Hi,
I work for a great company, but things have been going crazy lately.
Let me start off by saying that my salary is the worst in the business,
but the annual benefits more than make up for the low pay. Still, I
work hard to bring home a paycheck.
My company has been great as an equal opportunity employer. Sure,
there were some wheelchair access changes that may have been needed,
but overall everyone is treated fairly. They even do a reasonable job
protecting their employee's medical information from being released.
They darn well better or they will get cross-sided with HIPAA and find themselves in
bunch of legal trouble.
Anyhow, I had cancer a few years ago and word leaked out. My
employer knew I was out for a few days, and I had to have someone else
fill in for me. It's no big deal. People get cancer all the time. I
admit it was pretty scary stuff for a while, until the treatment was
over.
My company respected my medical privacy, as they should, but word
leaked out. Suddenly it was like the whole world was talking about
it.
I know that sounds like exaggeration, but it felt that way. I can't
say that I liked everyone talking about me that way. I think everyone
has a right to medical privacy. There are laws in this country to
protect this information. Maybe a
candidates running for office should release medical information to
the public, but private citizens are different and should have their
privacy protected.
I am having some more health problems these days. To be honest, that
is enough for me to deal with right now. I don't need people talking
behind my back about how to replace me. How would you like to listen to
people talk about how your company is going to replacement you?
To be honest, I've had enough. My health is too important, and the
extra stress is not helping. I'm just going to take some time off and
concentrate on what's important.
Maybe my job will still be there when I'm feeling better - and maybe
it won't. Life is too short for me to worry about that. I've got plenty
in savings to cover any expenses for my family. Right now my employer
is supporting my decision, and they are giving me a lot of
encouragement and time off.
You know you can't even get a physical with out having to sign a
release of information for the doctor to bill insurance. You have to
sign another release to send the test results to a specialist. Medical
privacy is no joke. Mine is just as important as yours.
I want to hire a lawyer and sue all these busybodies sticking their
noses where they don't belong. I know that won't win any friends, and
it may make things complicated back at work, but I am really fed up
with all the snooping.
To all my friends, thanks for the support. To the rest, I say MYOB!
