How do I love thee, job?

[Flea]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]I don't really want to quit, but it's getting in the way of some pretty important Other Things in my life.

I'm lucky enough to work from home staffing a virtual call center. Customer service is supposed to be one of those Hell Jobs, but for the most part I enjoy it. The thing is that I'm about to (at long last!!!) list my condo for sale.

This means two things. First, I need to be able to drop everything and leave on a moment's notice for potential buyers to come through. I already mentioned this to my boss and she bristled. I can't say as I blame her.

Secondly, I want to spend a few weeks in my target city to make sure I really want to live there. It's the dead season for my company and I know from three years' experience that they routinely send workers home after just a couple hours between October and December. You'd think they'd be happy to let me go as one less person to schedule. Instead, my boss insisted that she can only let me go for a total of two weeks. She even had the HR person send me a separate email to that effect. Two weeks simply won't do it, especially since I plan to drive there and back. It's a distance of three time zones.

I freely concede that they have great reasons for not wanting to let me go. It's nothing personal, and I'm not mad at them at all. This has been one of the best jobs I've ever had and I don't want to leave it, but I can't stay in a crack 'hood or put off an exciting life transition for the sake of $8/hour.

I only wish I could identify some kind of middle ground. I could be a complete jerk and force them to give me time off by filing for an FMLA leave. My disability is thoroughly documented, but I've never told them about it. It's ironic, because I've called in sick with "back problems" a few times and would have given anything to be able to be honest about it.

Quitting a job is always a little scary, but this is extra challenging for me with my health. I'm brilliant :supcool: but I absolutely must work from home. Those jobs are hard to find even in good times, especially with a 5-year resume gap. While I visit my target city I plan to drop in on the local Center for Accessible Living and other disability agencies. In the meantime I have my SSDI stipend. It's virtually impossible to live on that, but it still puts me way ahead of your average layoff.

So there you have it. I wouldn't call it a horrible situation, but it's a dilemma to be sure. They did give me the option of quitting and re-applying when I wanted to come back. But in this economy I doubt they'd find room for me in December. I first started this post as a request for advice, but I'm not sure there really is any. Send any good (or thoughtful?) thoughts my way if you'd like.[/FONT]

 

[celtic_crippler]

If your condition existed prior to employement and you hid it, then they would have cause to terminate you for failure to disclose a condition that could/would interfere with you performing your job.

Jobs that enable you to work from home are few and far between. I would suggest you weigh that in your decision making process.

An alternative would be for you to schedule appointments to view you condo in advance and take the time off on those days only. That way you could stretch your vacation time if this is possible. You don't have to "drop everything" at a moments notice. You just need to let your realtor know that viewing is by appointment only. This can slow down the process of selling off your condo, but it could enable you to keep you job in the process.

Do you have a lap top or other PC access that would allow you to perform you job away from your home? If that's the case, then it's a non-issue! Do you have a relative or friend you could stay with while you try to sell your condo that would aslo afford you internet access to perform you job duties?

There are always alternatives....you just have to look for them! Good luck and I hope everything works out for you.

 

[jks9199]

You should be able to schedule the appointments somewhat, rather than being at the beck and call of the realtor. That's just basic courtesy... (And it's something that bothers me because my family once had an open house when I was sick... It really sucks to feel like crap AND then have to vacate the house for several hours...)

I understand why you'd want to make a lengthy visit to the area before moving -- but why can't you make it in two weeks instead of three? Yes, it's a long drive. But it's far from undoable... It seems a lot like your employer worked with you on this issue; a lot of places won't give you even two weeks off at once, without lots of advance notice.

I wouldn't quit and and I wouldn't burn my bridges. Jobs that would allow you to work from home are not exactly common today, especially on limited hours (which I believe you've mentioned somewhere else).

 

[Flea]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica]Thanks all.

I can't bring my job with me either. I asked them about it and they nixed the idea.

I called my realtor this morning and asked him to come over with the paperwork today. He hasn't responded. The contractor called me around 4:30 and said he wouldn't be able to come over for his final tweaks for another couple days at least.

This happened a few months ago when I found the Perfect House locally and came within a few hours of making a formal bid. The day I wanted to do it, we were interrupted by a flash flood. I drove past a couple days later to find a big stack of furniture in the alley out back. :toilclaw: As the years go by I'm learning to recognize divine intercession when I see it; I think the Universe is telling me through all these delays to sllllloooooooowwww dooooooowwwwnnnn. It's a little frustrating, but I've learned to heed that signal. So instead, I had a rich lunch and took a nap. I'm working the rest of the week. I'll just open my heart and see where life takes me.[/FONT]