Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jillbean1217]

...but my boss doesn't want me to get tested. That's right. He. doesn't. want. me. to. get. tested.

One of my best friends was just confirmed with a H1N1 test. I have spent every day of the past week with her. Monday, I started feeling a little sick. I don't feel terrible, but I am exhibiting symptoms. Headache, feeling cold, sore throat, stomach issues, the whole lot. Not sure if I have a fever, because I don't have a thermometer. I called my boss to inform him of the situation, and to see if I could go to the doctor in the morning. Two of my coworkers are back in the states, dealing with the loss of a parent, which makes being away from work a little difficult. He says,

"Oh, I'm sorry, but, you know, so-and-so and so-and-so are not here right now, so you cannot go to the hospital. You know the situation."

I know, I'm inconvenient, but really?! I can't go to the doctor?

"I'm sorry, but we have Tamiflu here, so you can just take it. Besides, I don't think you have a fever. You are okay."

What. The. Eff. First of all, I'm not taking your tamiflu without being sure that I need to. I don't want to take drugs, especially ones with increasing numbers of side effects, if I'm not actually sick. Second of all, I have a coworker with a newborn baby. I am kind of worried about infecting him, and having him pass it on to his baby who is less than a week old. I know that two of us are already out, but you're really willing to let me infect all of the teachers, and the students, because you can't deal without me for a morning to go get tested?!

UGH. KOREA.

/rant

[VanIslander]

Are you an adult or a child? Free or a slave?

If you think you are sick, go to the doctor and get tested. Call in sick AFTER you are on your way to the hospital (by text message, no need to argue).

Just get it done.

Simple as bloody hell.

[jillbean1217]

Awesome. Thanks for making assumptions about me.

Who texts their boss to tell them they aren't going to be in? Sounds like something a child would do.

Basically, I can't just not go into work. Maybe that would swing at your place of employment, but contractually I have to give him notice if I'm not going to be in. Also, I don't want to put him in a rough spot by not showing up and having no one there to teach my class.

Thanks for your amazingly constructive advice though. Really helpful.

[VanIslander]

[OiGirl]

If you have the swine flu, yes, you need to "just" not go into work.

Thank God you don't work with me!

[Forward Observer]

JillB,

First, I can understand how you feel right now. Your boss is telling you not to go, you feel sick, you're not sure what's up, etc. etc. it's a tough time for you. On the other hand, I can see that other guy's point. You're an adult, you find the time to go see a doctor. Is your health (and those you could infect) really worth the job? You're a girl, jobs are a dime a dozen in this country. Any boss that treats you this way is a LOSER imo. Just sayin' - do your own thing, but take care of yourself. Your health is the most important thing in the world, no amount of money is worth losing it. Take care of yourself first!

[Maserial]

[zpeanut]

Go into work tomorrow and make sure you look ill. no makeup on, dark circles.. whatever it takes.. cough a lot, in his face maybe?
Then after work, go to the doctor and get treated or at least checked.

Ok, the whole cough in his face thing is very childish, but maybe you need to make him feel a little threatened and that what you're suspicious of could be a reality.

or.. bloody well just go to the doctor now.

[Lolimahro]

I agree that you should just try and go to the doctor. Tell your boss: "I am sick and need to go to the doctor. I have an appointment at X time."

I don't know if you work for a ps or hagwon, but if it's the latter and the parents find out you are sick and haven't seen a doc, they might start pulling out kids and you could lose your job anyway (and it's not guaranteed that you will lose your job if you go to the doc without getting "permission" from your boss in the first place). You should go for the sake of your health in any case. Some patients have caught pneumonia rather quickly from H1N1 and that is how some pretty healthy people have died (or almost died from it).

Whatever the case, I hope you make it to the doctor soon.

[nomad-ish]

go to the hospital asap and get tested. if the results take a little long, call in sick. don't go to work. i've heard that young children (like your co-worker's baby) shouldn't take tamiflu, so if the baby gets sick he/she is even more at risk.

[Draz]

He doesn't want you to go to the doctor because if you test positive, you will be missing a lot more than one morning of work. He could cover the morning no sweat, he's really just worried you will test positive!

[air76]

I agree with VanIslander...if you honestly believe that you might have swine flu and are not just being melodramatic, then you should have gone to the hospital immediately and not worried about what your boss would say.

Most bosses here are all bark and no bite anyhow...he isn't going to fire you for going to the hospital when you are sick...he might threaten to be angry or whatever, but you said yourself he really needs you.

I agree that maybe he shouldn't have called you a child without knowing you, but I do agree that you need to take more responsibility for yourself and shouldn't have worried about asking permission to go to the hospital to check for a communicable disease in the middle of an outbreak. Listening to the advice of Koreans when it comes to your health can be an extraordinarily dangerous venture....even the doctors. You need to be careful here. Most doctors are great at actually performing procedures, but their diagnostic skills are often atrocious.

[Meenam]