Labor Day

I will be celebrating Labor Day as an unemployed person with a disability. I’ve been trying to find a steady job for five years. I’m qualified for customer service and there aren’t any positions for that in my small town of less than three-thousand people. The closest location with possible jobs is forty-five minutes away. Because of my PTSD I don’t work well in a high traffic office at the front desk. That narrows down the job opportunities even further. Statistics show that disabled individuals are more likely to be unemployed or employed part time. That’s the situation I’m in.

I do substitute teach in elementary school and I absolutely love working with children. Substitute teaching though is an on call position and I need steady hours if I’m going to have any kind of gainful employment. Recently I had a successful interview at a child care facility and I’m waiting on their call. The problem is they are a Christian school. This means if they find out I’m a Neo-Pagan I can be fired.

“The Missouri Human Rights Act (the Act) prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion in hiring, firing, and other terms and conditions of employment… but does not include corporations and associations 100 percent owned and operated by religious or sectarian groups that require all its employees to be a member of the religion or sect.”

https://labor.mo.gov/mohumanrights/Discrimination/religion Emphasis that of the website.

I also got a call for an interview in customer service. It would be an at home job and save me a ton of gas money. My tasks would include answering calls and placing orders. They wouldn’t care about my religion but I’m not guaranteed a job there until I pass several interviews. My instincts tell me to hold out for the customer service job.

So all in all being a Pagan and disabled has greatly narrowed down my employment opportunities. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to work. I do and it really bothers me when I hear people call the unemployed lazy. They don’t know our circumstances.