Question:
Ask well Forced to Resign

I have been working at my current job for almost 5 months. I already had insurance through my husband but decided to take my companies insurance because I knew it did not have an "exclusion" like my husbands did. My WLS surgery is scheduled for August 3rd. I put in a request for a leave of absence for 4 weeks and HR said they would let me know. Well, tonight my supervisor called and said that HR wants me to come in and sign a letter of "medical resignation" and then they would rehire me after I was ready to return to work. They said I am a wonderful employee but do not qualify for FMLA yet. Well now that they have done this.... I am upset. I am sure their insurance will have to carry me through my surgery but if I resign I can't file for unemployment. I am sure I will pay for Cobra for a month or too. I am just really confused on what to do. I still have insurance under my husbands insurance; however, if something goes wrong after my Cobra has expired would my husbands insurance be forced to pick up the tab (like a hernia) His insurance does not approve WLS... but will it approval long term medically necessary care? I have so many questions in this post.. I am sorry.. I am nervous about the surgery, mad about my job and confused about aftercare......:) Can anyone helP??????    — Kellie W. (posted on July 28, 2004)

July 27, 2004
This is kinda scary, because if you do take them up on their offer, they really have no obligation to hire you back after you are ready to return to work. Add to that you would not be getting paid during that time. Do you have any sick days or vacation you can use instead? I was only off for two weeks and used sick time for the entire time, but then my company has really good benefits (BTW, I was only on my job for 7 months when I had my surgery). <p> As for whether your husband's ins. covering any possible complications (which you WILL NOT have - I'm thinking positive for you!!), it would probably be best to call and ask. <p> Good Luck, I hope you get it worked out.
   — Ali M

July 27, 2004
I agree this is kind of scary. If you do as the request, I would get 'in writing' that promise to rehire. Keep in mind if you resign, you will not be getting paid and have no benefits other than those you get through Cobra (which is very expensive). I'd question this thoroughly before you proceed. Could you get around the exclusion on your husband's policy?
   — Cathy S.

July 27, 2004
Kelli, Are you having it lap? If so, you could probably get away with just two weeks off provided you don't have a physically demanding job. I agree w/ the vacation, sick time. Do you have any time off built up?
   — mom2jtx3

July 28, 2004
Kellie if I were you I would not take the medical resignation. They would not be obligated to rehire you when you want to return. I suggest you contact your local labor board and see what laws are there to protect your job and insurance coverage.
   — jenafwife

July 28, 2004
I would call my local wage and hour office and see if what they are asking you to do is legal. Once you sign a letter you may be signing rights away. Also, contact a labor lawyer. Most will give you 1 free consult. My daughter was in a job 5 months and had to take time off due to serious medical emergency (not planned) which laid her up for 4 weeks. Her job tried to fire her but the State stepped in and told them they couldn't "can" her in this situation. She wasn't covered under FMLA either. Check your local and State laws.
   — M B.

July 28, 2004
I would not sign that letter. That sounds like a really lousy way to treat a wonderful employee. You aren't eligible for FMLA until you have been employed for 12 months. Why couldn't they grant you unpaid personal leave? (At worst - or use vacation an/or personal days).If you sign that medical resignation letter, your insurance will likely end on the date you sign it, which means they won't have to cover your surgery. And they may decide not to rehire you based on a "pre-existing condition" - the fact that you are recovering froma major surgery! That stinks. If they push it, I would seriously think about getting legal counsel.
   — koogy

July 28, 2004
Realizing that employers, especially small companies, must do what's best for themselves.....this scares me too! It almost screams discrimination doesn't it? I mean, would they make you resign if you had cancer? I seriously doubt it! I would definitely call the labor board and I might even consider contacting Walter Lindstrom (you can Google him and get his contact info) to see if they can legally require you to do this. Lastly, as a previous poster said, I would insist on getting it in writing that they are going to rehire you. I wouldn't be threatening with them but I'd be firm and express concern that they are discriminating against you. You might even ask them if they require cancer patients, pregnant women, people who break their legs, etc. to resign and then come back for rehire. It seems a fair question. This whole things just sounds really fishy to me.
   — ronascott

July 28, 2004
I son't know about you, but I think I would just have my surgery and then call in sick. If nothing else, you would be qualified for the surgery and then your employer would be forced to fire you, making it possible to file for unemployment. It would be on your record, but by explaining the circumstances, you should be fine. I don't know how they could deny a medical leave that is related to surgery. It you are approved due to medical necessity, then it is something you must have for health reasons, not just choice. Hope this helps.
   — Iris P.

