to heck with them all, I'm going for it

I am in so very much pain right now, AF is here for the third time this month and the pain pills aren't even touching it. It took me awhile to get up from the floor and come over here to the puter. I am almost at the point of going to the er and that's not like me, I hate that place. So they told me at work that FMLA won't protect my job cause I can't get it being I haven't been at the company a year. I was going to put the hyst off till next June when my year'll be up but after last night and today with this pain again (and it's getting progressively worse) I cannot do that. I'm going to see the surgeon on Monday Nov 3rd for a consult and I'm gonna get it done asap. I didn't think that if you had to have a procedure that was medically necessary like that and had dr's notes and such that they could let you go. Maybe they can. Either way I can't put this off, my health and sanity come first. If I do lose the job then I'll find something else and I'll just know it was because I was supposed to find a better opportunity. I really like my job, the company, the people I work with, but if they can't work with me on this, oh well. So I guess I'll only be a LIW for a couple more months at the most. To heck with them and their policies, my organs need to come out!!! Granted I came to this decision while I am in an insane amount of pain, but I think it's the right one. I'm putting myself first for once.

-Maggie

I am sorry this pain is making you decide on this surgery now before you have been at your job a year.

Is there anything the dr can do for you to control the pain until you are able to have your surgery?

I know your health is important and it is no fun to be in pain.

I hope everything works out. I will be that all will go well for you.

s

sorry you are having so much pain right now maggiemay. Onme thing you said did strike me as off, so let me just comment on it. It sounded like you were confusing taking time off for medical reasons and FMLA. They are two different things. If you have been there long enough to gather sick time off, then you can indeed take it. You probably have the option of short term disability (i don't recall if there's a waiting period on the job for this). FMLA is designed to protect your position. Yes, there is generally a stipulation that you be employed by the company for a year. But sick time off in general does not have that 1 year stipulation. (to my knowledge). The difference is your position would not be protected, and you may not come back to the same job you had. If that's the case, it should be a comprable position. Comparable is subjective though.

Your health is the most important thing. Talk with your doctor and perhaps there are medical alternatives that haven't been explored yet.

good luck!

BSQ

Maggiemae,

I'm sorry you are in so much pain! You need to take care of yourself first. Your attitude about new opportunities if this current job does not survive your need to take care of your health is good. I will be praying for you also.


You are correct, FMLA only protects your job if you have been with the employer 12 months. However, sick leave and vacation leave will be dictated by your employer's written policies not by any laws and will generally be used up concurrently with FMLA if it applies. The laws will defer to your employer's policies as long as they are not illegal.

Once you have used up whatever accruals you've got on your employer's books then there is the danger that you can lose your job. My suggestion would be to talk to your immediate supervisor first cuz HR is only going to follow the letter of the law in advising you. However, your supervisor may have a lot more to say about it and a lot more pull. For example, one month after hiring a manager at my office, she had to have major surgery and was out a month. We had gone through so much pain and $$ trying to find the right employee for this position that we were willing to wait because we believed she was the one we wanted. That was 3 years ago and she's never disappointed us. so my question to you is how long have you been there? and how valuable does your supervisor consider you? There is always a cost in $$ and braindamage when a company has to replace an employee.

I had a different sort of problem with FMLA. FMLA covers everyone but "key" employees, which is the category I fall into. Once I had done the research and knew I was in danger, I called my bosses at HQ and also spoke to my local division president that I work for. They were all surprised I would be even worried about my job but you never know.....

The reason I am suggesting and sharing all this with you is that one of my functions in my local division is HR administration, among other things. However, just a caution, I'm not an attorney, just trained by my corporate general counsel.

Probably doesn't help much, but I did want to clarify a couple things for you and suggest another approach with your employer.

Good luck and let me know how it goes with your job.
Peg

Maggie,
I'm sorry to hear you are in that much pain. You do sound like you have a good attitude about your employment. Hopefully if they do let you go, you will not hurt financially and will be able to find new employment quickly. I know you will feel 100% better post-op...I do! Please let us know when you go into your doctor and are scheduled.

well I work for a large company and have been there six months now. I am not a key employee but I do know that my supervisor and manager like me and do not wish to lose me. There are several other people there who do the same job I do and the company already has several temps filling some of the positions. I am not worried about getting paid just having a job when I come back, if they have to switch me to a different function that's ok, as long as my pay isn't decreased. As far as sick time, I'll only have about a week saved up by the time I'd like the surg. to be done. As far as any other treatment I have been thru them all to no avail and this is the final option. I will talk to my manager on Monday and then HR if I need to. Either way I have to do this. I am still up and hurting very very bad. Thank you all for your ideas and responses. You all help so much, I don't know what I'd do if I hadn't found this site.
-Maggie

I too am so sorry you are having such a hard time with the pain. As far as your job goes, ask your doctor if you have any rights even though you haven't been there a year. I think it is lame they would let you go for a procedure that you need to have but I guess some people are just jerks and don't care. You definately need to take care of yourself, no one wants to live like that and well I am not sure you can the way you were describing things. I am having my surgery on mon the 3rd, and I so much want it over with, but at the same time I'm thinking about you and thinking that if it gets to the point where you can't move get yourself to the ER and have someone else drive. If there is no one call the ambulance.