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You're not an idiot. FMLA is an acronym for the Family Medical Leave Act, which, in a nutshell, allows a person to take leave from work for their own illness, or that of a family member, without being penalized. There are some requirements, such as having worked for an employer for at least a year and working for a company that employs a certain amount of people. It can be used up to 12 weeks a year, either continuously, or intermittently. I, myself use intermittent FMLA because 1.) I cannot afford to take a continuous leave unpaid, and 2.) I don't have symptoms related to my condition that are so bad every single day that I cannot work, and I like to try to retain some semblance of normalcy in my life. Like the OP, I don't like using it, but it helps people make a contribution to the workplace when the only other options seem to be to get canned from the job, or giving up and going on disability.
An excellent summary.
In the case of the OP, they should always be under FMLA. Every time the doctors authority expires, get a new auth. That way any lateness or absence is covered by FMLA and the employers stupid point system won't kick in.
I worked for a Fortune 100 company for 18 years and there was no sick leave. Whether or not calling off due to illness was accepted was totally up to the discretion of individual managers. Some were generous, others were calling you at home trying to catch you in a lie any time you called in and said you were ill. I left work once briefly in the afternoon for a doctor's appointment. Per our protocol, I left word with my boss's secretary that I would be gone for about two hours and gave her the doctor's phone number (but not name, which I didn't think was anyone's business) in case of an emergency (pre-cell phones). I also left her with a written status on all the projects I had on my desk.
My "doctor's appointment" was an interview with a therapist I was considering seeing because I was so stressed out, mainly from work pressure. While I was in with the therapist, her secretary knocked on the door. She apologized profusely for interrupting the session and said I had an "emergency call" from my office. I took the call in front of the therapist on purpose. As I suspected, it was my boss calling to ask specifically where I was and when I would be back. I calmly replied, "I gave that information to your secretary along with a status report on all my projects. As I told her, I'll be back by 4 p.m. And obviously you now know where I am since you called the number I left with her." I thought the therapist's eyes were going to bug out of her head. She said after I hung up, "Is your boss like that all the time?" When I replied in the affirmative she said, "Well I guess I just had a demonstration of why your stress is through the roof." I really felt my privacy had been violated by the boss's nosiness because she now knew the doctor I was seeing was a psych person. But had I left a fake number, I would have been in even more trouble. Needless to say, I started looking for a new job shortly thereafter.
No doubt that manager would be furious if her medical appointment was interrupted in such a manner. I am sure you found a better job or will very soon!
I worked for a Fortune 100 company for 18 years and there was no sick leave. Whether or not calling off due to illness was accepted was totally up to the discretion of individual managers. Some were generous, others were calling you at home trying to catch you in a lie any time you called in and said you were ill. I left work once briefly in the afternoon for a doctor's appointment. Per our protocol, I left word with my boss's secretary that I would be gone for about two hours and gave her the doctor's phone number (but not name, which I didn't think was anyone's business) in case of an emergency (pre-cell phones). I also left her with a written status on all the projects I had on my desk.
My "doctor's appointment" was an interview with a therapist I was considering seeing because I was so stressed out, mainly from work pressure. While I was in with the therapist, her secretary knocked on the door. She apologized profusely for interrupting the session and said I had an "emergency call" from my office. I took the call in front of the therapist on purpose. As I suspected, it was my boss calling to ask specifically where I was and when I would be back. I calmly replied, "I gave that information to your secretary along with a status report on all my projects. As I told her, I'll be back by 4 p.m. And obviously you now know where I am since you called the number I left with her." I thought the therapist's eyes were going to bug out of her head. She said after I hung up, "Is your boss like that all the time?" When I replied in the affirmative she said, "Well I guess I just had a demonstration of why your stress is through the roof." I really felt my privacy had been violated by the boss's nosiness because she now knew the doctor I was seeing was a psych person. But had I left a fake number, I would have been in even more trouble. Needless to say, I started looking for a new job shortly thereafter.
That really stinks. I count my blessings I get 2 weeks of sick leave and 3 weeks of vacation per year! Only 3 days of sick leave roll over per year though.
You're not an idiot. FMLA is an acronym for the Family Medical Leave Act, which, in a nutshell, allows a person to take leave from work for their own illness, or that of a family member, without being penalized. There are some requirements, such as having worked for an employer for at least a year and working for a company that employs a certain amount of people. It can be used up to 12 weeks a year, either continuously, or intermittently. I, myself use intermittent FMLA because 1.) I cannot afford to take a continuous leave unpaid, and 2.) I don't have symptoms related to my condition that are so bad every single day that I cannot work, and I like to try to retain some semblance of normalcy in my life. Like the OP, I don't like using it, but it helps people make a contribution to the workplace when the only other options seem to be to get canned from the job, or giving up and going on disability.
Ah, gotcha!
Never knew what it was, and honestly it doesn't apply to me at all.
We are both self employed so that's a no go right off the bat.
In the case of the OP, they should always be under FMLA. Every time the doctors authority expires, get a new auth. That way any lateness or absence is covered by FMLA and the employers stupid point system won't kick in.