July 28, 2004
Sweetie, call an attourney. Promptly. Call it the paranoid liberal in me, but they DO NOT have to hire you back after you quit, no matter what they say, no matter how nice they are now. <br> I work for some wonderfully nice people at a small company, and they actually tried to tell me that they would no longer be offering me healthcare because it costs too much. Over my dead body. That conversation stoppped rather quickly.<br> Your employer is covering their butts, and you need to cover yours, period. If something went wrond, I doubt that your husband's insurance would cover ANYTHING related to a procedure they wouldn't cover in the first place. Call them and ask.
   — kultgirl

July 28, 2004
Just an FYI - http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla/ <br> This is regarding FLMA - you do not qualify after 5 months.
   — kultgirl

July 28, 2004
I wonder if you could postpone your surgery until after you would qualify for FMLA? That way everybody could get what they need. Or possibly you could ask for a mediator to help settle the dispute. Good Luck.
   — Debbie F.

July 28, 2004
I would NOT resign! Instead I'd inquire of the best course to follow with a lawyer!
   — Danmark

July 28, 2004
I agree with the others who have said this is blatant discrimination, but I would check out your rights with your state's labor board. As the others have commented, would they ask you to resign if you had cancer or heart surgery? It just doesn't sound right, particularly if their insurance plan covered it as medically necessary. I have been at my job for 22 years, and 21 at the time of surgery. I went on medical disability, which wasn't all that great financially, but better than nothing. I was covered fully by my benefits and my position was there for me when I returend after 3 weeks. At my place, once you are on benefits, you have the same rights as any employee as far as benefits and leave goes. You might want to ask human resources these questions once you find out from your state what is legally allowable. You don't want to ruffle feathers if you are not armed with the facts. Good luck!
   — Fixnmyself

July 28, 2004
Companies like that make my blood boil! I agree with the others don't sign anything and call an attorney asap. PLEASE let us know what happens. I often wonder what happened after the post. Best of luck to you!!!!!!!!!
   — ZZ S.

July 28, 2004
I've been an HR director for 20 years, and there's no way I would sign a resignation letter. They are correct about FMLA, and they do not have to keep your job for you. However, just because they don't HAVE to hold your job doesn't mean that they CAN'T hold it if they choose to. Unemployment isn't really much of an issue because you can't collect it if you are unable to work, anyway. (I suppose it would help during the period from which you have recoverd medically, but haven't yet found a new job, but won't provide income while you're off recuperating.) If they decide that they won't hold your job, then let them fire you for missing time for a medical reason. That does not reflect badly on you as an employee. As far as COBRA goes, if you run out of COBRA benefits, your husband's group policy has to take you on, but they only have to cover for you what they cover for anyone else. My guess is that something like a hernia would be covered, but some complication more specifically related to WLS might not be covered. You are right to be concerned. I'm not familiar with your state laws, so do check that out. There may be some requirements there that could help you. I would also try to talk to someone in HR and explain my situation. If you're considered a good employee, couldn't they consider holding your job for a short period of time? Would it be worth their time, effort and money to hire and train a new person when you expect to be out such a short time (and ask your surgeon if it's likely that a lesser time period is reasonable--I was out less than two weeks, but a desk job, and lap surgery). Having you resign is in their interests, not yours. If they're serious about hiring you back, why can't they just hold the job? Do a little investigating about your state's rights (call your state department of labor for help, or visit their website), and then have a sit-down heart-to-heart with HR. Best wishes.
   — Vespa R.

July 29, 2004
I had my surgery open but I still could have easily returned to work after 2 weeks (I took 6 wks) if I had a desk type job. I work in psych so I wasn't going to chance it since anything can happen there. It was also nice to have most of last summer off. I would also look into your legal rights because what they are trying to do just doesn't sound right. Good luck.
   — citygirl1971

July 30, 2004
Do not sign anything that even remotely sounds like a resignation. It seems like it is illegal for them to even ask you to do that. The company you work for is a business and only looks out for it's business interests not yours. I would wait until I was eligible for FMLA benefits to have the surgery. Otherwise looks like you'll be unemployed anyways. Good luck with all this.
   — catleth

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