I just got released back to work from disability leave after 1 1/2 years and they first asked me to resign and then they told me I will get the swing shift instead of my normal schedule which is mornings.
What do I do?
And one more question, my boss has family working under him, I spoke to HR about it an nothing gets done, do I quit my good job or what do I do?
Well, first of all, they held your job for 1 1/2 years. The Americans with Disabilities Act only requires “reasonable” accommodations and I’m guessing that most companies would be able to successfully argue that holding a job for a year and a half is not reasonable for any company. (Although one never knows what the government will come up with.) So, my point is that they’ve been pretty accommodating to you.
So, you should thank them for that and go ahead and work the swing shift. Now, if they only put people who have taken disability leave on the swing shift, that would be a violation of ADA, but I doubt that’s the case. Of course, you don’t want to work swing shift, so you can start looking for a new job. But, if you quit, you’ll not only be unemployed, but ineligible for unemployment or disability payments. This will create more problems than it will solve.
So, do a good job at work so you can get a good reference, and look for a new job with a morning shift. You can also ask what you need to do to get transferred to a morning shift. As for the family working there, it’s pretty standard to give family members perks.
I currently work for a big corporation. I have been working here for about 7 weeks. About 3 weeks ago I found out my company’s health insurance will not pay for my [expensive prescription drug]. The retail cost of [expensive prescription drug] is about [two times EHRL’s rent! Holy moly!] a month. I cannot afford to pay that every month. I dropped my company insurance and enrolled in an individual health plan that costs me $408.19 per month but it covers all but the co-pay for my [expensive prescription drug]. I am going to have to quit this job and go back to the job I have prior to this because the health insurance I had there covered my [expensive prescription drug]. I will save $400 a month if I go back and the pay is pretty much equal. I have to be hired at my previous employer in January so that I will be covered by health insurance in February. How do I go about quitting this current job?
Quitting your job is the least of your worries. When you quit you just need to submit a two weeks notice to your boss. They’ll be disappointed because you’re a new hire, but it’s not a huge deal. The biggest deal is getting your old job back.
Most companies are pretty loath to hire people back directly after they quit. After all, you quit for a reason, and 7 weeks later it’s unlikely that whatever problem you left for has been solved. Some managers hold grudges against people who quit, and really have no desire to rehire you. But, it’s also possible that you were fabulous and they would be thrilled to get you back, in which case take the job and resign your current job.
Now, in the future, you’ll have to dig deeply into insurance plans before you quit a job, which kind of stinks. Also, keep in mind that the plan a company has today may not be the plan that they have next year. You can also investigate if you can get an exception to the drug denial, although it’s too late for that now, as you won’t be able to re-enroll in your company insurance until the next open enrollment period.
I’m in a dilemma now if I should resign or stay there to take my boss’s [squid lips]. My boss told me that I should look for another job, but he doesn’t want to fire me. I feel so upset and not motivated to do anything. I got this job after being offered a better pay than my old job. But it turned out to be, the job is not what I expected. I applied for an accounting job. On the job description, it says record mgmt, but they asked me to scan 30 binders of old documents. It is more of a scanning job than accounting. I presented that why I was giving this job which I am not assistant position. They say that it’s on the job description. But I don’t see it says that I have to scan past docs. He says that if I don’t want to do, I should resign. Please help me what I should do?
The reality is, it doesn’t matter if it’s on the job description or not–your boss can pretty much require you to do whatever he needs. It’s also quite possible that once you finish up this scanning, you’ll do the job you were hired for.
That said, if you don’t want to stick it out, you should find a new job before quitting. But, I’d recommend giving it a few more months to see how things shake out. Most companies don’t want to pay someone accountant wages to do document scanning, which makes me think this is probably temporary. Although, once your boss tells you to look for another job, you may well be past the point of no return, but I can’t say for sure. (I did once tell an employee to look for a new job, but that was in the context that she was asking and asking and asking for a raise and I knew she was being paid above the market rate, so I said, “If you want more money, you need to find a new job.” She didn’t find a new job and stayed and actually improved her performance and got promoted, so all was good.)
