I once had my employer perform a wellness check when I was having a mental health episode.
I was working remotely, but my mental health was in the toilet. I had a candid conversation with my supervisor where I told him I needed some time off because I had been feeling suicidal. He was an absolute bro, told me I was doing a good job, and that I earned some time off. He agreed that our conditions and the demands from management were absurd. He tells me to just take some time, and he'll clear the way with HR.
Well, I'm logging off my computer when I get a call from his boss. He's asking why I'm suddenly taking some time off. I tell him that I haven't been feeling well, but he keeps badgering me for a specific reason. I tell him that I'm very vulnerable and don't want to disclose a reason. That's between me and my doctor.
Well he keeps pressing and he tells me that, "sharing our vulnerabilities is what fosters trust." So I'm like fine, you really want to know, this job and your management style are making me suicidal.
Tone immediately shifts. He's going into full damage control cover-your-ass mode. He tells me that I should consider a different career if I'm not up to the task. I'm already having like the worst day of my life (so far) and I start to have a panic attack.
I tell him you know what, it's not his business and I'm going to call my doctor. Before I can get on the phone with my doctor, HR is calling me. They tell me they have to get hold of my emergency contact to make sure I'm not currently killing myself. I tell them my emergency contact is out of town (unrelated), so they say they have to call the police. I ask her not to, there's no risk to myself and things have been taken out of context. HR insists that it's company policy.
So while I'm hyperventilating because my boss pressed me for more details than I was comfortable sharing about my health, they sent a man with a gun to my house to check on me.
I understand that the company is protecting its liability or whatever. But I really felt that my rights had been violated somehow. The police are not suitable to intervene in a mental health episode. I had a new fear that I wouldn't be able to calm down when the police arrived and I'd end up shot or something.
TLDR - I know this post is fake, but companies really do feel like they own their employees. A wellness check from your employer is absolutely bullshit, but that won't stop them from trying.
I learned at a real young age to never tell anyone you feel suicidal unless you want to end up "involuntarily committed". Won't even bring up my depression unless I'm around a real friend.
Same. I did have a therapist a few years ago that I told some real bad shit to, but that was after a couple of years of building trust; I was still scared of getting a pair of grippy socks. I went to see them because of a... let's go with a 'stopped suicide attempt'. Stroke at a young age, fiancé left me, no hope, career goals shattered, physically fucked, financially ruined, etc so rock bottom was looking down at me like 'damn bro I'm sorry'.
A few close friends know things that others don't, shit I'm not about to spill here. But it's because they either have been in a similar situation and we have worked to keep each other alive and going, or they have degrees in the field of mental health and don't mind trying to keep my head above water, or they are my (ex, current, etc) partner.
There's no fucking way I'm going to just casually be like "you ever just want to go to the roof, get right on the ledge, shoot yourself - and in case that doesn't take you out, the concrete walkway at the foot of the 20 story fall will finish the job? No? Just me then? Ha, funny. I hate life. Haha."
That is fucked up. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I hope you have found a better company to work for.
Thanks for the kind words, friend.
I know this is a comedy community and I'm not trying to be a bring down. But I also think it's important to talk about this kind of thing because, well, it's the kind of thing that corporate america would want to sweep under the rug. We need to normalize talking about mental health because it's yet another public health crisis that doesn't get enough attention.
I'm out of that dumpster fire now, but I'm still looking for my dream job.
Life gets a lot easier when you realize you don't have to answer questions that you don't want to, and "No" is a complete sentence. Not berating you, just letting you know that you didn't have to fall for their pressure tactics. Just keep not answering their questions until they give up.
I hope you're doing better these days.
Yeah there's absolutely this feedback loop conditioning where nobody tells us this. And even if we know it, actually putting it into practice is such a mountain.
I'm vehemently anti-authoritarian, but damn if the "yield to authority" conditioning isn't shock-collaring me every time some douche in a suit wants to talk to me like I'm a child in trouble.
I understand that the company is protecting its liability or whatever.
The company can do that by training your boss not to ask questions related to your health.
Holy fuck. That is beyond the pale, and I'm sorry you had to go through that. Chills thinking how wrong that could go.
Jesus fucking christ, I have nothing to add other than I'm so sorry you went through that.
Pretty sure you have clear grounds for a lawsuit on that one. I feel like you'd easily win compensation. (This is my guess. Obviously consult a lawyer ha)
For future reference though, just keep things high level and say it's a mental health concern. Or even just a general health issue. NEVER disclose that much information to an employer again.
But yeah, you should totally file a lawsuit.
As someone who was very mentally fragile years ago, it's very easy to say "just don't engage, hang up the phone". But, when someone is verbally beating you down, it can slip your mind under the pressure.
OP said they were keeping it high-level but their over-boss kept pressing for specifics. I don't think they need a reference guide in this instance.
Shit, I'd be calling a lawyer just to put a scare into that boss. Fucking douchebag.
"I'm not well today, I can't work, that's all you fucking need to know".
I've never had a boss even ask why. Frankly, he should know better...what he doesn't know he can't be liable for. Dumbass. Plus who has the time to worry about why? Does it change anything? No.
