A positive story.

[soquili-gitli.livejournal.com]

So, I figured that every once in a while, a reminder is needed that humanity is making progress, albeit slowly.

I returned to work last Friday (31Mar06) after three days out. I'd left early that Monday because I'd been violently nauseous. And I come back to be pulled in by my manager for a one-on-one with my HR manager. In addition to the GID, I'm stuck with TMJ syndrome, meaning basically that I have done muscle damage to the muscles in my jaw. This causes most of my bulk of absences, and the meds I've been on for it have done a good job of making me nauseous a lot of the time. But, well, I did say this was a positive story. But, context is important.

So, I arrive back and I sit right in front of the manager of HR. I've already let HR know that I'm planning to go full-time in July, and they've been totally supportive. It was mentioned that, during my absence, some of my cow-orkers tried to start trouble. Well, HR caught this and slammed it.

The short version being that HR came and talked to these colleagues of mine, called bullshit on them and asked them directly: "Ok, so is your problem with the fact that *name here* is puking at work, or is your problem being that this person is doing what they are?" To which the answer was hemming and hawing. Pushing it further, the HR rep flat out asked "So, if this person had cancer, would we even be having this conversation?" To which the answer was dead silence. Mutiny and bitchiness, flattened. The real salient point here is that not only was HR behind me, it was HR, HR management, and my Senior Director. It was made clear that should this continue, heads would be thumped together.

We carried on for a bit more conversation, and she provided me the solid workup of options I have for extended time off and disability. And she stated at least once, "Look, you're a protected class." So. There may just be hope for humanity yet. I know this is coming from a Californian, and that most other parts of the world don't have it quite so nicely. But, these things do spread.

As for going fulltime, I'm told that all I really need do is bring in my updated information and hand it to her and she'll take care of everything from payroll to insurance.

And there you have it.