Employee Reviews
(Winged ratings measure job satisfaction on scale of 1 to 5)
Anonymous shared this review of Henderson County, North Carolina on Mar 21st, 2016
"This is a county based EMS (emergency medical service) and you would expect some protection working for a government entity. Think again!
I was 29, married and ready to expand my family. My husband and I sat down with our finances and my medical records and decided we wanted to start to try for a baby. I saw all of my doctors the following weeks to prepare them and myself for pregnancy. I contact my health insurance company to find out how much in deductible and co-insurance we would owe. We waited an additional month to mull over the idea of becoming parents. Then we tried, and bam, first try! I was pregnant. I am a county paramedic with heavy lifting, stressful situations, and possible physical danger. Other women where I work were able to get whatever accommodations they had asked for in the past, however, we now had a new boss. I was a high risk pregnancy from the start because of some medical conditions. Little did I know that after I went off the truck (ambulance) and into light duty (safe desk job), I would only get 4 weeks. Despite the 8 ft high by 12 ft across stack of boxes that needed to be sorted, I was told there was no more light duty left for me and sent home and told to consider the 4 weeks a gift since I was originally going to be given 3 weeks. I went off the ambulance at 23 weeks and I left work altogether at 27 weeks. I had only requested a total of 12 weeks of light duty and I knew there was plenty to be done. I was denied the additional 8 weeks, and told that my FMLA will run out shortly after the baby gets here and I may lose my job all together. Additionally, if I wanted to keep my job, I better get back to work as soon as possible to not "force" them into replacing me. This was their accommodation to me. I ended up very sick and in the ICU after my pregnancy. I feel the added stress of possibly losing my job played a roll in my seriously bad pregnancy. Although my husband and I consulted everyone we could think of before trying to get pregnant, apparently we forgot to ask my boss if it was a good time for him. I foolishly assumed since the other women had accommodations, I would too. I was wrong. We consulted 2 attorneys who basically said in North Carolina it is a right to hire/right to fire state and they can do whatever they want. After my son was born 5 weeks premature and in the NICU and the doctors and nurses had heroically saved my life, I decided to forget putting my company first and run the risk of losing my job and stay out the full 3 months for a total of 20 weeks without pay, a serious financial blow to my family with a new baby. I had now taken the "full" 12 weeks other women had (under FMLA) with my newborn before placing him in daycare, though thankfully my parents helped out and daycare was not often needed. I eventually went part time there, and now a full time mom, but that is only because we can afford to do that with my husbands salary now. I am a lucky person to be able to do that. Some are not so lucky and I feel their pain."
Are women & men treated equally?
"No"
Position or Department
Paramedic, Emergency Medical Services
Recent Salary
$25k-$50k
Recent Bonus
$0-$10k
Did you take Maternity leave?
"Yes"
0 Weeks Paid | 4 Weeks Unpaid
Would you recommend Henderson County, North Carolina to other women?
"Maybe"
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