Extended Leave
Policies a Winning Move
ORGANIZATIONS AND EMPLOYEES ALIKE CAN BOTH COME OUT AHEAD
When Felicia Shafiq woke one Saturday morning with
chills, she thought she had the flu. Never one to let
a minor illness keep her down, she popped a couple
of Tylenols and headed out to compete in a volleyball
tournament. By evening, lower back pain had set in. But
it wasn’t until breathing became a struggle that she allowed her
mother to take her to the hospital.
Within hours, she was in a coma.
Two weeks later, she woke to learn that she was recovering from
an acute form of pneumonia and a blood infection that almost
killed her.
Gangrenous feet. Huge blisters on the palms of both hands.
A month of dialysis while her kidneys recovered (the back pain
she experienced was her kidneys failing). Amputation of some of
her fingertips. Intense physical therapy to rehabilitate her hands
health & wellness
and feet. And the eventual amputation of both of her legs below
the knees.
Almost as excruciating as her recovery and rehabilitation was being
away from her beloved job. A long-time senior support engineer
at SAP Canada in Vancouver, Shafiq is passionate about her work.
Overall, she spent about a year in the hospital and 3.5 years
away from work. She credits her company’s support as one of the
main things that motivated her to recover and get back to work.
“It wasn’t only my friends and colleagues, but management
and upper management would visit me in the hospital and at
home and send me encouraging emails,” said Shafiq. “The biggest
thing they did was remind me to focus on my recovery and assure
me that my job was secure and would wait for me as long as I
needed to be away. That took a huge weight off my shoulders and
allowed me to focus on recovery.”
By Heather Hudson
“THE KIND OF SUPPORT
AND CARE THAT SAP
GIVES ME MAKES ME
WANT TO GIVE BACK TO
THE COMPANY. I’M MORE
INVOLVED IN DIFFERENT
PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES
AND I’M INTERESTED
IN PARTICIPATING IN
PROJECTS THAT GO BEYOND
THE SCOPE OF MY REGULAR
WORK. IT MOTIVATES
ME TO DO MORE.”
– FELICIA SHAFIQ
Photo courtesy of Felicia Shafiq
Leaves
Part 2
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 ❚ 33