Yesterday was not the
greatest day for my family.
We got the word that we kind of knew was coming, but when it came, it still hurt.
And the only reason why we even got the word is that we pushed for it; it did not come “voluntarily,” for lack of a better explanation.
My son is without a job, and he needs one as soon as possible.
Prior to the coronavirus coming to our consciousness, my son was doing fine.
He was working in a part-time office job that he absolutely loved, after coming out of a bad situation in another job that he had.
He had worked off and on since he was 15, and at 24 years of age, he had his dream job, a job he could grow in, and a job where they absolutely loved him—amazing to say, especially as a special needs person, where jobs are particularly hard to come by.
And then on March 11—ironically, my mother’s 89th birthday—my son’s world was turned upside down.
He was told not to come to work that day, as the company he worked for was temporarily suspending operations due to the coronavirus.
My son was put on furlough by the company, meaning that his job would still be there when things improved, but as we all know, things did not improve—they actually got worse—and while he has had communication from the company, and participated in a few team-building events held by the firm, for nearly seven months he has not worked, seemingly perpetually on furlough.
During most of this period, the company had been in contact with him, so even though the inactivity produced an emotional and physical strain on him, we always felt that we had to wait this thing out, and he would return to work in due time.
Happily, he did qualify for unemployment, and although he hasn’t worked, he has received some money from the government while he awaited his chance to go back to work.
During the past month or two, he has heard absolutely nothing from his employer, and that was the warning sign that things were not going as we had hoped.
Looking at the calendar, it was going on seven months that he was out of work, and in New York State, once you surpass six months of not working, even if the company that you work for calls it “furlough,” the state considers it to be “unemployed,” and last week, I contacted the Department of Labor about this, and after several hours of waiting on the phone, I finally got through to them, where they confirmed this fact for me.
I was also was able to get an extension of benefits for him—the same extension of benefits that I received during my period of unemployment—sort of like a negative déjà vu for me, been there, done that.
Anyway, with this knowledge, I decided to contact his place of work and ask them about my son’s situation.
I sent them an email, which they never answered.
Giving it about a week, I sent out another email yesterday, another email to the same supervisor my son had when he worked there, and this once happy person—who told me personally that she “loved” my son and “loved” having him work there as part of their team—took a much different approach to my son this time around.
She first apologized for not seeing my original email to her, saying she “must have missed it.”
Then she said what we all know, that these are “different” times in the says of COVID. The company only has a skeleton crew at its place of business, and most employees are working from home during this period—but what my son does as a clerk there does not allow him to work from home.
The company’s work situation remains unresolved at this point in time, and the company might make a decision in January about what to do with employees like my son.
In fact, the supervisor stated in the letter that they would not hold it against him if he looked elsewhere for work.
The end.
It is bad enough that he has been sitting here, waiting for the call for nearly seven months, but the fact of the matter is that if I didn’t contact them and push them for an answer—which they did not “miss” last week as the supervisor told me, they just bought themselves some time by ignoring it—we would not know anything about my son’s work situation, and he would still be sitting here thinking that he would be going back to work in due time.
I kind of found this to be kind of unprofessional in their handling of this, “loving” my son so much that they didn’t have the courtesy—or the cohones—to tell him the truth.
But again, yes, these are times of COVID, and everything has been thrown on its ear by this scourge.
Right now, our goal is to find my son another job, and to get one as soon as possible.
We got the word that we kind of knew was coming, but when it came, it still hurt.
And the only reason why we even got the word is that we pushed for it; it did not come “voluntarily,” for lack of a better explanation.
My son is without a job, and he needs one as soon as possible.
Prior to the coronavirus coming to our consciousness, my son was doing fine.
He was working in a part-time office job that he absolutely loved, after coming out of a bad situation in another job that he had.
He had worked off and on since he was 15, and at 24 years of age, he had his dream job, a job he could grow in, and a job where they absolutely loved him—amazing to say, especially as a special needs person, where jobs are particularly hard to come by.
And then on March 11—ironically, my mother’s 89th birthday—my son’s world was turned upside down.
He was told not to come to work that day, as the company he worked for was temporarily suspending operations due to the coronavirus.
My son was put on furlough by the company, meaning that his job would still be there when things improved, but as we all know, things did not improve—they actually got worse—and while he has had communication from the company, and participated in a few team-building events held by the firm, for nearly seven months he has not worked, seemingly perpetually on furlough.
During most of this period, the company had been in contact with him, so even though the inactivity produced an emotional and physical strain on him, we always felt that we had to wait this thing out, and he would return to work in due time.
Happily, he did qualify for unemployment, and although he hasn’t worked, he has received some money from the government while he awaited his chance to go back to work.
