I have been off work for a month now because of my mental health deterioration due to my boss’s violence, harassment, and bullying behaviour. After 3 years of being in this situation, I reported him to HR. HR took my 11 page submission proving his behaviour is against policy and said they would meet with me to discuss. HR never showed up on the meeting day. I send another submission with an event that happened the following day with my boss. HR said they received it then nothing more. Naturally, these events have made me skeptical of HR’s helpfulness.
I visit my Nurse Practitioner every 2 weeks for updates and further recommendations to improve my mental health. One of these recommendations was Short Term Disability through CanadaLife (eligible for up to 6 months). My NP and I filled out the required paperwork and submitted it to CanadaLife. Now we are waiting for my employer to submit their statement.
I got in touch with HR today to ask if they have received a form from CanadaLife so they can submit their statement. HR responded that they haven’t heard anything but will reach out to the benefits department. HR called back and stressed to me that EI was an option for me and likely would be a much better option. She didn’t say much about Short Term Disability but did say the waiting period for Long Term Disability was up to 100+ days.
HR has given me reasons not to trust their judgement, but are they right about the Short Term Disability? Is EI the better choice? Is HR trying to avoid a ‘black mark’ on their record by having an employee use the Short Term Disability benefits?