Comments on: Bill would allow AWOL state employees to keep jobs

By: plasmajam

plasmajam — Sat, 04 Apr 2015 00:33:15 +0000

The CA State “AWOL Statute” is mostly a management tool to get rid of Employees. I should know. I was in a car accident and called my supervisor from the scene. My car was a total loss and I went straight to the hospital with a sore neck, which was diagnosed as whiplash (cliche’, i know).
I called my supervisor and he stated to me, “Go to the hospital right now. You just worry about getting well and bring your doctor’s note when you come back to work, we know where you live, ha ha. Just worry about getting better.”
After I recover from my injury, I returned to duty with my doctor’s note and I am told to leave as I have been “AWOL separated/ terminated”.
My supervisor claims he didn’t know about my leave, nor did he approve it….and I called him every other day to keep him informed of my condition. He LIED. I DIED (Not really, but inside, I did).
I am a US Army Veteran and have a legit disability covered by FMLA and the ADA. But, management HATES the fact that I can “Take any day off, whenever I choose” (Their words. Not reality). They do not understand what FMLA is for, I would venture to guess. They tried to get rid of me for years, hoping I would leave their hostile environment. I would not. I stayed and dodged the bullets.
Well, I got hit. AWOL separated after 18 1/2 yrs with the State. The day after Christmas. They laughed at my request for any pay beyond the $700.00 they gave me for unused sick time. I am out of a job and my wife just had a mastectomy. Our insurance is gone. I am burning through my 401k. I’d rather be back out in the desert.
Anyway, this appeals process referred to in the article is a safeguard for the behavior of state managers, who often are ignorant of Union contracts’ agreements with the State. I suspect they figured I was “draining the state coffers of cash”, due to my disability…. and wanted my termination on their office wall for all the other managers to see.
He’s being hailed as a hero.
My only chance is to go before a Judge and explain myself. CA state doctrine is to believe the supervisor/director’s determination (The appointing power) over an employee. I have the burden of proof and it’s my word against theirs. BTW, I was not allowed back inside the facility to retrieve any physical evidence for my hearing. They got me good.
And I was 1 1/2 yrs away from retirement.

By: Rex the Wonderdog!

Rex the Wonderdog! — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 01:07:15 +0000

My seesaw, you certainly are vocal here 😉

By: Rex the Wonderdog!

Rex the Wonderdog! — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 01:04:46 +0000

In reply to Rev_Rock. Rev_Rock, don't try to converse or engage seesaw with logic or common sense, you are much better off just ramming your head into a brick wall and calling it a day ;)

By: SeeSaw

SeeSaw — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 21:49:39 +0000

Joe, the Constitution has nothing to do with regular work rules–that is for the MOU’s.

By: SeeSaw

SeeSaw — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 21:44:45 +0000

BillBS, How about we take all the workers from all the retail establishments who are not on the, respective, merchandise floors of those establishments, (unlike it used to be) to help the customers, and send them to the government offices where the public will be helped by an employee, immediately. Then the counterpart government workers can go to those retail establishments and disappear, while the customers are wandering around looking for help.

By: SeeSaw

SeeSaw — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 21:36:23 +0000

As I said before, I doubt that this Bill has come up for no reason whatsoever. Somebody, somewhere, was probably in a situation where they could not get word to the employer, and then they were terminated without a fair hearing. (An adult child of mine was a crime victim in another state several years ago–I did not even know about it for three days, until he regained consciousness, and was able to give the medical personnel some phone numbers to call.) Obviously, a usual worker at a usual job is not going to decide, out of the blue, to take a spontaneous vacation without notification to the employer, unless he/she is locked into some unusual circumstances or suffering a mental breakdown due to a specific trauma–it happened where I worked.

By: S Moderation Douglas

S Moderation Douglas — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 20:12:35 +0000

In reply to John Seiler.

There are a lot of things I would like government to do better than they do. And some things I wish they would not try to do at all.

But it’s a far stretch from that to “the government produces nothing of value,”

yeah, cheap shot.

By: John Seiler

John Seiler — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 17:17:09 +0000

In reply to S Moderation Douglas. "Cheap shot"? "Anecdotal examples"? I provided links to studies for both govt. failures I mentioned.

By: CB

CB — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 14:53:35 +0000

It’s already happening anyway…. I have personal experience with being stuck doing someone else’s job as well as my own because she didn’t show up for a month… didn’t call in, nothing. After a month, the process was started to terminate her employment with UCD Med Center due to “job abandonment”. Ridiculous!!

By: Chrisxman

Chrisxman — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 12:23:41 +0000

AWOL is good description of their normal work in Sacramento. .