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Subject:RE: Medical Disability/Contracting/Jobs From:<tech -dot- writer1 -at- verizon -dot- net> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Fri, 08 Jun 2007 15:16:14 -0500 (CDT)
I'm normally in good health, but a couple of years ago I became quite ill after the company I work for moved to another office complex. I had a bad upper respiratory infection and was out sick for almost two weeks.
I have a pretty sensitive nose, and before the illness I had casually mentioned to HR that I was noticing musty smells around.
Some months later, portable air purifiers with HEPA filters began showing up in every work area. I suspect others had gotten ill and complained as well, though it was never openly discussed. The maintenance guy told me they tried to get the landlord to install some kind of filtering in the HVAC, but the landlord wouldn't do it. With the air filters, everything is much better.
An air purifier sounds like a reasonable accommodation to me. As far as employment possibilities, maybe try a government job that sticks to a 40 hour schedule, or a university research lab job. In some states I have lived in, temp/contract jobs that pay an hourly rate require the employer to pay time and a half beyond 40 hours, so that discourages a lot of employers from asking people to work more than 40 hours in a work week. If that is the situation in your state, try that route.
Good luck, and I hope things work out well for you.
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