If you find yourself in need of time off for treatment, you may find that you sit around pondering the consequences of your request. When it comes to worrying, in regards to treatment, this is more of a personal battle that unfortunately comes with a rather large stigma.
The first thing you need to remember is that it does not matter what kind of treatment you need time off for. You should never delay the treatment and understand that your health, whether physical or mental, takes priority above everything else.
It may be a scary thing for you to address, but you need to realize that when it comes to any treatment, especially treatment for addiction, this is going to be the first step you need to take in order to get to where you need to be.
Protecting Your Job During Addiction Treatment
We understand that the biggest worry you will have, apart from being judged, is whether it will affect your job or not. The truth is, addiction treatment is like any other treatment, and it shouldn’t put your job security at risk.
The first place you should be starting is with the human resources department. Your employer may also have an employee policy or staff handbook, these can be invaluable to you while trying to find out your rights as an employee.
If the company that you work for isn’t large enough to justify an HR department, then your obvious step would be to approach your boss directly. If your company is quite small and personal, this is going to seem like quite a feat to accomplish, trust us when we say, the sooner you talk to them, the better.
If possible, you should attempt to be as open and honest as possible when it comes to talking to your boss, but if this something you do not feel you are able to do, then you aren’t legally obliged to disclose anything you do not want to.
You will often find that the more open you are, the more help and support you will get. Being open with an employer is especially helpful should you need to undertake a residential rehab center.
Centers like this can sometimes house you for up to a year, sometimes longer, and should you not have opened up to your boss, in the beginning, it can be quite tough to explain away a year’s absence.
Getting The Treatment You Are Entitled To Have
The truth is, when it comes to time off work for addiction treatment, you are as entitled as any person is to any other form of treatment. The world has come a long way when it comes to understanding substance abuse, and it’s now, in many cases, classified as an illness or disease.
Understanding should also help you understand that you are entitled to the time off and that while some people may still see a stigma attached to addiction treatment, this is something that won’t affect your time off entitlement.