[Concluded] I got in a car accident because my company insisted I do an event in a remote town during a blizzard [AAM]

Title: I got in a car accident because my company insisted I do an event in a remote town during a blizzard

I am NOT OP.

Originally posted to: Ask A Manager Jan 9, 2017

Trigger Warning: ::: spoiler spoiler Car Accident, Employer doesn't care about employee health :::

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Original Post: Jan 9, 2017

I have a part-time job with a promo company sampling food or drinks at events/stores/wherever the brand being sampled pays us to go. The company is SUPER adamant that we do every shift we sign up for or find coverage on our own. My contract flat-out says that if I am in the hospital, they need to see the bill as proof.

Well, I had an event last night during the blizzard that hit my area. It was in this TINY remote town that you have to take back roads to get to. I talked to the store and my employer, but they would not cancel it.

Unsurprisingly, the event was a total bust — no one was coming into this store and I barely gave out any samples, let alone sold anything.

After the event, on my drive home, I hit a patch of black ice and went off the road into a telephone pole. I am okay – just some bumps, bruises, and scratches (my glasses broke). But I’m already feeling sore today and my car is definitely messed up.

I haven’t told my company what happened yet. They are not liable (I signed a form when I started) and that’s fine; I’m not in a lawyer-up-and-make-them-pay rage or anything. But I am really upset they had me do this event – with that location, it would have been a slow one in good weather, let alone bad.

I’m also upset because I know I will be required to find coverage for the shifts I signed up for in the upcoming weeks. I can’t do them if I don’t have a car.

How to I calmly approach all this with my manager? What do I say? How do I express how upset I am without sounding accusatory or rude? I know I’m likely to get emotional no matter what; it was a really stressful experience that I’m going to have to address again and again as I deal with the insurance claims and bills in the next few weeks.

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Update #1: Dec 26, 2018

I can’t believe it’s already been 2 years since my letter! To confirm what many people guessed, I was a part-time independent contractor for this company. I shared in the original comments how I told my manager I was in an accident driving home from the event and wouldn’t be able to work for a while. She simply told me to let her know when I could work again and to find someone to cover my upcoming shifts. I tried to push for the company to figure out my shifts but ultimately I had to find coverage myself.

Then I actually couldn’t work for quite some time. By the time I was able to go back to that job, I honestly just wanted nothing to do with them and I quit instead. I mentioned in my resignation how I felt their weather policy is dangerous and they should consider giving the employee some say in if it is safe to drive. My manager didn’t even acknowledge what I said – basically just gave me an “okay, I’ll take you off our lists.”

The funny thing is they NEVER took me off their email list/job board despite several reminders from me. I still get their emails to this day! Most of their emails now are either pleas for someone to take upcoming shifts, about adding/losing clients (they seem to go cycle through clients quickly), offering incentives if you refer a friend to work for them, or sharing that X manager has left “because they couldn’t handle the hours/stress/work-life-balance” or some other kind of aggressive-sounding statement. So, draw your own conclusions there (I certainly have).

But enough about them! I mentioned before that I couldn’t work for a while – it turned out I actually hurt my shoulder pretty bad. I ended up needing surgery and then was in physical therapy for several months. So 2017 was pretty rough.

I have made a full recovery at this point and (finally!) this summer was able to re-join my favorite sport. Plus, my full-time job was SO amazing during this time. They let me work from home while my car was in the shop, gave me all the time I needed for the surgery, didn’t deduct any PTO for my Physical Therapy sessions, and let me work from home on days I was just really sore. I also got a significant raise this year despite all of this craziness in 2017 :)

The whole experience has made me so appreciative of good companies that actually care for employees. In case anyone still needs to hear it: if you don’t put an effort into your people, they’re not going to put an effort into your company!

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Update #2: Sep 26, 2019

I had to laugh (and immediately send you an update!) when I received this text message today:

“Hi OP. This is Jane, your manager from Promotion Company. Did you see my email yesterday? We still have some open shifts this weekend! Please text (or email) me your availability so we can get them filled!”

Wow!!! No one from that company has texted me since shortly after my update in December 2018. Someone suggested I start replying questioning their policies again and that worked like a charm to get them to stop contacting me (great suggestion!). I assumed they finally figured out that I really don’t work there anymore!

Out of curiosity, I just checked my filtered emails… and YUP. I’m STILL getting their emails! Multiple a week. Too funny.

I texted Jane back letting her know I quit over 2 years ago and moved out of state several months ago (which is the only state they’re active in). Maybe that’ll finally stop them?!

Otherwise, I’m still at the same wonderful company that got me through my original injury in late 2016; I moved to a different location for my spouse’s new job earlier this year (and now I get to work from home half the week as well!).

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This is a repost community, I am not OP!