How did you tell

How did you guys tell your employer you needed time off and did you tell y you wanted it? My company I am not sure how i am going to do it. See I have to go to our Nurse and fill out papers and such, but I am afraid she will say Well Michelle WLS is an elective procedure and you wont be covered for the time off. I am a salary employee just moved over from hourly. If i have to use my vacation time it would be December before i would have enough time. Then it would only be 2 weeks.... I wounder how I am going to prove to them I need this done. The time has not even arrived yet and i have not even had my first consult yet. I am just that type of person. I wanna be ready. any suggestions?

It does not matter what the nurse at your company "Thinks." Your physician/surgeon has far more training and authority than any nurse does. What you can do is present a letter from your physician/surgeon to your employer and tell them that you will be having "Surgery." Under Federal laws, your employer has no right to know your personal medical information. All they have a right to is a statement from a doctor saying you will be out of work for ______amount of time due to a necessary medical/surgical procedure. You are not obligated or required to tell them anything more. If they push you, tell them you will let a lawyer deal with them.

Thanks Carolyn... I was under the impression I had to tell all...

The day I got my acceptance letter from the MD I called my boss and told her that I was having the surgery sometime this summer. She was great!! She told me that she was proud of me for making this decision and she would work with me. She told me to take 4 weeks off and then come back to work light duty for 3-4 weeks. I'm a nurse in the Trauma Unit so you see that she really is being great about it. I wanted to tell her ahead of time so that she could make plans to have someone pick up time to cover my shifts. Anne

Michelle, I think you have already received the best advice from others already posting but as for me I told my employer that I was going into the hospital and was unsure of the recovery time but it could be from 2-8 weeks. I also (because of what I do) inquired about the possibility to work from home. I did disclose what type of surgery in a conversation with my boss as he asked from concern not employer solicitation. I figured that if this was approved by the insurance they provided I didn't see how they could make issue anyway and really did not care if they did as I was a "man with a mission" at that point. I would say if you feel that you don't want to disclose the details of your surgery, don't. The employer should not need any "proof" unless your intention is that you are allowed leave with pay (w/o using any sort of leave) then they might want to inquire into details to see when you can return, etc. Also in terms of electivity, if you had to meet medical necessity requirements for your insurance that seems to negate that issue, but this is only my opinion. I'm sure it'll all workout. Sending positive thoughts you way!