one ever got written up for before, just to make their work life so f*****g miserable that they’ll retire much earlier than they wanted to. Just because someone is old doesn’t mean that they’ll go from a top employee with rave reviews to a struggling, low performing, troublesome employee from one year to the next. I hate to say it, but the management that pulls these a*****e tricks are generally way younger than the employees they’re trying to force out—-young enough to have been trained and mentored by those same older people. It’s cruel.
Load More Replies... Andrew Dunford 2 years ago
Yet Another Reason, if any more were needed, to be Glad that you're not American!
MrsFettesVette 2 years ago
...or wish that you weren't born in the land of the "free".
Load More Replies... Cyndielouwhoo 2 years ago
When my doctor put me on leave and I informed my work, my boss asked if they could call when they had questions about stuff. My doctor's office said they would contact him and explain the word "leave". It's always an uphill battle and no one is going to make it any easier, but you have to take care of yourself.
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