Absolutely do not resign without a new job lined up.
Re: health insurance: It might not be too late to see if you can get the prescription approved. In January of last year, my son was prescribed an expensive medication that was not in the formulary and our insurance declined it. The doctor filed an appeal with the insurance company, and it was eventually approved.
Agree with Snowglobe. I went through this recently when my insurance insisted I get a 90 day prescription only that would cost me north of my rent per refill.
The insurance company was very helpful and I was surprised how quickly I got the approval to pay generic costs for a medically necessary brand prescription.
Seems like much less hassle than quitting your job and going back to your previous employer…
The problem is she already dropped the company insurance so won’t be able to try that until next open enrollment.
Yes, but even on her individual plan she ran into the same issue. Should still be fixable with a doctor’s letter.
And you’re right, she can quit anytime but if she’s resigning after 7 weeks because she didn’t fully understand her health insurance she’s probably going to be blacklisted now from her current employer.
Absolutely. This will hack the manager off in a big way.
Regarding the job description for the second question, records management is not accounting. It is what company archivists and organizations like Iron Mountain do. They manage the retention and access of company records. Is this an accounting position with a significant records management role or is this a records management role in an accounting department of a company? I’m guessing that whichever it is may determine whether or not this would be a good fit long term.
Since there was a fixed number of binders needing scanning, there’s a good possibility that it’s just getting stuff done that needs to be done.
I suspect the boss isn’t good at communicating.
RE: Job Description – keep in mind that most job descriptions are quite general in nature and rarely include specific duties of the actual role (otherwise, employers end up with employees like you who like to fight every little thing that they’re assigned to do because ‘it wasn’t in the job description’). Sounds to me like scanning 30 binders is records management (albeit, a dry part of records management) and something that likely won’t end up as a long term function of your job.
And, really, you should be thankful that you have a job that has offered you more money. Or just a job period. If I had the choice between scanning 30 (or even 100) binders or being unemployed with no earnings, I’d be happy to do any scanning required. I’ve worked in accounting for years and have scanned more than my share of binders and records. With a smile on my face.
Speaking of digging, Evil HR Lady, is there anyway you could recommend doing it without ruffling feathers?
I have had to do it, and I swear HR of the new company took it personally. One flat out accused me of not being interested in the job, because I was unable to accept her assurances that their benefit package was “top of the line” and “competetive with the industry.” “It is all on the website,” she said, which as a non-employee I had no way of accessing.
When I accepted the job she was upset that I declined most of the benefits because I was already receiving the equivelant or better from my husband’s job (which she refused to believe was possible).
In the future I would like to avoid these stupid games again, but I am wondering, is it typical for companies to avoid detailing their benefits package at the offer stage? I suspect this company may have been a little nuts, but it is also the one and only time I have been offered a salaried position so I am not sure. Any thoughts are appreciated.
(Unrelated topic: is it typical to give a prospective employee only 24 hours to consider the job from the time the offer is made? This job did, and furthermore told me if I didn’t accept the offer that I would be barred from applying with them again for another year. I didn’t like that, and I feared the position was not a good fit, but I was bound by unemployment’s rule of accepting suitable work and unfortunately they already knew I had an offer.)
Thank you!
I think that if you ruffle feathers by wanting details about benefits in the offer stage, take that as a sign you are dealing with crazy people. Or with absolutely terrible benefits that they are afraid will make you not accept.
I also think it’s unusual to only allow 24 hours but I think it’s fine to ask for more time.
Agree with Jeanne that this is a red flag. For every job offer I have ever gotten, they have sent me detailed information about the benefits – what’s covered, how much it costs, etc. I have even had HR review benefits with me during the interview process. Solid companies want people to understand what they are getting into.
When I went on disability, my company kept me as an employee for one year. I thought that was generous but it was also what they had done for other employees. I think if you still have a job after 18 months you have to put up with some changes. FMLA says they have to hold an equivalent job for you (same pay, benefits, skills required) not your exact job. I think it’s time to be gracious. Then look for another job if you want.