Hello, all! I'm new here, so please forgive me if I'm asking a question that has already been asked. I'm curious to know how much time you guys took off for your surgery.

Also, does anyone in CA know if leave is covered under FML (Family Medical Leave)? A co-worker who recently underwent LapBand used FML but said most companies require a doctor's note (she submitted hers to the HR dept. but had a CA doctor). So if I were to go to Mexico for WLS, would I need a note from the Mexican surgeon? Has anyone been through this?

Thanks for any info you can provide! I'm new to all of this. Good luck to everyone on your journey!

I put in to take two weeks off through my disability at work. FMLA is available, just keep in mind it is not paid. If you have short term disability then you can get paid while you are out. I'm not sure that it matters where you have your surgery, so you might want to check on that.

Hello, all! I'm new here, so please forgive me if I'm asking a question that has already been asked. I'm curious to know how much time you guys took off for your surgery.

Also, does anyone in CA know if leave is covered under FML (Family Medical Leave)? A co-worker who recently underwent LapBand used FML but said most companies require a doctor's note (she submitted hers to the HR dept. but had a CA doctor). So if I were to go to Mexico for WLS, would I need a note from the Mexican surgeon? Has anyone been through this?

Thanks for any info you can provide! I'm new to all of this. Good luck to everyone on your journey!

I took 2 weeks off. . . i could have gone back in one week, but hey, i had 2 weeks coming with pay. . . so i took it and boy am i glad i did!!!

I took a week and a half off work. Had my surgery on a Wednesday, took off the rest of that week and all the following week. I could easily have gone back to work the first Monday, but was glad to have the extra time to get used to my sleeve.

I took vacation time because I wanted to keep my surgery private.

Hi Mariah,

I work in Human Resources for a government agency in CA. There is Federal Family Leave (FMLA) and CA Paid Family Leave (PFL). PFL is income replacement and does not protect your job. FMLA is job protection, but not income replacement. The leaves will often run concurrently if you are eligible. Since you will be out for your own serious illness, you should be eigible, but you will need a note from your physician. This is typically a pretty standard thing for medical offices so I am sure if you ask the Mexican doctor he will be able to send it to you. Keep in mind, that you may be required to use up to two week (definitely one) of your own leave balances so you really won't get a lot since you won't be out that long.

I encourage you to contact your HR department ASAP and ask what the requirements are. They may have their own forms to complete and you probably only want to contact your doctors office once about this.

Cherice

Thanks for the responses, all. My HR dept. is now a call center in India so if I can avoid calling them, I will. I'll probably end up using vacation time, which is fine. I'm hoping if I get the surgery I won't have tons on complications and need to take extra time off from work. Fingers crossed!