Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
I tested positive for Covid on the 17th of January
I woke up that morning dreading work, and realised that my throat felt very sore. I had been out the day before, so I took a home self-test as a precaution. I didn’t make much of it because, other than that, I felt fine.
As I was waiting for the results, I joked with my sister saying, “Wouldn’t it be funny if I tested positive? Then I wouldn’t have to go to work!”
Then the two lines appeared.
I felt scared and my mind jumped all over the place. But I did what I had to do first, and got my sister tested as well. Not surprisingly, she also tested positive.
I immediately informed my boss that I wasn’t able to go to the office
After that I took the next steps: going for an RTK test with my sister, reporting to KKM, and getting our pink wristbands. The whole time I was feeling anxious about a lot of things, like whether or not I was patient zero or if I had contracted it from my friends that I had been out with.
We went running around sorting whatever we had to while I was being bombarded by questions from my boss.
I can understand that he was probably worried about how our office was potentially exposed to the virus, and that he probably wanted to make sure that my colleagues were all okay.
However, I was already very irritated from the gazillion things that I had to get done. The last thing I needed was to be interrogated.
He even asked me if I was able to work despite me telling him I was sick and had a lot of stuff to handle.
The responses from the bosses of my friends who also tested positive were way different
Before, I thought bosses being unsympathetic were a normal thing, and that we staff members just weren’t subjected to much care.
But my sister and some of my friends who had been out with me also tested positive, and when they reported to their bosses, I was shocked to see how differently they were treated.
Seeing these reassured me that my boss was actually just an a**hole.
This wasn’t even the first time that my boss had pressured me to work despite having a Covid scare
A few weeks ago, my MySejahtera app pinged me that I had a casual contact. Both me and my sister had a yellow label on our COVID-19 risk status. When we reported to our bosses, my sister immediately got the greenlight to work from home for the next week and all I got was a pathetic ‘noted’.
After that, I put up a fight and stood up for myself. Only then I was allowed to work from home. I felt like this was something I shouldn’t have had to do – but it was my only choice at the time.
It was clear to me even then that he prioritised efficiency and productivity over the wellbeing of his staff members.
Over the next few days in quarantine, I felt my health deteriorating
I started getting more lethargic, my head constantly ached, and I had every other symptom you’d expect a Covid patient to have.
I did receive texts from my boss checking how I was, but I got the impression that it was more of a “Hurry up, you need to get back to work!”
Again, not an inch of sympathy.
After a few days of back-to-back nudges, I gave in
He asked me again if I was able to work from home, and I eventually obliged just to get him off my back. I figured that there was nothing I could say or do to earn any compassion from this man.
Life goes on, but I wish my boss had taken my health more seriously
Today, I am officially Covid free. Quarantine wasn’t the worst apart from the fact that I had to worry about my job. I’m still not sure whether it was a lack of concern from my boss’ end, or if I was expecting too much from him.
Or maybe I’m just unfortunate to work for someone who couldn’t give a s**t about me.
Either way, if there are any employers reading this right now, it seriously wouldn’t hurt to give a little more care to your employees every once in a while.
For more stories like this, read: How To Let Your Boss Screw Himself Out Of RM45,000
and My Boss Took Credit For Our Good Work And Scapegoated Us When Things Turned South
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