Why is the point system stupid? It's holding the employees accountable. Haven't we all worked with someone who is chronically late or absent? These policies have a place.
I worked for a Fortune 100 company for 18 years and there was no sick leave. Whether or not calling off due to illness was accepted was totally up to the discretion of individual managers. Some were generous, others were calling you at home trying to catch you in a lie any time you called in and said you were ill. I left work once briefly in the afternoon for a doctor's appointment. Per our protocol, I left word with my boss's secretary that I would be gone for about two hours and gave her the doctor's phone number (but not name, which I didn't think was anyone's business) in case of an emergency (pre-cell phones). I also left her with a written status on all the projects I had on my desk.
My "doctor's appointment" was an interview with a therapist I was considering seeing because I was so stressed out, mainly from work pressure. While I was in with the therapist, her secretary knocked on the door. She apologized profusely for interrupting the session and said I had an "emergency call" from my office. I took the call in front of the therapist on purpose. As I suspected, it was my boss calling to ask specifically where I was and when I would be back. I calmly replied, "I gave that information to your secretary along with a status report on all my projects. As I told her, I'll be back by 4 p.m. And obviously you now know where I am since you called the number I left with her." I thought the therapist's eyes were going to bug out of her head. She said after I hung up, "Is your boss like that all the time?" When I replied in the affirmative she said, "Well I guess I just had a demonstration of why your stress is through the roof." I really felt my privacy had been violated by the boss's nosiness because she now knew the doctor I was seeing was a psych person. But had I left a fake number, I would have been in even more trouble. Needless to say, I started looking for a new job shortly thereafter.
What a terrible experience. I wonder if the managers that try to "catch people in a lie" realize that they themselves are costing the company more WRT attrition, health care costs due to stress, and lost productivity than they gain by sleuthing? And, I know that managers aren't always directly involved in choosing who reports to them, but if they can't trust their people, why hire them in the first place?
I realize that business needs dictate that they employees need to be reliable, but at the same time, people get sick, people have day care issues, and no matter what contingencies one has in place, things happen beyond out control. When I was in management, if someone called in sick, we were to call them and try to get them to come in anyway. I had someone call out for a UTI (and yes, I know how painful those can be). I called her and jokingly told her to come on in with her cranberry juice...and she did it! I really appreciated it, but I felt awful. There's one company, which I will not name, that will have someone come to your door if you call in sick, to make sure that you are truly sick. WTH? I have loads of stories like this.
Sure, there are people out there that abuse attendance policies, but they should be dealt with individually, instead of making the whole company feel like a bunch of criminals.
What a terrible experience. I wonder if the managers that try to "catch people in a lie" realize that they themselves are costing the company more WRT attrition, health care costs due to stress, and lost productivity than they gain by sleuthing? And, I know that managers aren't always directly involved in choosing who reports to them, but if they can't trust their people, why hire them in the first place?
I realize that business needs dictate that they employees need to be reliable, but at the same time, people get sick, people have day care issues, and no matter what contingencies one has in place, things happen beyond out control. When I was in management, if someone called in sick, we were to call them and try to get them to come in anyway. I had someone call out for a UTI (and yes, I know how painful those can be). I called her and jokingly told her to come on in with her cranberry juice...and she did it! I really appreciated it, but I felt awful. There's one company, which I will not name, that will have someone come to your door if you call in sick, to make sure that you are truly sick. WTH? I have loads of stories like this.
Sure, there are people out there that abuse attendance policies, but they should be dealt with individually, instead of making the whole company feel like a bunch of criminals.
I used to work at a company whose "unofficial" policy was that if you called in sick the boss would either call you at home to make sure that you were actually there or drive to your home to make sure that your car was there.
It finally stopped when the employees banded together and agreed among ourselves that we would always disconnect our phones (let the answering machine pick up the call) when we were home sick because we would be sleeping (the suggestion came from someone who got into trouble because she didn't answer her phone because she really was sleeping).
Their "unofficial" policy sucks. When people would call out, most of the time I wouldn't call back, and when my boss asked, I would just say it went to voicemail. If someone already called me and said that it's coming out both ends, I am going to leave them alone. Good God. How is badgering them going to help? We had supervisors that were so paranoid about our attendance policy (team attendance counted agaist our numbers) that there were people offering to give their employees rides to work, babysit their kids - it was nuts.
And driving to an employee's house? They don't always live locally. I've had employees that lived a good hour or so from the office. How does it help anything if it takes me a two-hour round trip just to spy on someone? If one of my bosses told me I had to do that, I would have told them where they can stick it. It's not inconceivable that the person would go to the pharmacy, or even the ER. Sometimes the people pushing that BS downhill are complete idiots.
What really gets me is that, when I've truly had a "problem employee", THAT'S when my boss would say "Do you think that corrective action sends the right message?" Well, in this case, YES. I've had someone call in sick, saw them in the BAR later that night, and the girl bought me a drink. But there was nothing I could do about it? Another girl was late because "she was food shopping and didn't want her ice cream to melt." I've had many an argument with higher ups about this crap.
I got so sick of it I quit that position with nothing lined up, if only for my sanity. That location is no longer there. Wonder why.
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