My boss is doing the unthinkable. Help!

Lil

Well-Known Member
Ok, it's no fortune, but if SSDI assumes you CAN'T work AT ALL, how come you are allowed to have a job????

That's a good question and I don't know the answer. I know that if you are working at all when you apply, they'll turn you down. I know that you get to work for a period of time, I think 9 months, earning whatever (full-time employment) and they let you draw...it's an attempt to get off SSDI and if you fail you don't have the issue of having to reapply. Why they allow part-time and if they allow it all the time, I don't know. But they do allow you to supplement with part-time employment, that's true. I think there's a time limit for even that without a break.

When my son was young my neighbor and friend babysat. She drew SSDI. She watched him after school was all. After a year or so they told her they were going to stop her SSDI because she'd worked more than 9 months - even though she was making a whopping $80 a week watching a kid for just a few hours a day. We ended up changing to her daughter who was 5 years older than my son being my "sitter". Yeah, it was shady of me, but come-on! Saying she could go back to work under those circumstances? Nuts.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
There is no time limit, lil. There is only a limit on how much you can earn. You can work forever as long as you dont make more than $1000 a month and dont have more than a certain amount in the bank. My son is considered disabled and gets ssi and has been working for years.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
SSI is different that SSDI. That could be the difference. I am 100% positive about the time limit, but that could be a full-time v. part-time thing. But my neighbor wasn't full-time by any stretch. I don't know all the ins and outs, just the parts that I deal with at my job.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
There is no time limit in my state for ssdi. Just an income limit. I have talked to the gamut of benefit specialists. I can work up to 20 hrs at a lowish wage. I have ssdi and have worked part time the better part of ten years getting ssdi all that time. I am still on ssdi
Although old enough to get ssi. Want to build it up a bit more. I still get mail calling my checks Disability. Now when I someday inherit money, to keep ssdi and any benefits I have to see a lawyer about what to do with the extra money. I am not sure...a trust or give a portion to kids...at any rate I have always been warned it is your income and assets I have to watch (assets very limited) but that time is no factor...and I am lookibg for a job again with the help of the dept. Of workforce development. They know all about the state disability laws and only work with people on ssdi...or who are on ssi right out of school and have not worked and are considered disabled. These kids cant get ssDi because they have never worked.
Complicated.
 

nlj

Well-Known Member
I think this thread has gone off at a tangent and we're losing sight of Californiablonde's original call for help.

How are you Cali? Have any of our responses been of any use? What support do you have outside this forum?
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I agree nlj.

CB, I hope that some of the answers have been helpful. Keep us in the loop. We're all pulling for you.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
I don't think CB has much support outside this forum. I know her mother is hypercritical of her and almost NEVER happy with anything she does.

If she is in California, the employment laws there are VERY different than many other states and the courts take the employee side VERY often.

Please know that the laws very GREATLY from state to state for employment law. The union support is also very different from state to state. What the teacher union did in OH is HUGELY different from in OK, for example.

While SSI and SSDI are federal, they do differ from state to state because part of the system comes from the state. Even medicaid is widely different from state to state. So what Somewhere experienced may or may not be what CB experiences. For this reason alone I think it is worth her time to look into disability law and harassment law because this boss is harassing her and creating a hostile work environment. I think he is trying to make her quit, or that i what it seems. I bet if a parent files a harassment complaint or lawsuit, this boss will say he had no idea they were doing this and that she was doing it on her own. She needs to document everything he tells her and get it in writing or on an email when her duties change. This way she can prove that she was doing this at his direction.

CB, you really need to document everything. That may be what saves you if a parent files a complaint. You also need a therapist and to look into ways to cope with the anxiety before you end up in the hospital. Your district probably has an Employee Assistance Program. This will give you some FREE help with the anxiety and likely some free help with how to cope with your boss an with your rights under ADA. They don't just offer therapy, you can get help with an attorney for your legal rights, etc. Most programs offer a number of free sessions for EACH problem, not just with one problem. This means that you could get quite a few sessions based on different aspects of the issues at hand

Check with HR or in your employee handbook to find the info on the program. It is sometimes abbreviated as EAP or something similar.
 

RN0441

100% better than I was but not at 100% yet
I worked as a Registrar at a high school for many years.

I agree, file a grievance with the union but in the meantime, how do they KNOW if you call every single person on the list? I would just call a few for each kid and be done with it. They can't prove anything!
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
I worked as a Registrar at a high school for many years.

I agree, file a grievance with the union but in the meantime, how do they KNOW if you call every single person on the list? I would just call a few for each kid and be done with it. They can't prove anything!

My office generates phone records of every call in or out. So it's entirely possible they could tell if the calls don't get made.

CB, update soon! We're pulling for you.
 

