My Impending Job Loss – Part II

Source: AndyCore.com

The good thing is that the thing is still impending. It is now ten weeks since I was told by my boss that they would “transition me” and I had responded that they would have to address me in writing. So far nothing has come in writing. Some efforts are being made to delegate the work assignments. It is our lean season and there is relatively less work load. Most of the assignments given to me were fairly routine, however, there were one or two difficult ones.

Since a lot was said about my poor performance in the past year, I took the effort of compiling some statistics about my in-out dates and find that the performance was, in fact, on par with the previous year and in some cases, there was an improvement. When I mentioned this to the boss, I was told, “The quality of your work has deteriorated!” Well, there are no yardsticks to measure the quality of one’s work. Right now, things seem to have reached a stalemate. The company will not put anything in writing and I will not budge without seeing the letter.

The only action I have so far done is to move out of my downtown apartment into a 1960’s apartment further north. The new place is smaller and is located somewhat far away from the office. For me the advantage is that it is cheaper and the owners allowed me to install safety bars in the shower. Therefore the problem of homelessness has been resolved.

I have been exploring the new neighbourhood and there are some things good and some things not so good. I shall write about my experiences in the new place as time goes by.

Coming back to the job situation – the authorities have ruled that I cannot claim Employment Insurance (EI) or the Ontario Disability Support (ODSP ) if I were to get a disability payment from the insurer. So I need to get a concrete idea of the comparative numbers before I can choose. I understand that all payments are subject to income tax, so there is no escaping the annual ritual of filing a return.

I have also been thinking of setting up a registered charity or non-profit organization that will try and address some of the needs of a person with disabilities. I am being helped in this area by a good friend and mentor, who is well versed in writing up such proposals for the authorities. His name is Vince Dumond and we hope to get this moving soon.

I am also working with another friend – Hanny Hosny – to set up a website for persons with disabilities, seeking to reduce barriers we face in accessing the 3 Es – Education, Employment and Entertainment. The website has been registered and we hope to launch it soon. The proposed name is Able Canada. Look out for www.ablecanada.ca.

Look forward to getting ongoing feedback from you, especially in exploring the possible ways in which the proposed charity/NPO can begin the task of generating careers or businesses for persons with disabilities.