Need Your Input: My job just docked me 1/2 a week's pay

[FiremanFrank]

Please bear with me here, but every detail is extremely important.

For 5 days now, one of my two felines has become severely ill.

And just to let you know - having no wife, no children, no family to speak of - these precious two kitties of mine have literally become my family.

Days of testing and a $300 bill from the vet informed me that my cat:

• has an overactive thyroid
• which has caused her kidneys to begin disfunctioning
• which has caused her potassium levels to drop
• which has caused her appetitie to wane
• which has caused her to lose an unhealthy amount of weight

The veternarian said that if we treat her thyroid, give her potassium supplements, and administer an appetite inducer, that she might come out of this alive. I am now doing all of the above (the bottom shelf of my refrigerator has taken on the look of a small pharmacy).

In emotional distress, I called my Deputy Chief (I am a professional firefighter) who ranks third highest in command on our Department. I tell him of my situation, and with much compassion and charity, he grants me one sick day (one 24hr shift) to try and at least begin the medication process for my pet.

After almost 1/2 of my shift had gone by, I get a call yesterday informing me that the #1 man in charge, the Chief himself, had become aware of my situation and was displeased. So he formally REVERSED the ruling of the lower ranking deputy Chief.

The “options” that he gave me were:

1. • Leave my sick kitty and return to work IMMEDIATELY
   • Use my Personal Leave (but seeing that we are now 1/2 through the calandar year, I only have 20hr left of the 24hr that I need to cover my shift)
   • Get someone else to come in and cover for me (involves calling off duty guys at home and asking them to leave their home immediately and with no notice - a difficult task at best)
   • Be reported as AWOL, and lose 24 hrs. pay
   I chose the latter. The other “options” were not really options for me. In 26 years of being employed in various full time jobs, this is the FIRST time that I have ever been put on “AWOL”.
   
   Question: Have I done wrong before the eyes of my Lord? Is Jesus gravely dissapointed with my actions? Have I sinned before God?
   
   P.S. Please pray for my kitty, I picked her up as an abandoned stray from in front of my fire house 3 years ago. She was near death then, but with God’s help I nursed her back to health.
   
   Now it seems that I’m watching her die again …

 

[Jerusha]

The lives of people are more important than the life of a cat.

Having said that, it seems to me that you could have had two other options: take the cat to work with you to care for it there, or put the cat in the hospital at the vet’s for the intensive treatment it seems to need. Lacking access to those two, using personal leave time seems to have been the best option.

I’m not really pitying you in your situation.

 

[pnewton]

I would be slow to blame the Chief. He is probably correct in interpreting the sick policy. You need to remember that as a public servant benefits are set by politicians and are fairly inflexible. Your bosses job is to correctly interpret the policy.

Have you tried to get someone to come in and cover? Perhaps you could encourage a co-worker with a swap of days. Since you value these kittens, find a good carrot, such as a weekend, holiday or major sporting evet, and volunteer to cover for them at such a time if they will help you in your time of need.

PS - I come from the opposite side. I am a watch commander for 30+ public servants.

 

[Madaglan]

In answer to your question, I don’t see any reason why Jesus should be displeased. For one, you could have lied and said that you were sick; but instead you told the truth about your cat. And I don’t see any extreme wrongdoing in what you did, especially since you sacraficed for the well-being of your cat. Perhaps some may argue that you engangered the lives of human beings, who are more important than animals, and this may be so; but even if you did something that was “wrong” I don’t see it as horribly wrong, since you did what you did with a good motive. For example, stealing is wrong, but when you have to steal food to feed your family, it becomes much less wrong, even if by this stealing you deprive the other person of his wages.

I hope that the AWOL doesn’t endanger your job.

My advice: find someone in your neighborhood who has a flexible work schedule, or who does not work at all. There may be some kind teenagers in your area who don’t work during the day. Once you find a person like this, ask if he or she would be willing to give your kitty medicine for a short while. Of course, find a person whom you can trust. And, of course, offer $ for the job.

If worst comes to worst, you could go to your pastor and ask if he can help. Perhaps he can put something in the bulletin about your situation, and some kind old lady or other person might out of Christian benevolence assist you.

I will pray for your cat.

 

[Madaglan]

Just a followup. I re-read the initial post and the two following posts.

I understand that the primary charge leveled against FiremanFrank is that he potentially put the lives of human beings in danger. However, if he was at first on sick leave, I am sure that the Deputy Chief made arrangements so that enough firemen were on hand for the extent of his absence.

So, to accuse FiremanFrank of endangering other human beings is not completely justified, since the Deputy Chief, knowing of FiremanFrank’s sick day, should have made all the proper arrangements to have someone in his place for his entire shift.

Of course, FiremanFrank may have, after learning of the Chief’s reversal, inconvenienced the other firemen, who were expecting FiremanFrank to come in.

 

[FiremanFrank]

I appreciate everyone’s (name removed by moderator)ut/advice.

Thank you.

I would just like to confirm though what Magdalen said. Yes, as soon as I was approved for leave from my Deputy Chief, he would have then immediately planned to have someone be in my place.for the duration of that shift. Nobody’s life was in danger anywhere, or at anytime. And my acceptance of the “AWOL” did not send the person home who was in my place, as he would have just simply continued on for the duration of that shift.

And just to clear things up a bit, nobody was really “expecting me” or “waiting for me” to come in, as the person who was there for me initially had already expected to be there for the entire duration of shift in the first place.

frank