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Antiwork

You’ve Got Some Nerve, Having A Death On Company Time

My mother died a couple of weeks ago. As her Durable Power of Attorney it was my responsibility to fly out, meet with her medical team, make end of life decisions, and make all funeral arrangements, close bank accounts, etc. This all happened suddenly, and Mom had the temerity to take her downward turn while I was at work. My boss required me to formally apply for a leave of absence (LOA) because otherwise “this will affect your attendance.” So while dealing with all of my mother's stuff and trying to help my sister through this I am now also trying to navigate the evils of HR and the LOA team. They want an 8 page document from her doctor with details of my mom's medical conditions. I don't even remember the name of the hospital she was at. I spoke with 5 different doctors and social workers. The death…


My mother died a couple of weeks ago. As her Durable Power of Attorney it was my responsibility to fly out, meet with her medical team, make end of life decisions, and make all funeral arrangements, close bank accounts, etc. This all happened suddenly, and Mom had the temerity to take her downward turn while I was at work.

My boss required me to formally apply for a leave of absence (LOA) because otherwise “this will affect your attendance.” So while dealing with all of my mother's stuff and trying to help my sister through this I am now also trying to navigate the evils of HR and the LOA team. They want an 8 page document from her doctor with details of my mom's medical conditions. I don't even remember the name of the hospital she was at. I spoke with 5 different doctors and social workers. The death certificates haven't been issued. The LOA people are probably going to deny my leave for failing to magically produce paperwork I don't have. Let's not even get into what a HIPAA violation this is.

My boss graciously says she will still “allow” me 24 hours (2 days) of bereavement leave, but anything after that and I use PTO, and I'll be down for unplanned absences from work.

She also said she feels like I have a bad attitude and don't respect her.

And somewhere in all of this mess, I lost my mom.

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