I didn't really know where else to put this. I feel like I really want to let this out because no one I know can really understand the situation I am in and since this community is mostly left-wing, anti-capitalist and against employee exploitation, I figured I give this a go.
I don't want to disclose so much so I will make sure to be a bit vague. I am a 25 year old gay man and come from a country where people like me can be persecuted. I suffered massive amount of PTSD, depression and anxiety, and worked really really hard to get out of there. I even had to put my unaccepting family, who I was always brought up to love no matter what, at a distance. I struggled so much to get a job and finally landed one in this small company. It all started off well but then I realized how they were exploiting us. For months we have been working so much because they don't have enough staff. I can't remember the last Sunday I didn't have to work. It's been so hectic. I get if they are going through a rough time because many employees left. But the least they could do is increase our pay or give us bonuses but nope! Worst part is, the immigration laws in this country are so tight that most companies don't want to pay so much to hire immigrants. It took me literally 11 months to land this job. I got rejected from others because they weren't willing to pay for visa sponsorship. Anyway, I had dealt with worse situations so I was still bearing to deal with all of this.
I got into a relationship in the beginning of this year and he is literally all I had to look forward to. But in the mid of september he got diagnosed with cancer. My mental health has since been terrible. And annoyingly, the week after he got diagnosed is when many employees left the company and now we are left to pick up all of their projects and deal with massive amount of client complains because its so hard to have 4 or 5 projects on your shoulders… But I have still been giving it my best. My manager even said I could take a leave on the day he was diagnosed but I came in anyway because I didn't want more customers to be upset. I just wish for a second I could get some appreciation for the work I have been doing despite everything I am going through. I had a mental breakdown at work few weeks ago because of my boyfriend's situation and because workload was just getting too much and customers were complaining. I heard some employees mocked that I am a mess. I was so pissed off. I would like to see them deal with massive amount of work stress while their significant other is in the hospital fighting a fatal disease.
On friday afternoon before my break, I was emailing a customer and asking them if they would like to schedule a meeting on monday. Then when I returned from my break, another employee wanted to get on a call to discuss this other project they are working with me on (it was urgent), after I was done with that call, my friend told me the CEO was pissed off that I didn't create the meeting link yet (Literally it had only been 2 hrs since I got the meeting confirmation from the client. I would have obviously created the meeting link before signing off for the day).. He told me the CEO told him “Why hasn't he created the meeting yet! you need to be strict and assertive with him! I know he is going through a lot with his boyfriend having cancer but we can't spoon-feed him!” and literally the client called the CEO an hour later to thank her for all the effort my team and I have been putting to make sure they are happy! I was so pissed off she said something like this! just because I didn't respond to an email straight away and was dealing with another emergency! Last week I couldn't even go to see my boyfriend at the hospital because I had to work extra hours.
Thing that makes me feel worse than anything is, I can't even take time off work! If I even told the company I need to step away for a while to deal with my mental health and take care of my boyfriend, my visa will become invalid. I am nothing but a work machine. And if I dont drain myself for this company and job for the crappy salary I'm on, I could get fired which means going back to the country where my life could be in danger because I'm gay.