What would you do?

[~TN~]

What would you do?

I am out of sick/personal/furlough days for the year but I have 5 vacation days left. My boss tells all of us in the dept. to use personal/sick/furlough days before vacation days because they don't carry over annually even if we are using them for a trip out of town or a holiday, something besides being sick.

I used up all my time except the 5 vacation days & my boss says the next time I call in sick I am getting written up. I mentioned his policy about using our sick/personal days first & he said that is not what the hand book says.

I have not called in sick yet but the fact that I will is inevitable.

My boss & HR have known about my crohn's since my hire date.

It seems to me that if I get written up for being sick they are violating the ADA.

I feel like filing a complaint now against my boss, before I get written up, so it doesn't seem like I am only filing a complaint because I got written up.

What would you do?

 

[kasper87]

I wouldn't do anything till he "fires" you or something harsh..
It's a huge FINE for discriminating a worker or firing them because of a condition.

 

[~TN~]

I wouldn't do anything till he "fires" you or something harsh..
It's a huge FINE for discriminating a worker or firing them because of a condition.

Well, I fear that is on the way. I innocently posed the question "can I be reprimanded for calling in sick even though I have a disibility, cuz my boss says i am going to be written up if I am?" to HR hoping they will see he is being a douche & the set him straight.


I tell ya the BS we have to deal with. :yrolleyes:

 

[bball diva]

I'm not sure where you live, but I had this problem many years ago when I worked for a bank. I contacted FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) for help. They have a portion of this that is for intermittent sick leave, in other words it can be taken whenever you need it, whether one day or a couple of days. If you are on this your boss can't do anything to you. The only downside is that once all of your paid time is gone, every time you take off is unpaid. But, I would rather take an unpaid day that get fired all together.

 

[farm]

If you have been there, full time, for over 1 year you are eligible for FMLA. You need to get started on this ASAP through your HR department so you job is protected.

 

[~TN~]

Thanks for the tip. I have been on FMLA leave once but it was for an extended period. I was not aware of the intermittent leave.

 

[farm]

Well crohns is a def. reason for FMLA. I'm on it now at work and take interm. leave when needed.

 

[ErinDF]

TN...

The ADA requires that your boss make reasonable accomodations for you if you are disabled, which includes generally a reasonable amount of sick-leave (unpaid). BUT, the employer also has the defense of "undue hardship" which means that they will try to paint frequent absences as a serious disruption to the company, yada yada yada. They will also try to say that they fired you for cause...which may be why they are writing you up...

Upshot is...filing and winning an ADA claim is an expensive, time-consuming process. I think talking to HR is a good idea (if you can nip this in the bud before it gets too bad, that is a good thing). As is RECORD-KEEPING. Put all of your interactions with your boss in contemperaneous writing (perhaps e-mail a friend after it has happend) and try to get him to put things in e-mail if you can. Finally, I would start polishing your resume now and perhaps applying for other jobs. If you have a direct boss who is this much of a dick about sick leave, you probably don't really want to work for him anyway. Plus, even if HR nips this in the bud now...you can probably expect a pissed off boss to start laying the ground work to fire you for some other reason.

This might sound bad, but I wouldn't put to much faith in the ability of the ADA to make this entirely right. Litigation is hard, especially for individual litigants, and damages are frequently insufficient to make things entirely right.

Oh...and everyone else is right, you are entitled to intermittant FMLA leave up to 12 weeks over a 12 month period to treat a serious, chronic health condition. This may be taken intermittently to accomodate visits to doctors, short medical incapacity, etc.

http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla/finalrule/NonMilitaryFAQs.pdf Here is a link to a fact sheet abotu the FMLA from the DOL.

Also, if you do end up getting written up (especially if it comes with an ultimatum such as one more sick leave and you're fired) I would consult a platiff's side employment lawyer. Most will give an initial consultation for free or cheap. They can tell you in more detail if you have any kind of case (these things are heavily factually specific).

Good luck!

 

[~TN~]

TN...
Good luck!

Thanks for the good info guys.

I think HR & my bosses boss realize he is being a jerk about everything. I still have paid time-off for crissakes!

Anyway, it has been really stressful dealing with this. In a meeting he told me Crohn's was not a disability & then went on to explain we are an at-will-employment state & that I could be fired basically for no reason.

I have my paper work faxed to my GI so maybe this will be taken care of soon.

Thanks again!