I am a software contractor and I had to be hospitalized for several days for a mental health condition, now I might lose my job

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

Basically, past Sunday night I informed my manager via e-mail that I was admitting myself to the hospital. I'd rather not say the exact symptoms but I was not thinking correctly or safely. I have bipolar disorder and it's something I've made him aware of and he's remarkably progressive and understanding. This is not an attack on my manager.

I've only worked at this company for 2 months but I've gotten very good feedback from the team as far as I can tell. I've had to take 3 "mental health" or "catch up" days (the latter is how my manager refers to them and that's pretty accurate). But when we spoke he was very understanding and sympathetic.

The second day in the hospital I called my manager as soon as I could and left voice mail about my status (I spent the first day in the ER and was physically and mentally unable to contact him). The third day I called him in the morning and left a message to inform him my condition had improved dramatically (new medication, it's fantastic). Then in the afternoon I called him and left another message indicating that I was healthy and would be discharged the following afternoon (Thursday) and would immediately go to my company and submit paperwork to HR and (hopefully) speak to him.

I was discharged Thursday afternoon. I went to the office and asked for my manager to come to the lobby (I'm a contractor, I'm not just going to waltz in). It just so happened the HR manager was passing through the lobby. We sat and chatted. I'm feeling amazing at this point. I'm so happy to even be back in the building because I love my job.

The HR manager tells me verbatim "because you're a contractor in a situation like this you don't really have any legal protection" and that HR was going to get together with my manager and make a decision the next day (Friday). I was told that the decision would be based on my performance which, like I said, appears to be very good. So here I am waiting for a phone call that could destroy my world.

Perhaps this is a formality, a process that anyone would have to go through. But I'm terrified. I just don't know what to do and I'm very confused.

Any observations or advice are greatly appreciated. I don't have enough experience to play the corporate game.

Edit: I am in the US, RI

manpreet 2 years ago

But I'm terrified. I just don't know what to do and I'm very confused.

Step 1: Don't be terrified.

In the absolute worst case scenario, they let you go. So what? As a href="https://forum.tuteehub.com/tag/contractor">contractor, you've got a clear route to getting another gig through your contracting agency or a simple "I had some medical issues that caused them to terminate my contract early" when applying for new ones. Life is more than work.

And that's the worst scenario. It sounds as though your manager is understanding and you've been doing a good job. HR will usually defer to managers in these sorts of circumstances. Focus on doing a good job and the rest will follow.