I'm blessed to even have a job that is able to pay employees “Covid relief pay” if we are able to submit a positive test. They will pay 5-10 days worth of pay for this for any employee.
Yesterday I took a Covid test with a positive result and submitted it to our HR department who assured me in writing that I would receive this pay and to not come into the office. I feel like absolute garbage and was so relieved by this.
This morning, however, my manager reached out to me to ask if I'll work from home to make phone calls all week and essentially work on my coworkers problem files for them all week for the same exact pay that I'd be receiving for just recovering and doing no work. There's no possible way that I can be on the phones all week because even speaking one sentence sends me into a coughing and choking fit that lasts up to 15 minutes. I told them how hard Covid was hitting me and that I've even struggled getting a deep breath.
My job and my department in particular cannot be done from home as we are constantly dealing with paperwork and things that need to be done in-person. If I had a position in which I was able to do my own job from home then I absolutely would've suggested that in the first place.
I am extremely annoyed that they've even asked this of me knowing how sick I am, and knowing that I'm getting paid to stay home and recover. My manager is extremely selfish and gets annoyed with people for being sick all of the time because we are not being “team players.” I worry that if I say no, however, that they somehow won't pay me out for the Covid pay because I had the opportunity to work even though I am physically unfit to do what they are asking of me, essentially for free too since I'm already being paid for the week.
I'm not sure how to even respond at this point. I'm mostly just ranting because I thought they were taking care of their employees. We are overstaffed btw.