At what point would you tell your employer that you are going to be out for surgery? When you have an actual date?

Also, find out how they handle medical leave ahead of time. I had to use up all vacation, sick time, and paid time off before they would do any paid medical leave.

I talked to HR after my first Doctor's appointment. I have to use sick time first, and then I have short term disability to cover the rest.

This is wonderful advice. You can talk to HR to find out what you are eligible for even before your boss. Remember most surgery is elective and FLMA covers it. I am sure there are exceptions to that rule but WLS is not!

I told my boss after my first consultation because I was going to need a lot of flexibility to go to all my pre-op appointments. He has been super supportive.

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I decided to not mention it until after I see cardio, pulmonary and the pysch doctors.

If for some reason I do not get "cleared" from them I haven't wasted anyone's time.

I told my boss after my first consultation because I was going to need a lot of flexibility to go to all my pre-op appointments. He has been super supportive.

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I did, too. I haven't been here a year yet, so FMLA doesn't cover me, but I have time off and also can work from home as needed. I wanted my boss and I to have plenty of time to plan around it. I'm shooting for mid-August to coincide with my school break. My boss has been super supportive. I wasn't sure she would be, since she's a skinny Minnie who runs marathons, but she totally understood that this is to improve my health. She has been incredible with working around the multitude (it seems) of doctor's visits and such to get this all sorted.

I wish everyone could have a supportive work environment, but if you don't just remember that your first priority is your health, and the HR department can help with a lot of this.

Did anyone do fmla for the surgery? I'm wondering if it would be beneficial for any complications?

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I tried to talk to my boss about fmla today and she said it wasn't covered because it's an elective surgery. Wtf everything I have read says it covered. I'm totally freaking out. I'm going to turn in the papers tomorrow and see what happens.

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It's covered under FMLA. I could have a boob job and request FMLA. They don't have the right to even know the specifics. You're having surgery and your Dr has said you need to be out of work.

Just wanted to update everyone. It is covered my boss was just being difficult. I am so relieved. Got my surgery schedule July 25th!!

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I am ignorant to all of this and just starting the process but I think I have to take a week of PTO and then short term disability kicks in at 60%. What is the advantage to FMLA? That they have to keep your position for you ? Does it affect how much you get paid while off?

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I am ignorant to all of this and just starting the process but I think I have to take a week of PTO and then short term disability kicks in at 60%. What is the advantage to FMLA? That they have to keep your position for you ? Does it affect how much you get paid while off?

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My STD plan was similar there was a waiting period before it kicked in. I could use sick time, vacation time or personal time during that week. I suppose unpaid time could be an option for employees with no PTO.

STD supplements your income. Family and Medical leave Act protects your job. It is very important you get both if you work for an employer covered by FMLA. Most employers are covered unless they are very very small. FMLA gives you the right to take medical leave for yourself or to care for a family member. You can take 3 months of unpaid medical leave in a calendar year (your employer can define the calendar year but most use a rolling calendar year). but employers can ask you to use accrued PTO first before unpaid leave kicks in. Now FMLA will protect your job if you have post op complications or God forbid you or a close family member had an unforeseen medical incident like cancer or a car accident in addition to your WLS. STD and FLMA can be used concurrently. Now when you come back they have to give a job with same pay and work conditions. Usually HR will have some paperwork your doctor will need to fill out to determine it is a real medical leave. But there few reasons they would ever deny particularly with surgery.

When I started having to miss a lot of work because of my pre-op requirements I let my boss know, then let my closest coworkers know. Even though I didn't have a date, I thought it was best to let the boss know what was going on and that I was trying my best to schedule appointments so they didn't interfere with work and that I was trying to get my surgery done while we are out for summer.

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Great information! Thank you ocgirl15

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I am ignorant to all of this and just starting the process but I think I have to take a week of PTO and then short term disability kicks in at 60%. What is the advantage to FMLA? That they have to keep your position for you ? Does it affect how much you get paid while off?

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it protects your job. a woman in my face to face support group did not take FMLA and had some ongoing complications and lost her job.

My FMLA was continuous right after the surgery and covers my appointments for the whole first year complete. so they can not tell me know if I need to go for any kind of follow up at all related. which is good because my PCP has been monitoring my blood pressure as we are slowly taking me off BP meds.

I have several WLS related doctor appointments this month so I decided today to go ahead and let my boss know, even though I don't have a date yet. I told him it would likely be August or September. (REALLY hoping for August)