Californiablonde

Well-Known Member
First of all thank you all so much for your responses. Here's the latest: my boss is having a meeting with my supervisor and me in about a half hour. Neither one of us know what the meeting is about. My supervisor just pulled me aside and let me know she does NOT want me to start making all the calls. She told me to stand up for myself in this meeting. She is telling me to tell my boss that 75% of the calls are Spanish speaking only, and I am already struggling, so therefore there is no way I can reasonably make 100 attendance calls a day to only Spanish speakers. I am so nervous right now.

I do not want to go to this meeting, but it's time to face the music. My mom is telling me I have to come clean with my boss about my anxiety TODAY, and let him know that making all the calls will be severely impacting my mental health. I am scared crapless to tell him about my anxiety. I don't think he will be sympathetic. So far I have seen him interact with several of our mentally disturbed kids, and he does not treat them well. I don't think my boss has a single sympathetic bone in his body. So anyway, that is where it stands. Wish me luck in the meeting, that I may find my voice and get the courage to stand up for myself once and for all.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Handle things the way you see fit. Your mom has long since lost the right to tell you what you should or should not do. Its not her business. You are an adult. There is no point in telling him you have anxiety if he is disdainful of that.
Hopefully your boss gave you good advice and will back you up.
Good luck. This could be very positive.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Sorry. I'm Canadian. A supervisor is the person you report to, who therefore is your boss - but might not be THE boss.
 

Californiablonde

Well-Known Member
Sorry. I'm Canadian. A supervisor is the person you report to, who therefore is your boss - but might not be THE boss.
She is technically not my boss, and as mean and nasty as she has been to me in the past, I would hate to ever reference her as my boss. But none the less, she is at a higher position in my department, so I refer to her as my supervisor, but technically she is not my supervisor either. I don't know what to call her. She is the head of the attendance department, so I just refer to her as supervisor.
 

Californiablonde

Well-Known Member
Well the meeting went better than expected. For ONCE, my supervisor actually backed me up when needed. I don't know if any of you recall how downright mean she has been to me in the past, actually calling me fat once, but today she stood up for me. My boss started to say he want to "shift our work loads" to where I would be doing most of the calling, and my supervisor would be setting up meetings, but she quickly reminded him that most of the parents and contacts are Spanish speaking only, and he just said, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that." So now where it stands is we will still be splitting the calling by alphabet, and the both of us will be setting up meetings with the administrators whenever one of our students is habitually truant. That works for me! Now my boss has been known to change his mind in the past, so this arrangement could easily change, but for now at least things are staying the same.

Now I can breathe a huge sigh of relief. My boss set this meeting up last Friday. Since Friday I have been having MAJOR anxiety attacks and stressing out about this date. The new medication my brand new doctor prescribed for my anxiety sadly doesn't work. I was hoping this new medication called Propranalol was my answer to my prayers, but it doesn't do crap for panic attacks. Another non useful medication....sigh. Oh well, hopefully there is something out there I still haven't tried that will help. I really am running out of options. In the mean time, I am still going to look for another job. My boss just told us in the meeting today that our attendance this year has improved by 50 percent. He told us to keep "harassing the parents and contact members, because it's working." And he doesn't plan on moving to another school again. He is here till he retires. Ugh. So job searching it is for me. Anyway, thank you all for your support. It really really helped.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Greatt new, cb!!!!

You ever try guided meditation? They have tons on YouTube! I swear...they work, at least for me, and trust me,on a scale of 1 to 10 my anxiety disorder is ohhhhhh lets see.....11?? I did not find relief with any natural herbs or remedies although you may. I do feel guided meditation is very calming for nervous people like us. Your body functions can actually slow down. You can feel your heart and breathing slowing down. Meanwhile maybe also try the forum called Natural Remedies. I do like chamille tea at night...


Again congrats!
 
Last edited:

Copabanana

Well-Known Member
she quickly reminded him that most of the parents and contacts are Spanish speaking only, and he just said, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."
How stupid can he get? But I think he knew all along...but he backed down when she spoke up. He is afraid of a civil rights lawsuit. At least I hope he is.
for panic attacks
I do not know the history of your anxiety, and whether or not it is trauma related or not. But there is lately a lot of interest in somatic therapies for anxiety, PTSD and depression. If you look on Amazon and search for somatic therapies trauma or anxiety, books will come up. Van der Kolk and Peter Levine come to mind.

I bought a book, Walking Your Blues Away that focuses on walking to treat depression.

I think there are things we can do to lessen symptoms, like activities that require focus and limb movement, like needlework or artwork.

I read the earlier parts of the thread about SSI and SSDI. In the months you have been posting about your job I have not heard you say you want to stop working. You just don't want people to be mean to you at work. Me neither.

Throughout my career I have had people be mean to me, but I managed to work my whole adult life, pretty much. There are a lot of mean people who seem to enjoy being mean in particular to people they can see suffer.

I think you are getting a handle on things, CB. By dealing with the anxiety and facing up squarely to a bully. Not by confrontation but by speaking up for yourself.

COPA
 
Top