Question:
Time off for surgery and having established you are looking for other employment?

   — Rebecca B. (posted on March 6, 2002)

March 6, 2002
Oh Rebecca that sounds so scarey! I'm pre-op and have never been in your shoes, but my suggestion would be to not breath a word about your needing time off until you find out if your company has to comply with the Family Leave Act and then once you know for sure (which I really hope for you that they do!) get the paperwork in. I THINK they can't fire you once you've filed the papers. Someone else out there who really knows about this needs to answer your questions. I hope things work out for you!
   — [Anonymous]

March 6, 2002
The FMLA requires employers to provide up to 12 weeks (60 workdays) of unpaid, "protected" leave to employees who must be absent because of a serious health condition. If the employee is able to retrun toi his or her job prior to the expiration of the 12 week period, the FMLA entitles the employee to reinstatement to the same or comparable job. FMLA also required your employer to pay his part of your medical insurance during your leave. Now, in most companies, this coverage is IN ADDITION to other benefits, such as short term disability. For example, my job requires me to be out 5 working days before disability kicks in. So, for those 5 days, I either take vacation days (to get paid for them) or get counted as absent (no pay). You should be able to get ahold to your company employee handbook. As for what you have to tell them, it is minimal. All you are required to tell them is that you need a leave of absence for surgery. You do not have to give them the details (jsut say it's personal if they ask). You will, however, have to tell the administrator of your short term disability. They CAN NOT discuss your case with anyone in your place of employment, including Human Resources. The only people who would know would be you, your Dr. and the disability worker. Hope this info helps !!!
   — Ann O.

March 7, 2002
A few more things about FMLA. 1)Your company is only required to provide coverage under FMLA if they employ 50 or more people within a 75 mile area. 2) An employer can require an employee to use all accrued vacation and personal time while out on FMLA. 3)Technically, FMLA states that it is the employee's duty to give the employer 30 days notice of a foreseeable leave. But, I wouldn't worry too much about that one. Also, this whole agreed upon term date sounds a bit hanky to me. I hate to look at the unfriendly side of things, but if "things aren't working out" , unbeknownst to you there may actually be reasons/issues/incidents that would provide them with a justifiable cause to terminate you at anytime, especially if employment is at will in your state. Unfortunately, I don't put too much faith in any employer to put loyalty over cost, but hopefully that won't be the case in your situation. The one thing that may casue you the most trouble here, is that you already agreed to terminate your employment. Getting back to employment-at-will, unless you have some sort of contractual agreement stating that your employment will not end prior to July 1, there is really nothing that holds the employer to keep you until then. Aside from that, regarding STD: Prior to surgery, you shouldn't have to disclose the reason you will be out. Just tell them you are having surgery. However, at some point, likely prior to your return, you will have to provide documentation from your doctor (including diagnosis and type of treatment) to your STD administrator. I work for a large, global comapny and have returned this paperwork to internal HR (in another city), but I imagine in smaller companies, you may be able to send it directly to the insurance company that's managing the STD plan. The only thing your manager will see is a form or letter from your doctor saying it is okay for you to return to work. No reason need be given. There's a lot of little tricky issues in employment law. To make it even more difficult there are a lot of differences in the laws from state to state and how they are applied can differ depending on certain things, like the size of the company. As a previous poster suggested, read your employee handbook carefully and maybe do some research online where there is a wealth of information. My best wishes to you. Good luck with your job search, but most importantly with your surgery. Right now, your health is the most important thing. Keep that in mind and look forard to a happier future.
   — PaulaM