During the past month or two, he has heard absolutely nothing from his employer, and that was the warning sign that things were not going as we had hoped.
Looking at the calendar, it was going on seven months that he was out of work, and in New York State, once you surpass six months of not working, even if the company that you work for calls it “furlough,” the state considers it to be “unemployed,” and last week, I contacted the Department of Labor about this, and after several hours of waiting on the phone, I finally got through to them, where they confirmed this fact for me.
I was also was able to get an extension of benefits for him—the same extension of benefits that I received during my period of unemployment—sort of like a negative déjà vu for me, been there, done that.
Anyway, with this knowledge, I decided to contact his place of work and ask them about my son’s situation.
I sent them an email, which they never answered.
Giving it about a week, I sent out another email yesterday, another email to the same supervisor my son had when he worked there, and this once happy person—who told me personally that she “loved” my son and “loved” having him work there as part of their team—took a much different approach to my son this time around.
She first apologized for not seeing my original email to her, saying she “must have missed it.”
Then she said what we all know, that these are “different” times in the says of COVID. The company only has a skeleton crew at its place of business, and most employees are working from home during this period—but what my son does as a clerk there does not allow him to work from home.
The company’s work situation remains unresolved at this point in time, and the company might make a decision in January about what to do with employees like my son.
In fact, the supervisor stated in the letter that they would not hold it against him if he looked elsewhere for work.
The end.
It is bad enough that he has been sitting here, waiting for the call for nearly seven months, but the fact of the matter is that if I didn’t contact them and push them for an answer—which they did not “miss” last week as the supervisor told me, they just bought themselves some time by ignoring it—we would not know anything about my son’s work situation, and he would still be sitting here thinking that he would be going back to work in due time.
I kind of found this to be kind of unprofessional in their handling of this, “loving” my son so much that they didn’t have the courtesy—or the cohones—to tell him the truth.
But again, yes, these are times of COVID, and everything has been thrown on its ear by this scourge.
Right now, our goal is to find my son another job, and to get one as soon as possible.
I would like him to get another office-based job, but with COVID still lurking, those jobs are probably few and far between.
I contacted a few government agencies, all of which showed me a complete lack of interest when I spoke with them, acting as if my son was “him and a million other guys” or “come join the crowd,” without saying that, or course.
We were promised forms to fill out in my email and an interview with a counselor on the phone, none of which materialized.
I went on social media to ask if anyone had any job openings or clues about what to do, and I received what I expected, the standard replies of “do this, do that,” and yes, we started the ball rolling on that, but things are in such disarray now that the standard “do this, do that” just doesn’t seem to work anymore.
Look, nearly two years ago, my son was in a similar situation, and we met up with a guardian angel who paved the way for him to get this job, someone who we did not know who came completely out of the blue to help my son.
It has always been “who you know,” and I certainly know that in my own personal situation, where I was thrown to the scrap heap of retirement because I did not know anyone who could really help me.
Now I am going through the same thing with my son, and yes, as I mentioned earlier, it is déjà vu all over again,
So if you have any further suggestions, please let me know. We will act on those that we have gotten, but again, the coronavirus has turned everything topsy turvy, and I know from my own personal tirals and tribulations over the past year that it is never easy to find your place without help, and it is even more difficult when you are battling not only empathy, but a horrible virus to boot.
Pray for my son … it might be the only way to beat this thing and get him moving again.
I contacted a few government agencies, all of which showed me a complete lack of interest when I spoke with them, acting as if my son was “him and a million other guys” or “come join the crowd,” without saying that, or course.
We were promised forms to fill out in my email and an interview with a counselor on the phone, none of which materialized.
I went on social media to ask if anyone had any job openings or clues about what to do, and I received what I expected, the standard replies of “do this, do that,” and yes, we started the ball rolling on that, but things are in such disarray now that the standard “do this, do that” just doesn’t seem to work anymore.
Look, nearly two years ago, my son was in a similar situation, and we met up with a guardian angel who paved the way for him to get this job, someone who we did not know who came completely out of the blue to help my son.
It has always been “who you know,” and I certainly know that in my own personal situation, where I was thrown to the scrap heap of retirement because I did not know anyone who could really help me.
Now I am going through the same thing with my son, and yes, as I mentioned earlier, it is déjà vu all over again,
So if you have any further suggestions, please let me know. We will act on those that we have gotten, but again, the coronavirus has turned everything topsy turvy, and I know from my own personal tirals and tribulations over the past year that it is never easy to find your place without help, and it is even more difficult when you are battling not only empathy, but a horrible virus to boot.
Pray for my son … it might be the only way to beat this thing and get him moving again.
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