i am a healthcare worker in illinois. up until now, i worked for a company called sunrise senior living in their at home home care division. i worked for the company for 16 months. during this time, i have been exposed to hepatitis c, c. diff, and various other illnesses. the problem is that the company itself does not provide protective gear such as gloves, gowns, etc. most of our clients are in one of the companies assisted living facilities, which does provide gloves, but for the clients who were in a private homes, the family was expected to provide these things. if the family didn't, which many of them don't, we, the aides are to provide them. there is also the issue of injuries due to not having proper equippment to transfer a client. since we are supposed to be "assisted living", the facilities owned and operated by sunrise do not have any kind of mechanical lifting devices. therefore, we, the workers, are to get bedbound and heavy lift clients up out of bed or wheelchairs or whatever on our own, and usually without a gait belt of some sort. this is very strenuous on the back.
finally, the staffing coordinator for our office has intimidated me since i first mentioned looking for another job about 9 months ago. she would always put guilt trips on me saying things like i won't find a job that will put up with me, look at what this company has done for me, what have i done for this company, if i stay, she will give me overtime or gas cards, and that i can't work for them and for another company at the same time. i used her for references for jobs, and i guess she gave me bad references because i never got called back for any job after the references were called. the job i didn't use her as a reference for, i got hired that same day. she would also put guilt trips on me to work double shifts (95 percent of the shifts were 12 hour shifts and no shift gets a break), saying things like she couldn't find anyone else to relieve me or to cover another case and i had to stay (or go on to the next case) because she would get in trouble if it wasn't covered. one time during a training session, i asked if there was a way us caregivers could get some form of mileage compensation, and in front of all the other caregivers, i was told i was already making 10 dollars an hour, which is more than everyone else, and i was guaranteed 32 hours a week (although there were times i didn't get it), and what more did i want? i was told in front of everyone that because of my wages and benefits i was actually costing the company money by working with them and i had no reason to ask these questions (i also asked at that time why mother's day was a paid holiday and father's day wasn't). the next day, the executive director and recruiter called me into the office and badgered me about asking these questions. i was told to keep my mouth shut because everyone else would start asking these questions. i just want to know if any of this stuff is legal because i want to be better prepared in case i end up working for another company like this one