Feeling so worried...

[reallynervous]

My dh works in Route Sales for a bread manufacturer. As I have shared previously he has been having cardiac issues since the day after Christmas 2005. He initially was off work for a couple of months, but was able to return to work to his regular job. While he works long hours, his job involves a good deal of walking which his MD feels is a good thing for him.

Since he has been ill, it takes him longer to do his route. He just can't keep up the pace he previously did. He is on a lot of medications for his heart and they really slow him down. He has been working longer hours over the past year due to this. He is paid commission, so it hasn't been an issue of needing overtime. He hasn't had any of his stores complain that he is coming later. He has been working these hours for a year or so.

Recently he had some time off and the guy who covered for him got done earlier. Now one of his managers told his supervisor to tell him that if the other guy (who is mid-20s with no heart condition) can get done earlier, he wants dh done earlier too. They are wanting him to knock a couple of hours off his day. Yesterday was his first day he tried to do so and he was so exhausted last night. He still didn't make the deadline, but he continued on so his stores were served. I am sure the person covering his route did do it more quickly as he is younger and dh also said he didn't do some of the stores. In addition, dh has established good relationships with his stores which result in him having higher sales, so he does talk with the store managers, etc to maintain those relationships. That all takes time.

I am so very worried. We need his job, especially for his insurance. All of this planning in our BK is based upon his income. If he doesn't have a job making the same amount of money, we likely would need to let the house go. Do you think we should hold off a little while and see what happens with all this before we proceed with the BK? I just don't understand what is going on. If there have been no complaints, this makes no sense. Believe me, dh would rather get home earlier. I would rather he get home earlier, as we have 2
children who hardly see him at all on the days he works.

I am so worried about the added stress on dh's health. I worry that he hasn't told me something as he knows how stressed out I have been. I just want this all to end. Most days I feel like I can't even breathe lately.

I feel like we were finally starting to head toward a light at the end of the tunnel and now this. I just wanted some opinions on what you might do if you were in our shoes.

Thanks,
reallynervous

[BKOnce]

1) Tell his managers/sup. that he has heart problems & the other guy missed couple stores.

2) They can not fire him based on health condition reasons (if given early notice) because if they would, then he can sue back for work discrimination based on age/health reason (when they compared his work with younger person).

3) They can not fire him based on bad performance reason because all his customers are still happy with his work as of now, and he had been doing this for long time. Even go to court, manager/sup. will loose the battle because he can prove with client witness his satisfied performances.

4) Ignore & proceed with BK as usual.

5) Tell him to slow down to save his life/health rather than worry.

[Minnymouth]

Questions.....
1. If DH paid by the hour? Thus lots of overtime hours? If he is salaried, then the overtime should not be an issue at all......

2. Is this company aware of his health issues...... often a company wants to "dump" you after you start having health/age issues..... against the law!!!

3. DH needs to have a sit-down with management and discuss "what they are unhappy about....... what their "issues" are?

4. He needs to stand up for himself - not be run-over by a younger guy..... younger doesn't always mean "better".........

As long as hubby is capable of doing his job, doing it correctly, and getting it done (overtime may be an issue)..... there is no reason for them to replace him. His sales should speak for themselves.....

I'm sure all of this worries your spouse......added stress he doesn't really need, but a man has to work if possible..... and society will let him!!

Keep us posted as to what goes with this..... and in the mean time DO CHECK with a couple of more attorneys and see what they too have to say about your situation and bankruptcy......

This will give you a better idea..... no all attorneys think alike..... and some are interested in the money end of it only (meaning Chapter 13)......

Keep us posted.

[SinkingFast]

We have a friend who bought his own bread route. That is not a salaried or hourly position.

Really's hubby gets paid based on sales in the stores he services. Schmoozing store managers goes along with the job. Sometimes the bread guy has to talk a store into extra shelf space for a new product or an end cap for a special buy.

The job is also physically taxing. Flats of bread and buns are heavy. The more you can carry at one time, the quicker you can stock and move on to the next store.

A similar thing happened to my Brother. He was in truck parts sales and would call on clients. Then he had a heart attack and was off for an extended period of time. By the time he got back to calling on customers, many had arranged contracts with competitors. A lot of his clients he never won back.

Really,........... Wait as long as you can to file. If you aren't under the gun from some Creditor, a law suit pending, or your house is in foreclosure and you need to stop it,....... Then don't worry about filing just yet. Let time be your friend and file when you need to. Not a minute before.

Hopefully all this will shake out and Hubby will be just fine. Financially and health wise.

[reallynervous]

Yes, Sinking has described the position well. He gets no overtime pay. He receives a minimal weekly salary (just $100) and the rest of his pay is a percentage of his sales. As she stated, spending time talking with the store managers is important. Yesterday he was able to talk to a district manager for one of his stores and they have agreed to allow him to set up extra racks for the whole summer. That is great for him AND HIS COMPANY.

The physical aspects of the job are as she described as well. It is a pretty taxing job, but dh's MD is fine with it as he has been doing it with the understanding that he needs to limit the number of trays he carries, etc which means he needs to make more trips. He puts in over 10 miles a day walking, but that is healthy.

Minnie, his company is aware of his health issues as he was initially off work for 2 months when he was first dx'd. They were very supportive at that time. They may think he is better than he is as he hasn't had to take any time off for MD appts, etc for at least 6 months as we have been working around his schedule (he is off Weds & works Sats).

He didn't make his deadline again yesterday and he was pretty frustrated. He is already feeling awful this week because his blood thinners have his blood way too thin again. I told him last night that I would help him write out some thoughts and that he could ask to speak to his Supervisor next week. We are going to list out what stores were not done when he was off, as well as the new business he was able to drum up this week with the time he spends with the store managers, etc. Hopefully that will help.

We actually have already paid our attorney the full amount for a 7 as we had planned to file by the end of the month. I am going to wait until we have a little more info next week and then call the paralegal and see what advise they have too. We don't have any lawsuits pending and are current on our house. We have notified our creditors via phone that we are filing, though. We also have already done the pre-BK counseling, but we could repeat that if it runs out in the interim. However dh's sales are typically higher in the summer, so we will have to watch on our six month income numbers as well as the I vs J numbers.

Thanks for the advise & support! You guys are great!
reallynervous