Hey everyone.
I've never posted here but wanted to crowdsource some thoughts about my situation.
I was scheduled to start work at a new position this week, but recently discovered a lot of black mold in my home. Basically on the floor, on the walls, and the furniture in our bedroom. This was quite alarming as we have a 4 month old baby who sleeps in a cot in our bedroom with us.
We were pretty convinced that this was a structural problem and immediately began trying to organize what we needed to do, whether that being moving out, moving somewhere temporarily, or maybe nothing but some professional cleaning, along with talkong to the doctor about any possible concerns for our baby. Of course, theres not much we can decide firmly on until an inspector comes, which was only possible this morning (Monday).
To compound things, we recently found out from our employers' childcare facilities that we can't be provided with full time care until summer. We were kind of relying on that because where we live childcare always has long waiting lists and we've personally been signed up for over a year now. The implication is that we cant just escape the problem during the work day because someone will have to be at home with our child and we really dont want to risk any more mold exposure for him.
So turning to the work situation, last Friday I thought that the prudent thing to do is to convey my situation to my new employer immediately and let them know that even though I'm totally aware that the timing is terrible, I might have to adapt my schedule to my situation this week in the case that we have to move out. I didnt even say much of anything that specific yet because we didnt know the severity of the problem at the time other than that we might have to rapidly move out.
My boss responds via email by saying that by the guidelines of the organization, I'm allowed one work day for moving. But he made sure to inform me that I'm never allowed to skip work without first receiving his approval and he expects me back in work on Wednesday. So basically, in addition to his incredibly unempathetic response, he also decided for me which day Im allowed to move out should I have to (we would have had to move out on Tuesday so that I could be back on work as usual on Wednesday).
As a side note, I had also asked my employer about the flexibility to work from home until we can be provided with fulltime care. To be clear, I did not ask about working from home full time, but to discuss what options are available so that my partner and I can organize our schedules properly and ensure the baby is never left alone and maybe get a part time care taker. Something that I think is completely reasonable. This was something we had agreed upon during my interview, and now I only want to make a formal schedule. But my employer hasnt even responded to this, which makes it impossible for my partner to organize her work from home schedule in the meantime!
At this point, I'm really wondering what my next move is. My employer is clearly not understanding or sympathetic to employee's with families, especially those with a newborn. I havent signed a contract yet and dont desperately need this job. My thought is to just run far far away in the opposite direction and not look back.
Mold situation seemed to be okay according to the insoector by the way.