Fortunately our company does have some disability leave, but the amount you get during it is a pittance compared to most salaries of technical staff. When you’re in the hospital with half a dozen broken bones or just gave birth to a new baby is not a great time to get your pay cut by 3/4.
4 Likes
one thing that’s nice is usually disability insurance payments aren’t taxed, so that can help a lot. Especially for tech workers with high salaries used to high taxes.
2 Likes
That’s fair. I’m definitely whining from a place of privilege.
2 Likes
whining about america’s poor leave and sick time policies is a favorite past time of mine.
8 Likes
I basically think that if your doctor says you can’t work and your wealthy company can afford it they should keep paying you the same amount. But apparently that makes me a communist.
6 Likes
You really should check out Sandia national labs if you ever feel like more gov’t work. 18 weeks sick leave per year. Because they knew it was such a good place to work that you’d be there if you weren’t too sick or hurt to come in.
3 Likes
Our company has unlimited “sick leave,” but apparently being in a motorcycle accident or having a baby doesn’t count as being “sick”, it counts as disability. But for some reason getting my IUD put in counts as sick leave? And so did my boss’ cancer surgery?
I think they draw the line at a certain amount of consecutive time before it moves from sick to disability – I think it’s like a full week. Or maybe 4 days. I think the policy is more there so people don’t spread germs than actually caring.
It’s different for Covid though.
7 Likes
Ugh. Yeah. This was legit leave. Like, my boss’s mom got really sick and my boss just took off for 6 weeks with full pay. A buddy from there had knee surgery and was out for about a month without any problems for management.
Though… who knows what Honeywell did do it. Lockheed was great, but honeywell is a nightmare from gov’t contract standpoints.
3 Likes
Also Dow Chemical’s main plant. This is bad for everyone.
4 Likes
@Greyweld @Brute Yeah so any time something is covered under disability instead of general sickness policies you get less. It’s one of the many facets of structural ableism, like how unemployment now during COVID is so much higher than regular disability payments.
IME people are extremely kind and understanding and sensitive about minor injuries and temporary absences. The same job I had to leave for literal disability discrimination (like I was questioned in front of groups of people about my medical background on multiple occasions, and accused of faking once) was completely lovely to me when I had a minor injury and needed some things switched around. They were happy to do whatever I needed for that, but I fought for 4 years for accommodations for my disability before giving up and quitting.
This makes it really hard to explain institutionalized ableism to able people, because able people get injured and sick too, and when it happens to them they get treated well (minus pregnancy and other women’s healthcare stuff). So then they kind of don’t believe the shitty treatment or double standard that exists between sickness treatment and disability treatment. Totally different ball game. Even countries with public healthcare often don’t pay for stuff for people with permanent disabilities, like wheelchairs and OT.
16 Likes
Huge YUP to all of this and I can personally attest to the quote.
#canadian
10 Likes
We’re supposed to be leaving for New Zealand in nine hours.
7 Likes
I remember over a decade ago when I was giving a presentation to a bunch of high-level transport planners and elected officials in the midwest, I had prepped notes about why accessibility was extremely important because everyone is temporarily able-bodied. My “example” to make people get it initially was pregnancy - i.e. being able to request intermediate stops along the usual bus route is extremely helpful for pregnant folks that can’t walk far.
My coworker who was helping me prep said “here’s the thing. that room is going to be 95% white men in their 50s, you absolutely cannot say pregnancy, it will not seem applicable to them”. I ended up using a broken leg as my example and I still to this day think about the concessions I made to what was a much larger point I was trying to work in about able-bodied privilege.
Eta: she was correct in her guess. it was ~100 people, who came in from 4 different states for my presentation and there was maybe 2 black guys, 1 indian guy, and 2 women in the audience. And one guy from the advocacy agency who flew in who was blind.
15 Likes
ummmmm you aren’t I am assuming right
2 Likes
No. But I forgot to delete the flight info from my calendar and it rudely reminded me just now.
When I first realized in February that I wasn’t going to Italy in March, I was pretty sure I’d still be going to Hawaii in April. I was positive I was still going to New Zealand in late May. And then it all fell apart over the next few days.
The actual travel plans (flights and stuff) took literally until last week to cancel properly.
10 Likes
yup. I hear you. At first I was like “oh, well i’m not going to skating nationals in early April. Oh well I’ll still go to NYC end of April. Oh well, I’ll still be able to maybe go to Greece in June. Oh maybe the conference in Spain in late July won’t be cancelled.”
Now I’m holding out hope I can go to skating camp in a neighboring state where I can catch a ride there, end of August. Or maybe Thailand end of November. But probably neither are happening for me due to immunosuppressed…
7 Likes
I mean it makes sense! I’m sure they wouldn’t have listened. When I talk accessibility I always use the example of carrying lots of bags and not being able to open the door, that seems to really connect for able people because it’s applicable to them. Kind of like explaining how misogyny is bad for men too, to get them to care about it, or at least that’s how I think of it, lol.
Also LOL at that disability “representation”: 99 able people and 1 person with a disability, how magnanimous!
11 Likes
especially in a field that literally is about accessibility - transportation!!!
To be fair, I didn’t actually ask any of them for their disabilities, surely some were invisible.
7 Likes
Haha, good point!
2 Likes
I have a grandchild due in October in Northern Italy. I’m holding out hope I can make it in the fall at some point, but I’m not making any plans until the last minute.
10 Likes