And back to the subject at hand.
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Guys, I like you too much to make up stories. The backgrounds are a bit phoned-in because I’ve made some iffy time-management decisions today. I’m tired and going to bed, but will punch-up the backgrounds and add the usual shading this evening.
I can't decide if Todd has racked up enough goodwill at work to just traipse out on a moments notice like that, or if his supervisor Bill is just that much of a laid-back boss.
That’s ok Dave you’ll get to it when you get to it. In the meantime, it’s the story that counts.
In response to the Directors commentary, FMLA. Any ‘good’ employer recognizes the need to allow a worker to leave for family medical emergencies. Moreover, most places with a unified PTO policy allow middle of the day departure because payroll can handle it. However, his manager is being chill for not being a dick about it. Most times ive seen it though, the manager is really chill at that moment, then agressive about how to handle it in the future when you get back.
Yeah, no need to stress out a person that’s already stressed out by their kid becoming sick. Also, anyone who’s had kids themselves, knows that sometimes things just can’t wait until after work.
I’d say that Bill’s not just a cool boss but understanding that if a parent is rushing off to save his kid, standing in Supe’s way in a really good way to get hurt, doubly so for new parents, and if he knows about the “adopted and adopted” bit he’s probably cool with it.
And Dave’s probably a competent enough worker that he’s actually been done with work, or near enough, so that his leaving isn’t a big dea.
Fifty pushups. 😀
Maybe I’ve just had decent bosses, but I can’t imagine rushing out the door and telling the boss on the way by, “Sick kid, gotta go”, and them saying anything other than “Okay. Lemme know how she is when you can”.
Plus, at least in the US, there are laws about this sort of thing. I don’t think it matters how much goodwill he has racked up as long as he has sick leave and can prove there was actually a medical emergency.
That largely depends on a lot of situations and locations.
I can tell you for Wisconsin, our area doesn’t “recognize” a point based system, so if you get fired for too many points, you’ll get unemployment.
On the flip side, they can pretty much fire you for anything they want as long as it doesn’t violate any federal regulations.
Most places give you vacation time, points and sick time for a reason and once you use it up, that’s too bad for you. And of course, some places don’t have any at all.
That’s what I mean; I’m pretty sure there are federal regulations about family medical emergencies.
Oh, “pushups”, that makes sense. I read it as “Bughugs” but didn’t know what that was about.
This really struck a chord. I had to do the same thing last week. I’m a single mom working a desk job for a big corporation, and when I get a call from the daycare about my daughter, it is usually serious. I work hard AND my boss has two kids, both of these are definitely in my favor. Lucky me that he understands when I’m scooping up my things and calling over my shoulder, “Kid emergency. PTO. I’ll text when I know something” and dash out the door.
I bet a lot of parents here have had similar experiences. Kid emergencies as a single parent and sole “breadwinner” can be scary. I’m glad you touched on this.
No worries. Yeah – if its an emergency with a child, I can’t imagine any boss that would be that big an asshole – even the ones who are generally assholes.
Oooh, bad word Kiri, 50 push ups. Selkie set the punishment herself! And Dave, it’s no worries. At least you gave us an update. Thank you 🙂
my mother got fired for doing that when i was a kid
PTO? Paid/Personal Time Off?
Probably “Personal,” note professionalism BTW, “I gotta run but here’s where the files you’ll need are.”
Professionalism……OOOH! The first time i read the last part, I thought he was saying some cool, code language the guys at his office made up.
God I’m dumb…
Of course, doesn’t help that I read that word “files” as “flies”.
“Fellerman flies on cloud”
Now you need to draw a picture of that. 😛
Pass This On
I’ve been a supervisor when a mom had a child emergency. It’s always been, “Go – do what you have to do.”
Oh, and just about ANY client who has a problem with “the guy you usually work with has an emergency with their child so you’re dealing with this guy today”…well, that client isn’t worth having as a client. Just sayin’.
You is a good boss.
I sure as hell tried to be.
There was a time when I was briefly a caretaker for my sis (everyone was out of town for family things. There is an 8 year difference between us so when this happens I always wind up playing Mom) and got a phone call at work that was along the lines of, “I was sleeping in your room and someone just tried to break in through your window and I called the police and PLEASE COME HOME!!!”
I had my computer shut down, grabbed my things and stopped long enough by my bosses office to say “SomeoneBrokeIntoMyHouseMyBabySisterIsHomeAloneOnVacationNeedToGoNow!” which earned a “Holy-! Get out of here and call us when you know something!”
Usually that workplace sucked for things like that, but thankfully they were ok that one time… Still, I’ve had other workplaces that are like Todd’s. You have the work done, say “It’s on this shared drive!” and explain family emergency, and you can go as long as you have the PTO.
Oh, gosh, was everyone okay? Was anything stolen?
On the subject of the boss being cool…I’ve had a not so cool boss. My daughter was born early and was in the NICU for quite a few months. When the hospital called- we had to go ya know? I had to leave early a few times because of such emergencies and was treated poorly because of it. If my child had passed because she had kept me at work…she would have paid dearly!
I left that job as soon as the school year was over btw 😀 Now I have a great boss who understands!
Most bosses I’ve had will allow for emergencies, so long as you call immediately when you have more information, don’t abuse the privilege and bring in proof of the urgency when you come back.
Not to the point of having my own kids yet, sadly; but given that veterinary appointments qualify for sick pay where I work, I’m not foreseeing any issues.
Last, and only family emergency where I had to skip work:
Me: I have a family emergency! Can’t come in until tuesday!
Boss: Okay!
Once the emergency was dealt with…
Boss: Everything okay?
Me: It is now!
Boss: All right then.
Of course, it helps that I’m punctual and rarely sick.
Todd has an “Ace in the hole”;
He’s a bit more than an acquaintance of the BIG BOSS, and said BIG BOSS still likely feels like he owes Todd and Selkie a solid!
I must just work at a shitty place, I am really surprised at all of the positive stories of having to leave work early. I work in a ship yard and they have rules that are followed to the “T”.
You have to have vacation time, sick time, unpaid personal time, or FMLA, if you don’t, you are going to get “points”. If you get 10 points you are fired, no questions asked, if they can’t find you to fire you, your card will simply be deactivated.
A lot of times, even if you have everything you need to get back to work, there’s usually a 2 to 3 days investigation time for the whole affair, during which you are not allowed back into work and you aren’t paid for it either.
As a matter of fact, a lot of people won’t even bring work restrictions in to work, because unless it happened at work, they won’t find work for you and instead just kick you out until it’s lifted.
While working at a Local Walmart a pregnant woman was put on work restrictions and instead Walmart made her take her maternity leave early. She ended up going back to the doctor and asking him to remove the work restrictions just so she could keep working for awhile longer.
Actually, I’m finding it doubtful that Bill is Ted’s boss … it’d be unusual for the supervisor to be located in the cube farm with the worker bees. More likely Bill is a co-worker, who’s agreed to pass the information along if someone comes looking for Ted.
That said, I wonder which Mina would prefer: fifty push-ups or a donation to the swear jar?