Have a Date (Oct 14)...What would You Do?

Ok....I WANT to be super excited about the surgery... I AM super excited about it.... BUT I am soooooo afraid that when I turn in my request for time off, my employer is going to deny me!!!! I was talking with some gals in the lunch room today, and my boss was in there too, and I thought "what the heck, if she hears it casually that Im having surgery, it won't be such a blow to her when I ask her to sign my FMLA request before turning it in to HR." Anyway, during the conversation, since I knew she was listening, I turned to her and asked her if I needed to turn in my "Request Time-Off" slip for surgery, or if my FMLA paperwork would be enough. She says to me: "Yes, for any ELECTIVE surgery you must turn one in". In the tone that she said it, it sounded like she may deny me the time off Because: 1. I don't have any accrued vacation time left, and only about a weeks worth of sick time. 2. She considers this ELECTIVE! In a way, yes it is elective, but so is pregnancy to some degree. If my FMLA paperwork is approved can she still deny me? The woman is quite the witch of my department. I've got somewhat of a good raport with her, BUT whatever it is you want to accomplish, she'll set you up for a fall somewhere and somehow! This is a woman who hands back my vacation request 2 weeks before my requested vacation (plane tickets included) when I turned it in 90 days prior! It makes me sick to think that she can deny me when I've come this far! Any advice? Thanks for Listening! Debby

Hi Deborah, I do the FMLA administration at my job and your boss has no choice, she must approve it if you are eligible. Eligibility requires that you are employed for 12 months and you have worked 1250 hours within that 12 months. If you have met the eligibility, this surgery does qualify as a "serious health condition" for more than one reason. A serious health condition, under the FMLA laws,is defied as: 1. An overnight stay in the hospital 2. More than 3 day absent from work, plus 2 or more visits to a ealthcare professional 3. Any chronic condition, Diabetes, Asthma, etc.. 4. Any long term condition, Cancer, arthritis,etc.. 5. Pregnancy You only have to meet one of the above requirements, but it sounds to me that you meet all of them except the pregnancy one. You are able to take 12 weeks per year (your employer chooses what kind of year rolling, calendar, fiscal, etc..) They must give you the (unpaid) time off and they must carry your insurance for you, they cannot ding you on your review rating and they must give you an equivalent job to come back to. If your boss tries to retaliate against you for utilizing your rights under the FMLA, you will have a good case against her, make sure if that happens, you document everything If you need additional information on FMLA, you can go to (www.)dol.gov click on ~topics~ and go to ~Family Medical Leave Act~ You are welcome to email me also if you have more questions. Hope all goes well, Jennifer

Debbie, Is your insurance covering your surgery? This is what I was told on the CA board by a few attorneys and others familiar with our situation. You do NOT have to tell anyone what type of surgery you are having. All you have to do is have a doctors note saying you are under his care for __ # of weeks and cannot return to wor****il ___ date. If you have a human resources deptartment, go to them NOW and tell them what is going on. Remember, you don't have to tell them what kind of surgery you are having. If they ask, tell them, "I'd rather not say." and hope they think it's female problems Good luck to you, Donna

Good luck Debby, I'm October 14th too! I'll be thinking about you! I hope things work out with your boss. Sam