“Workers’ Voices” is a series on A Better Balance’s blog highlighting the firsthand experiences of workers from across the country. For some workers we are in touch with, they are covered by federal, state, or local workplace protections that make a world of difference in their ability to care for themselves and their loved ones. For others, their experiences highlight the glaring gaps that remain in our laws.
The below is a story from Luna, a Community Advocate with A Better Balance.
I’m a prep cook and dishwasher in upstate New York. I recently broke my arm and found myself unable to work.
After I was injured, I found myself busy balancing getting to and paying for expensive frequent doctors appointments, navigating the paperwork of disability insurance (in which, at times, it was hard to parse through the details of the law while being given conflicting information from my doctors office,) the insurer’s lack of communication, and my bosses’ understanding of the written law.
I watched my ability to pay for things quickly fade away as I focused on filling out complicated legal paperwork in a timely manner, all while hoping to heal fast enough that my savings and the $170 I was entitled to each week under New York’s Temporary Disability Insurance program – which didn’t even cover my rent – would stretch far enough.
After all of that experience, when I returned to work, I found that my manager had thrown out my schedule, and that while I wasn’t fired I had been put on cleaning shifts instead of my actual job, and that my schedule was less consistent.
“The entire process was unfriendly, scary, dehumanizing, expensive, and hard to cope with on top of recovering from an injury that completely transformed my day-to-day life for months.”
Only after a friend of mine told me that this sounded illegal did I seek out legal advice. When I finally found some information, I found that New York offered no protection for workers’ jobs or shifts when they need to take medical leave. I found myself having to plead to several people for my own wellbeing to have my usual hours reinstated, and having to beg for my ability to work to feed myself as my savings were drained and I continually got no response from other job applications. I only got some of my shifts back, leaving me on the constant verge of not being able to feed myself.
The entire process was unfriendly, scary, dehumanizing, expensive, and hard to cope with on top of recovering from an injury that completely transformed my day-to-day life for months. I think New York needs protections that are easier to parse through for the average person, more encompassing of the needs of people in the modern economy, and more protective towards the vulnerable and workers in industries like food service. Not only do I never want to go through a similar experience again, but I find it unconscionable that others in the state are facing similar situations every day because we don’t have a proper paid medical leave program.