Give Your Employees A Break Or They May Break

I worked in the bakery department of a supermarket. I had four broken ribs on one side and three bruised ribs on the other. My doctor told me I wasn’t allowed to work as it required heavy lifting and lifting above my head, so I phoned my boss.

Boss: “If you can’t work every time you break your ribs, maybe you don’t belong here!”

So, I went to work the next day, against the doctor’s advice. The boss’s daughter called in sick, so my six-hour shift turned into a nine-and-a-half-hour one. She had a hangover and was seen in the store later that afternoon.

At the end of my shift, I was called into my boss’s office. I lost my job that day, and I didn’t get paid for the overtime, either.

My ribs took almost a year to heal after that. They actually never fully healed, and I am now left with brittle ribs that can break from a bad cough.