Human Resources - VENT
 

I just need to vent.

The HR department where I work is not the most delightful place to interact with.

When I first got the head injury and my speech was a bunch of foreign accent sounding slurred words the manager of HR literally laughed at me and asked me why I was speaking like that. I was trying to tell her I had a head injury! :mad:

Anyway, going through this stuff makes me super worried sometimes that I'm going to lose my job. I've used up all my FMLA time. My boss says they are going to hang onto my job for me no matter how long it takes for me to get better. I couldn't work for a year and now I'm only working 20 hours a week. But I still feel like my job is in jeopardy. I'd feel a lot more secure if I was actually working 40 hours a week - but I still can't handle doing that physically or cognitively.

Anyway, they keep messing up my pay check. Also, my vacation time and sick time have just disappeared from my pay stub. I didn't use it and I wasn't paid for it and yet it's gone.

Also, I paid the premium for my health insurance in full for months because I wasn't getting a check from the University for them to withdraw the deduction from. Now that I'm getting a check they've been withdrawing my deduction. But for a couple of those months (August and September) I paid in full AND a deduction was taken from my check! I want a refund. I'm broke! I wan't able to work for over a year and even now I work a LOT less than I ever have. I'm struggling financially. Whether I get the $50 deduction back or the $600 premium, either would help me out.

I've asked them about these things several times (starting in August) and I've heard nothing back.

I went to the college fiscal manager about it at the beginning of Jan and he said it would be taken care of and if it wasn't we'd all have a meeting.

Well, I just received a paycheck for Jan and it's wrong again. I emailed the fiscal manager about it and he's requesting a meeting.

I hope they can fix it all.

But at the same time, I'm worried that if I bring up questions like these then they'll fire me because I'm not working full time.

::sigh::

Are you getting Partial Disability from EDD? I just started getting Partial Disability from the state and every 2 weeks they send a form asking how many hours i worked and what my paycheck was prior to disability. I just sent the form in today for the first time, but from my understanding, you get the difference of what you are making now and what you were making before the accident. Hope this helps to bridge yourself until you can work full time again. And your insurance company definetly should be sending you back checks for your deduction since you were paying Cobra for your health insurance. They've made a similar mistake with me and i've gotten it back. It just stinks you have to run in circles to try and get the money that is rightfully yours. Good luck girl!

Yikes, sorry about all that.

You said that your boss is saying they will hold on to your job as long as it takes for you to heal. Is your boss good on his/her word? If so...worrying about losing your job isn't necessary. Your very lucky that your boss is so lenient with you. Any of the bosses that I worked for in the past would have let me go.

Not cool about them still deducting from your check. I know dealing with such things can be a pain in the ***, especially if the people who you are dealing with are incompetent.

Are you still getting health insurance working part-time? That's great...they don't offer such things here in Nevada. You only get health insurance if you work full-time. I wouldn't necessarily try to bully my way in to getting them to refund you or fix the problem, but definitely make them more aware of what's going on...bring in any proof you have that you paid in full. You said you've tried numerous times...keep trying? Maybe try to speak to someone higher up about the problem.

Not sure what else to say. If your not supposed to be getting health care while working part-time I probably wouldn't say anything else and just let them take the money out...lol. I know your struggling but health insurance is important!! Well worth the erroneous deduction.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Hope you get everything worked out!

That's weird!

I wasn't able to work for a little over a year and I was told that my EDD ran out last February. I collected a check from EDD Sept or so through Feb.

They never sent me any paperwork to fill out. It just came from the University I work for. It was a pittance compared to what I made before the accident.

Am I supposed to still be collecting it since I'm back to work and can't work full time yet? That's news to me! I'm going to try to look into that.

Thanks!

Yes, well, I work for a University. They pay for everyone's benefits if they work for 20 hours a week regularly. Since I was covered by FMLA even when I was working 12 hours a week, I was told that they would pay for it. My FMLA time has run out, but I'm working 20 hours a week now, so they're covering the cost of some of my benefits.

Frankly, I'm confused about the whole thing and that's one reason I want a meeting and for everything to be explained to me.

Even though my boss says they will hang onto my job for me, I'm still worried that she doesn't have the power to do so, which is why I'm worried. Because we work for a large University, I'm not sure that HR or some other office will allow her to do that. But it's been working so far! :D

On the brighter side of things, I'm very good at what I do and you're right - I'm very lucky that my immediate supervisor and boss want to keep me despite my not being able to work full time. :D

EsthersDoll,

To worry about your job while still with PCS is quite normal. At one point as part of my depression, I worried about it constantly but then came to the realization that no jobs are secure anyway. Once I was comfortable about that fact, I was put at ease and just concentrated on what I *can* do to contribute instead of what could happen because of my condition.

