I recently got a job on September 15th as a preschool teacher. I had to get fingerprinted in order to complete my background check, and had to pay $40 to get it done. The school director said they’ll reimburse me after 90 days if I stay that long. (I found out this last week that I’m the 5th co-teacher for my class since January of this year). It’s only $13/hr which is considered a good starting point in that field in my area (Deep South, east Texas). Two other schools asked me to come in to interview and we’re both $9/hr.
At my onboarding, the director informed me that if I left and failed to give a two week notice, that my final paycheck would be reduced to minimum wage, $7.25. Also, you get 0 off/sick days your first year and if you’re out sick, you have to provide a doctors note. I rarely get sick so didn’t see this as something to worry about.
I’ve been on time and arrived early/stayed late when needed. The parents seem to really like me and the kids warmed up to me quickly. I genuinely care about my students.
So of course, I’ve been in bed since Friday night with a fever, extreme nausea, severe sinus pressure, and my body aches so badly that I can barely get up from bed. My sweet husband had to make a TeleDoc appointment for me yesterday because I couldn’t get the energy to roll over and make it myself. I knew I wouldn’t be able to go in to work today or tomorrow, so not only do I not get paid for those two days, I had to spend $120 to give a doctors note. There was a mixup with my prescription and the antibiotic wasn’t filled, so I have to wait another day to get it and highly doubt I’ll feel up to going in until Thursday which wasn’t covered on my doctors note.
I completely understand that I just started working there and wasn’t anticipating getting sick. I’m really worried that with how strict they are with doctors notes and 0 sick days, that I’ll be let go if I need another day to recover. I’m not even sure if it’s possible to file for unemployment if I’m fired. I totally get that they have a business to run and I’ve only been there three weeks, but I had no way to know I’d get the flu AND a sinus infection at the same time