Work Questions

Can anyone help me out with these questions? I am scheduled for surgery on 3/22 and have not told my employer yet. My first question is can you tell the HR dept. that you are having surgery and not state why? I have told the people that I wanted to know (close friends and family) but I know that my job will give me a hard time as we are short handed as it is. Also, is an average time off from work about a month?

Mish, I struggled with this as well when I was pre-op. You don't HAVE TO tell anyone that you are having surgery. It's none of their business (especially with this new 'privacy act' ) You only need say that you will be needing medical leave. Check your employee handbook or call an HR rep and ask what the procedure is. I felt that I had to tell my supervisor and not spring it on her, but did only give her a few days notice (after the insurance approval came.. guess I didn't quite believe it before that. lol good luck on the surgery.. I'm sure you will do great! Keep us posted. T

Hi! Congrats on your upcoming surgery! I didn't have to deal with employer issues. I work at home as a babysitter and I only took 2 weeks off because I couldn't keep the parents hanging. I did tell the parents why I was needing off just so they knew that even though I was going to be back watching the kids after 2 weeks I felt they needed to knwo I would not be up to par for a few weeks. My parents were great about it! Hope

Mish, Boy, did I struggle with this! Talk to your HR. You don't have to tell anyone specifics, but once you give HR your notice that you need time off, they will probably tell you that your supervisor needs to be informed. I ended up telling some of my coworkers and my supervisor. Everyone ended up being extremely supportive. Ken surgery 4/13/04

Mish, Just wanted to pop and and wish you congrats on your upcoming surgery. BTW - I have shared my surgery with very few, feel it is a personal matter. Sometimes I wish I had been a little more open about it, cause now at times I want to shout from the roof tops, but then again there is that other side that wishes to remain private. Best wishes in your decision. Hugs, Tammy

There is no average time. I took ten weeks when Brett offered it. Went back part-time for the first two weeks at work. Certainly glad I took the time to learn the regimen of dining six times a day, and drinking in between. If you going to apply with short-term disability with your employer, your HR dept. will need to get you set-up, in our case I was assigned a specific disability worker who handled all the paper work with me. Once the surgeons signed the disability form, and predicted time back to work form, I notified my management that I would be going out on short-term disability for health reasons returning on specified date. Don't feel guilty about leaving the people at work short-handed. Health is key. You should be a more valuable employee when you return. Rob

Hi, Mish... I also struggled with this. I didn't want everyone at work knowing my business, as it was something I regarded as very personal. I emotionally went back and forth with it...I knew that eventually they would see the pounds flying off...in today's information about gastric bypass, how could I lie to everybody and feel good about myself in doing so? It was times like these that I wished I wasn't out working in the business world. That I could stay at home and take as long as I needed to recover and emerge, without explanations to co-workers. So anyhow, I started telling people bit by bit and found that I received nothing but support and encouragement. Were they whispering behind my back? I don't think so...but if they were, I didn't know about it. As a matter of fact, because I was honest with myself and them, I found that a number of people came up to me to learn more about gastric bypass themsleves. So, in turn, I was helping 'spread the word'!! lol That said, everyone deals with this issue differently. I can only tell you what was best for me personally. I also don't feel differently about anybody else and what decision they made for THEM...we're all different. (((hugs))) -Karen