Ok so, the nurse at my surgeons office called me today to schedule my CONSULT! YAY! I got the surgeon I wanted too! (Dr. Sydney Hu) DOUBLE YAY!

ANYWHOO, so i went and turned in my absence request for my employer and he told me that he wasnt sure that they would be happy to give me all this time off. So I said "well its for surgery, Im going to HAVE to have some time off" to which he replied "well, we dont HAVE to employ you" uuuuummm....??? say what? what am I supposed to do with that???

Just in case... does anyone know anyone hiring an administrative assistant in the Topeka Kansas area!? lol SHEESH!

Is there anyway to make everyone happy in this scenario??

How big is the office where you work? Are you eligible for FMLA? Did anyone else here his reply? If you are fired over this, you have a nice lawsuit ready to happen.

How much time are you taking off?

There is such a thing called FMLA if you are thinking of taking a lot of time off! Then they can't fire you! What an awful thing to say to someone that is having a medical procedure done. How lame!

Kelly

Ok so, the nurse at my surgeons office called me today to schedule my CONSULT! YAY! I got the surgeon I wanted too! (Dr. Sydney Hu) DOUBLE YAY!

ANYWHOO, so i went and turned in my absence request for my employer and he told me that he wasnt sure that they would be happy to give me all this time off. So I said "well its for surgery, Im going to HAVE to have some time off" to which he replied "well, we dont HAVE to employ you" uuuuummm....??? say what? what am I supposed to do with that???

Just in case... does anyone know anyone hiring an administrative assistant in the Topeka Kansas area!? lol SHEESH!

Is there anyway to make everyone happy in this scenario??

I work from 8-5 M-F and on Monday I left at 3 so that I could go to my psych eval at 3:45. The request I turned in today is for Tuesday and I told him I would be back at work by NOON. Then I told him I would have to take one week off for recovery time. THATS IT! And starting on August 9th I will have 40 hours vacation time! but of course my surgery will be one month early in July. Im not familiar with FMLA.... what is it?

I would have your surgeon put in writing your need for time off for this major surgery. THEN, maybe you could put in for short term disability or even go the FMLA route for up to 3 mos. In the meantime, stack your cards for a fat lawsuit. That was horrible in response to your medical needs. Ronda

FMLA is Family Medical Leave Act

Google it and get the information about it.

And I agree with the other's...start keeping notes about what was said and when. If they fire you. Sue them! They can not do that!

Kelly

I work from 8-5 M-F and on Monday I left at 3 so that I could go to my psych eval at 3:45. The request I turned in today is for Tuesday and I told him I would be back at work by NOON. Then I told him I would have to take one week off for recovery time. THATS IT! And starting on August 9th I will have 40 hours vacation time! but of course my surgery will be one month early in July. Im not familiar with FMLA.... what is it?

The law protects your from being fired if you take off for medical reasons. You just need to get a letter in writing from your doctor. That is horrible you got that reaction. Don't let it stop you though! The sleeve is worth fighting for!!!

lol would it be legal to record the conversation and not tell my boss im recording it? or is that a little too sneaky?

Ok so, the nurse at my surgeons office called me today to schedule my CONSULT! YAY! I got the surgeon I wanted too! (Dr. Sydney Hu) DOUBLE YAY!

ANYWHOO, so i went and turned in my absence request for my employer and he told me that he wasnt sure that they would be happy to give me all this time off. So I said "well its for surgery, Im going to HAVE to have some time off" to which he replied "well, we dont HAVE to employ you" uuuuummm....??? say what? what am I supposed to do with that???

Just in case... does anyone know anyone hiring an administrative assistant in the Topeka Kansas area!? lol SHEESH!

Is there anyway to make everyone happy in this scenario??

Check your Human Resources office about filing for FMLA. That should protect your job.

Hope that helps

i googled FMLA and I dont qualify. i have been with my company 10 months and you have to be employed 12. Go figure. By the time I have my surgery I will have been here 11 months instead of the required 12... CRAP!

FMLA only covers employers with 50+ employees, who employed through 20+ work weeks during this or the last calendar year. And you as an employee have to meet certain criteria to be covered, it is not automatic for everyone. To be covered you must:

1. work for an employer subject to FMLA rules;

2 have worked for that employer for a total of 12 months;

3. have worked at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months;

4. work at a location in the United States or in any territory or possession of the United States where at least 50 employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles.

If the employer & employee criteria are met, then you legally must be granted unpaid leave from work (for qualifiying situations, see more below) without penalty. A lot of people confuse FMLA with STD. Keep in mind FMLA does nothing to pay you, it basically just requires your job is still open to you when you return. There are also only certain situations that qualify for FMLA. People tend to generalize this too much and assume that uncovered situations are covered. Per the gov't:

The Department of Labor defines "serious health condition" as an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental conditions that involves any of the following:

• Any period of incapacity or treatment connected with overnight stays in a hospital or other residential medical care facility, and any period of incapacity or subsequent treatment in connection with such inpatient care.
• Continuing treatment by a health care provider that includes any period of incapacity due to: 1) a health condition (including treatment of, or recovery from) lasting more than three consecutive days, and any subsequent treatment or period of incapacity relating to the same condition; 2) pregnancy or prenatal care; 3) a chronic serious health condition which continues over an extended period of time, requires periodic visits to a doctor or other health care professional, and may involve occasional episodes of incapacity (diabetes, asthma); 4) permanent or long-term conditions for which treatment may not work (cancer, stroke); 5) absences to receive treatments for restorative surgery or for a condition which would likely result in incapacitation for more than three days if not treated (radiation or chemotherapy treatments for cancer).

I didn't mean to duplicate your post, I typed but then was pulled away before I could submit.

OH MAN!! I did not realize that you had not worked for your employer for less than a year. Yeah, you have to work for at least 12 months! SUCK!

Well, still, the sleeve is worth it and if they fire you over having surgery, they are assholes and you can always get another job!

Kelly

i googled FMLA and I dont qualify. i have been with my company 10 months and you have to be employed 12. Go figure. By the time I have my surgery I will have been here 11 months instead of the required 12... CRAP!

I don't know about your area, but jobs are very scarce around here. I don't agree at all with what he said to you, but I know from experience that employers will find other reasons to let you go without getting themselves in trouble legally. Since you have vacation coming up anyway, maybe you should consider waiting till then or seeing if they will compromise due to this being a medical issue and allow you to take vacation early. I am sure you don't want to wait a month, and I understand that completely. Just some things to consider. Good luck!!!!

oh geeze guys... please excuse me for being naiive but, was what he said considered harrassment? or what he just being kind of an A-Hole? Im too nice when it comes to this kind of stuff... I dont really know what to do about it...

He could have said it in a different way, but I don't see anything there that's harassment.

Technically it's true.

Once upon a time I was a director, and our VP liked to tell our staff, "Do it, or your replacement will." I'm too direct of a person to be super super high on the tact charts, but when he would say that it was painful.

As for making people happy -- do you have an option to work from home? As long as you could do your work from a couch in a bathrobe, you could probably return to duties a bit sooner. Is your work such that you can "work ahead" prior to taking the time off so that your absence wouldn't impact business? Would it be possible to push your surgery out until you get PTO? Do you have any company holidays coming up that you could use to your advantage to take up some of the recovery time?