First of all: Yes, I realize this is a total first world problem, and I'm very lucky. I apologize if this rant makes me sound like a jerk.

I have my pre-op appointment on Monday, so today I started getting my ducks in a row RE: FMLA. I have read, re-read, and read again our FMLA/leave policies, and one of the provisions we have is that we are allowed to hold back 40 hours of paid leave while on FMLA so that we don't have to exhaust all paid time off for medical reasons. My husband and I love to travel, and are fortunate enough not to technically "need" my salary (I mean, we do, but we can get by without it here and there), so we decided that we could forgo using all of my paid leave for the surgery and save it for vacation. Great, right?

Except today, when I talked to payroll, I was told that I didn't have "enough" PTO banked in order for them to be able to hold any, therefore I have no choice but to use every last minute. When I said that I was willing to take the entire time I'm off without pay and that I understood I would have to still pay my insurance premiums, I was told I can't do that either. I literally told them they don't have to pay me for two weeks, and they we all, "Nope!" That makes NO sense to me. I'm sure there's some kind of legal red tape-y reason why, but that doesn't make it any less dumb.

Edited March 15, 20179 yr by MeltsIntoWonder
Grammar

That doesn't sound right. FMLA if invoked is unpaid leave. You may be able to substitute paid leave at your discretion but as I understand the law you are not required to use paid leave. Hopefully you might find someone else to talk to about this.

For a previous surgery with 6 weeks off, HR approved using up all my sick leave [4 weeks), one of the two weeks of vacation/personal leave, and the remaining one week came from a sick leave pool that former memployees can donate to upon their departure. I think that last week is the reason I had to file FMLA, draft a letter to boss, file updates, and get a doctor release to return. IF I had more time saved up I think I would not have had to file FMLA and had more privacy. I was grateful not getting my pay docked

I know at jobs I've had you can't willingly take leave without pay if you have PTO so I'm not surprised they said you can't. That being said it's frustrating and I'd be irritated too

9 hours ago, travelergirl said:

That doesn't sound right. FMLA if invoked is unpaid leave. You may be able to substitute paid leave at your discretion but as I understand the law you are not required to use paid leave. Hopefully you might find someone else to talk to about this.

It is correct. If it's optional you may choose to use personal time, but an employer can dictate that you use all your personal time first.

Substitution of Paid Leave

Employees may choose to use, or employers may require the employee to use, accrued paid leave to cover some or all of the FMLA leave taken. Employees may choose, or employers may require, the substitution of accrued paid vacation or personal leave for any of the situations covered by FMLA. The substitution of accrued sick or family leave is limited by the employer's policies governing the use of such leave.

https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/1421.htm

From an employer's standpoint it would be difficult to have somebody be off on FML for up to 12 weeks and still have another 2 weeks of vacation. Deal with one crap person that abuses the hell out of FML and you'll understand why employers put that rule in place.

8 minutes ago, orionburn said:

It is correct. If it's optional you may choose to use personal time, but an employer can dictate that you use all your personal time first.

Substitution of Paid Leave

Employees may choose to use, or employers may require the employee to use, accrued paid leave to cover some or all of the FMLA leave taken. Employees may choose, or employers may require, the substitution of accrued paid vacation or personal leave for any of the situations covered by FMLA. The substitution of accrued sick or family leave is limited by the employer's policies governing the use of such leave.

https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/1421.htm

From an employer's standpoint it would be difficult to have somebody be off on FML for up to 12 weeks and still have another 2 weeks of vacation. Deal with one crap person that abuses the hell out of FML and you'll understand why employers put that rule in place.

It actually makes total sense when you put it that way and force me to put my manager hat back on.

Still irritating though.

Oh, believe me I get how it sucks. My surgery was end of January so I've burned up all of my vacation time for this year. I had tried like hell to get it in December but things didn't work out. Just had to accept that this year is going to blow in regards to time off. It's frustrating. I tried the same tactics (just don't pay me), could I work from home, etc. Nothing worked.

That's very helpful. My Labor Relations people told me I couldn't require use of the leave. They said when to invoke fmla and whether to use leave is at employee discretion. I'll follow up with them.

My problem is usually the opposite. People use up their leave first (a day here and there) and then want the 12 weeks fmla off. Then they complain that they aren't getting paid and want some advanced leave.