I've heard horror stories from truckers that don't feel safe driving due to exhaustion, and their company literally calls the cops to send them to go knock on the doors of the truck until the driver, who is trying to sleep, wakes up, just to make sure they're okay.
Usually followed by their manager basically calling them and telling them to get back on the road.
This shit happens, and it's disgusting.
The next time you see a long haul trucker who doesn't seem to be able to keep their lane, understand that it's most likely because their employer is a cunt.
This is a horror story. Watching a movie like this would do more stress damage than Hereditary did
Damn shitty company, hope your doing better.
If I heard someone was coming to do a wellness check on me, I'd probably immediately start getting everyone out of the house and drive off. I don't think that would be illegal, would it? Not blaming you, just thinking of what the best action to take in a scenario where you suspected ahead of time there would be cops called on you.
Humanity_IRL
It's pretty inhumane, if I'm being honest.
So while I'm hyperventilating because my boss pressed me for more details than I was comfortable sharing about my health, they sent a man with a gun to my house to check on me.
I know I shouldn't have laughed but the way this story unfolded was hilarious.
This is fake!
If it was real, the "Nevermind" button would be a "Maybe later" button instead...
"Ask me again in 4 minutes"
"Once you let go of the left mouse button you just pressed, you consent to 12 $49.99 charges for your yearly subscription to our services."
The line between dystopic memes and Black Mirror is getting hella blurry :|
It's just cool to imagine a social media tool that's monetized SWATing.
Is $49.99 per hour per SWAT officer a good price? Maybe I could put ads in and lower the price with the ad revenue gained. Maybe we could also implement an AI assistant to answer customers questions.
you can tell the difference. if it has good writing, it's more likely to be a meme.
Please tell me this is a joke. I legitimately don't know if it is or isn't.
It is a joke, lol
This guy makes these terrible concepts for apps and stuff:
Definity a fake post. The small text says the cost of the check deducted from the employee's payroll.
Honestly, based on the stories of what's happening in America. That's not a reliable indicator.
At least I can tell you that it does not work in my country, where bosses and authorities cannot decide whether or not you are sick, only doctors can.
this is funny and reminds me that when you call in sick
just say you are calling in sick, don't give any reasons. Fuck them they don't need to know why
sometimes mental health days where you just chill and do shit you want to do is a perfectly good sick day
I've never had a boss EVER that pressed me for information on why I took off sick. That's completely inappropriate for them to ask.
Say you're shitting your brains out and the only thing coming to work will accomplish is a line for the bathroom and possibly more people shitting their brains out
Hahahaha, I love it
Nice joke until reality comes along: https://winfuture.de/news,145540.html
German article translates to:
The Tesla plant in Grünheide had to accept a record number of sick days, at least in August: Around 17 percent of the 12,000 employees were affected. At the beginning of September, the figure had fallen to around 11 percent, according to a report in the Handelsblatt newspaper. However, this is still comparatively high.
As a result, the plant management had begun to visit employees on sick leave at home and check on them. Head of HR Erik Demmler was surprised that he was sometimes met with an aggressive attitude, as he explained to Handelsblatt. It had happened that the door had simply been slammed in his face. There were even instances of people threatening to call the police.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
I'm glad I was able to intervene when an employee just didn't show up for a few days, couldn't get ahold of him. My manager (a good guy) asked me if I thought we should call the cops for a wellness check, I told him we couldn't call the cops on a disabled black guy.
Not sure what went down with him but he ended up calling in and he was okay. He either quit shortly after or never came back, I don't remember. Last I heard he was pursuing his passion teaching skiing to kids with cancer and disabilities. Cool dude.
Yeah my first thought seeing this was "oh that person is gonna get killed if they send the cops". Glad you had some smarts there. There have been multiple indigenous people killed in wellness checks in Canada as well in recent weeks.
I used to work for a call center that had an automated call out system, so you didn't have to talk to anyone or give a specific excuse. However, at some point management instituted a policy requiring supervisors to call their employees to "check in on their wellbeing." I don't even have to be cynical to know the real purpose because I was in the meetings where they talked about it as a tactic to reduce absenteeism.
I'm at home with ruptured vaginal cyst. Dare you to try this.
this aint funny though more like depressing
wellness checks are deducted from her payroll??? is this legal ? the us labor laws are weird man
You're not wrong but this image is a parody
My employer generally sucks, but one of the few things they do right is give us no-questions-asked PTO. Nobody cares if we take a day, it's part of our compensation.
Standing too close to occurring in the near future to qualify as funny.
We truly are in the dark timeline
"we're a family"
Yeah, and I'm the three year old child in the family that you don't listen to, don't trust, and you won't raise my paltry allowance.
im too sick to answer the door, come back another day
FYI, to compare "what it could be". Union rules here (country in scandinavia) forbid the employers to ask what is wrong, when employees call in sick. They can, after some time, if the employee still is sick, ask for a doctor to verify that the employee is indeed unable to come to work. The doctor though can only write a letter confirming (if that is the case) that indeed this employee is unable to attend work due to medical issues. No description is needed or required, not even an estimate of when they will be ok again.
Also, you get full sick pay while sick, medical care is free, and if the employer asks for a doctor confirmation, they are will have to pay for it (current price aprox €100)
