I got a 6-months internship at a communications agency in September, due to finish in March, with a guaranteed promotion upon the completion of the internship. This was a small company, with less than 100 employees. Everyone was very kind, never once have I had such nice coworkers and superiors. It made me drop my guard and think this is a decent company.
Well, I got into a car accident a month ago, and I had to take 2 weeks of medical leave. I didn’t even want to take the full 2 weeks, I told them I only wanted 3 days so I can adjust to my pain killers, but they said they have a duty of care and to just focus on my recovery. I returned Monday, everything was fine, my team was happy for me to come back. Tuesday I get a scheduled for a short-notice meeting with the HR person (they don’t have a HR department, just 1 person who deals with everything). She had that pained look on her face that I know so well and hate. I was expecting bad news, but I thought maybe the guaranteed promotion was off the table.
No. She gave me less than a week notice that she’s terminating my internship. I asked why, she said they don’t have money to keep paying all the interns (3) so they had to let one go. I asked why me out of the 3, she started to fumble and say something along the lines of I had less billable hours. No shit, you just told me to take a 2 weeks leave and not to worry. Of course I have less hours. This dumbass actually wanted me to keep coming to work until today. Luckily, my direct supervisor was kind and allowed me to go home and leave my equipment, told me they will pay me for the rest of the week and I don’t need to work. To take the time and look for a job. My team was just as blindsided as I was.
Now it’s just before the holidays, no one is hiring before the new year, and I don’t know if I will afford to pay January’s rent. All because I took sick leave I didn’t even want to take. So now the damage is done, and I’ll start avoiding calling in sick at any job unless i’m unconscious or literally in a hospital bed. So yeah, there’s that. Fuck November and I’m glad it’s over. It really was one of the crappiest months I ever had.