Reframing the perspective helped immensely and it helps getting back on track. It's good that your boss has accommodated you - hopefully you continue to get the support you need. Ask for it specifically if you don't.

hey bh, can you describe how your ST memory loss is?? I too have that and now am prescribed with an alzheimer med - I am late 30's

Definetly check into it. I was off and on it because i went back to work for 2 months over the summer....but overall i've been on it for about 7 months of the past 9 months since my injury. I've never been given a date for when i would run out of it. But i read on the website about partial disability and called them and thats what they told me. Just got the form today where i just write down what hours i worked in the past 2 weeks and how much i made. Then i tell them what i normally made prior to my disability. We'll see what i actually get. But seriously....thank god for California...because if i was in my home state of Massachusetts i wouldnt have gotten any type of disability or help with my finances. Gotta love Cali!!!

Thanks!

I guess I'm also very worried because I have a degree in theatre and am trained and skilled to work in a very fast-paced environment: the entertainment industry.

So, it's not only this job I'm attached to and afraid of losing, but my entire career.

Yes, not all jobs are secure, but if I can't make it through to all better with this job I'm going to have to get a new education and new training and that would just be a lot for me to have to deal with while I'm still getting better, so it ultimately means unemployment.

I'm not on any meds and was adamant to not have any. I think I disappointed my neurologist. ;)

Anyway, the short term memory loss, sometimes people would say something and I would forget and ask them to repeat what they said, sometimes two or three times, rephrased. It gets worse if my attention is divided - I have to stop everything before having a conversation.

I also have 1-second episodes where I'd think of something, then come out of it and not have any grounding, then realize where I am and the time of day. These happen only periodically.

Planning to do something is bad too because I'd forget instantly when I want to do something and my brain would wander off. I now use my memo app on my smartphone to keep me on track.

I just looked into it...

I work for the Cal State University system, so I just found out I'm not eligible for the SDI through EDD. We have a separate program called NDI and it lasts for 6 months. But I am going to ask about getting it again since I can't work full time yet, maybe it can continue to supplement my income a little bit.

I *do* love Cali! :D

edit to add: It's only given to people for 26 weeks for ONE disability period and this is still my ONE disability period. But it was worth looking into.

^^ And people think state employees have it better than they do. :rolleyes:

I am glad to be out of California. The California Work Comp system severely discriminates against people with brain injuries by limiting the fees the WC attorneys can collect. How is someone supposed to file a WC claim for a head injury without an attorney's help????

Calif SDI will pay for 52 weeks if you have paid in enough. It can go longer if you worked part time while recovering and received partial benefits. The maximum benefit paid out is still the same.

I moved out of California after 37 years but when I came back to California 6 months later for a job assignment I was injured. That ended the job assignment.

Just an update here...

I get worried about my job...

I'm a lot less worried now that I'm working and the more I work the less worried I get, but I still get plagued with all sorts of worries on occasion: career worries, financial worries, health worries, relationship worries etc., I just started meditating again in the last couple of weeks so the worries are going away more and more. :D

Anyway, the fiscal manager wrote an email to the two people who needed to help me with all of this stuff.

The very next day I got a message that the five minute call was finally made and it turns out I will be receiving a refund for the deduction they took from my paycheck for the month I had also paid the premium in full. $60 is better than nothing! :)

And then today, I had a short meeting with the woman from payroll and it turns out what they thought in early Dec (that I actually had vacation time and sick time) was not true - and that's why it disappeared - because I wasn't working enough to be accruing any at all. But at least I now know what is going on! :) And because I'm working more now, I am actually accruing sick and vacation time again.

And the whole meeting made me feel so much better because they apparently discussed taking me back at 50% time so I could accrue something while I was working so little but the powers that be INSISTED that I be put back into the system at 100% and they are all just waiting for me to be able to work that much again and that makes me feel a LOT more secure!! :D

Awesome!!! :)

See, just keep doing what you're doing at your job, what you *can* do and those around you will see how dedicated you are.

YEAH!!!! Sounds like some things are working out!!! Very happy for you!! Just keep believing girl....keep meditating....spread that light. :)

Awesome!! I'm glad you got everything worked out.