Employers and Surgery

[KMP85 11]

Ugh its so annoying, I work in health care and as well know health care is notorious and cheap with the vacation time off policies. I always find it amazing in health care how this is. Anyway I have PTO aka Paid Time Off which means all my time off is combined into sick, vacation and personal instead of seperate. Its actually a lot easier and it sucks because if you have a lengthy illness your **** if you wanna go to France. Anyway I cancelld my two week vacation for my surgery so far I am up to 40 hours of PTO by the time I have my surgery it should be about sixty. So yesterday I had to pop into work for something I left my cell charger and I ran into my amazing HR woman and she said that if I waited till December I could off unde FMLA. Which means three months off but its unpaid,. I am only going to be out the longest out of work about a week so there is no reason. What does everyone here advise what I do? Cause my job isnt that physical and honestly Ill just be walking around with a water bottle full of Protein Shakes no biggie. My aunt who had the vertical sleeve was back to work after ten days.

[Indymom 132]

Do you have a medical leave policy or any short-term disability available in case for some reason you're unable to return to work within a week? I am having my surgery on a Wednesday and plan to take Weds-Fri PTO and then work from home Monday (and maybe Tuesday if needed) so I'll have 6-7 days away from the office in a row. My short-term disability wouldn't kick in until the 8th consecutive day of an illness so I have to use PTO until then - but I'll go ahead and submit for a disability claim just in case I need to be off longer.

If you don't have disability coverage and you're not yet eligible for FMLA, you should probably read your employer's policy pretty closely. Not that they would do this, but in theory if you exhaust your PTO time and you're not yet FMLA eligible, your employment could be terminated (again, not likely to happen but I believe in having all your ducks in a row on the front end!).

[KMP85 11]

Thanks for being realstic. I doubt that any of this will happen. I have short term disability from my employee and a personal policy. I should be back in no later than ten days. It might be worth waiting for FMLA i am waiting to see because all of my surgery clearnace stuff isnt done yet.

Do you have a medical leave policy or any short-term disability available in case for some reason you're unable to return to work within a week? I am having my surgery on a Wednesday and plan to take Weds-Fri PTO and then work from home Monday (and maybe Tuesday if needed) so I'll have 6-7 days away from the office in a row. My short-term disability wouldn't kick in until the 8th consecutive day of an illness so I have to use PTO until then - but I'll go ahead and submit for a disability claim just in case I need to be off longer.

If you don't have disability coverage and you're not yet eligible for FMLA, you should probably read your employer's policy pretty closely. Not that they would do this, but in theory if you exhaust your PTO time and you're not yet FMLA eligible, your employment could be terminated (again, not likely to happen but I believe in having all your ducks in a row on the front end!).

[Indymom 132]

If you have short-term disability you should be in good shape either way. Good luck!

[VSG4aHealthierMe 6]

Ok, my brain is cranking all kinds of things out at the moment but only 1 thing is making a whole lot of sense that hasn't already been mentioned. 40 hours PTO in one weeks pay. You keep saying that you will only need off 10 days, right. Well can you take 1 week vaca and have them schedule you off the first 3 day of week 2? My reasoning is you will be paid for week 1 then the first 2 days of week 2 would be like your regularly scheduled off days. Then you would only be short 1 day of pay.

FYI, you don't have to wait until Dec for FMLA. Its there everyday of every year to be used. Sometimes, like this, you can give your employer a heads up, other times its an emergency situation with no notice. They don't only offer it certain months. I don't know when your surgery date is but if they are trying to get you to hold off by telling you its only available to you if you wait until Dec they are bold face lying to you. Also, you son't have to take the full 3 months. You just have to get a note from your doc releasing you to return to work

Hope I helped somehow. Good luck!

[ldydrgnkpr 49]

I took two weeks. The HR staff where I work suggested FMLA. Which is great in case I needed more time off. Thankfully I didn't. I returned full time no restrictions. ( I have a sedentary job.)

Deb

[Ruby 26]

I am going back a week after surgery.. i believe I will be okay.. my hubby will be driving me in to work...

[GreginMI 76]

Are you sure you have to wait 8 days for your disability to kick in? That's the way mine is UNLESS you're in the hospital the first day of your claim so mine paid from day 1 because my first day of disability was my day of surgery and I was hospitalized. Maybe something to look into.

Do you have a medical leave policy or any short-term disability available in case for some reason you're unable to return to work within a week? I am having my surgery on a Wednesday and plan to take Weds-Fri PTO and then work from home Monday (and maybe Tuesday if needed) so I'll have 6-7 days away from the office in a row. My short-term disability wouldn't kick in until the 8th consecutive day of an illness so I have to use PTO until then - but I'll go ahead and submit for a disability claim just in case I need to be off longer.

If you don't have disability coverage and you're not yet eligible for FMLA, you should probably read your employer's policy pretty closely. Not that they would do this, but in theory if you exhaust your PTO time and you're not yet FMLA eligible, your employment could be terminated (again, not likely to happen but I believe in having all your ducks in a row on the front end!).

[Indymom 132]

Are you sure you have to wait 8 days for your disability to kick in? That's the way mine is UNLESS you're in the hospital the first day of your claim so mine paid from day 1 because my first day of disability was my day of surgery and I was hospitalized. Maybe something to look into.

Yep, I double-checked with HR today. It's not a big deal as I have loads of PTO banked . . .

[MeMeMEEE 206]

I have 4 days off - but I am taking unpaid FMLA. My Doctor says 4 weeks off and he may consider 2 weeks because I work from home. I am pretty sure I will take as much as he will give, we will just have to be frugal. My disability kicks in after 21 days so I will have 4 days paid at the beginning and a week paid 60% at the end, 2 weeks 1 day unpaid in the middle.

[GreenEyedMamma 5]

I planned for one week but ended up being off for two because I had an allergic reaction to the scrub soap and I was miserable. Had that not happened, I would have been back to work after a week. I am not a sit at home for days on end person so after one week I was going insane. My job has a short-term disability plan that pays you 100% of your salary for the first 8 weeks of time off. This kicks in after you have been out of work for more than seven consecutive days. Check to see if you have this option. Your doctor can write a note that says you will be disabled for a period of time.

The Family Medical Leave Act is available whenever you need it. I would shy away from it though because your employer does not have to guarantee your same position when you come back to work if you take advantage of the full 12 weeks. All they are liable for is to make sure you have a position that is similar in nature with the same pay. Just a thought.

Good luck on your journey. It is an AMAZING ride.

[YouKant4GetMe 1]

I'm confused. Can you please explain the difference between the fmla and the short term disablity? I have FMLA for my Migraines that I use on a weekly basis unfortunately, which means I'll be out of FMLA before my year is up for it and probably cant use it for surgery... how does short term disability work? Sorry for being a dummy.

[HDubSleevery 25]

E is an fmla requirement that you have at least a certain number of hours with the employer. I think it is 1250? I'm not sure when you started with your job but they may be saying December because you are not yet eligible under the federal law.

Fmla is the family medical leave act. The federal government requires all employers over a certain size to comply with this law. I think it is 10 employees minimum. Fmla gives employees the right to apply for job protection due to illness, pregnancy, or to care for a family member with an illness. If you meet the criteria your employer must grant you up to 12 weeks of leave to return to work. The leave can be paid or unpaid according to individual company policy.

Short term disability pays your wages upon illness or accident.