We recently had a veteran of a NGO who’d been in the Middle East for the past 9 years up and quit on us. I have very little experience with war veterans, and even though my now-ex coworker wasn’t in the military, the NGO put him very close to the action. He was too proud to be declared “disabled” so we all witnessed his PTSD emerge at random times. He couldn’t sleep so he’d arrive at work 2-3 hours before his shift. There were certain topics you couldn’t bring up within his earshot. He’d get “twitchy” in the sense that you could just tell he was ready to go off on some random thing…that’s when we all backed away from him.
The silver lining was that his shift never varied. We all knew we just had to endure him for 5-6 hours, then he’d leave.
He supposedly is doing “better” at his new job, but that’s hearsay. I do wish him well.
2 departments ago, I worked with a temp who had severe psychological issues, a comfort dog, and a penchant for oversharing. She was absent 1-2 days every week. She wasn’t a mean person, but very self-absorbed and a draining officemate. I’m glad I’ve never had to work with a full-timer with similar issues, I wouldn’t be able to stand it.
You’re justified in your lack of sympathy. In my current department, we’ve been dealing with persistent staffing issues during the highest workload we’ve seen in upwards of 5 years. It’s hard enough fighting uphill to meet productivity goals *without *having to worry about someone’s personal problems in the mix. Certainly the decision to fire the guy is ultimately between him and HR. But when it comes to task assignment, it’s best to pretend that an unreliable employee doesn’t exist. Let him help with ongoing tasks on days he happens to show up. Convince your boss to hire extra help, and get used to picking up the slack 24/7 until you have it.
Nah, firing him would be perfectly legit. It’s not just because he is disabled. It is because of his capabilities whether those capabilities happen to be “from” his disability or not. Objectively, the company should not have to care.
If you only show up part time, you should only get paid part time, regardless of the reason (after using up sick days and vacation and whatnot anyway).
I was this person, until I left work permanently several years ago. Management worked with me so my workload was unique enough that it would not burden the others. I worked long hours when I could, from home when I needed to, and met deadlines as best I could. But having coworkers glare at you sideways when you essentially set your own hours and skip meetings really sucks. I didn’t want sympathy. But I also didn’t owe them a medical explanation. I just wanted to keep the same professional respect I’d had before getting sick. Their judgement of me and suspicions of what was going on felt awful. It was humiliating. I eventually took medical leave, and disability.
I loved my job. It felt good to be one of the “go-to” people for so many years. I miss it, even dream about it sometimes.
Be kind to this person. They’re losing more than you realize. It could be you one day too.
