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fired while off on Doctors care?

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lilone883

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

After working about 2 months without ever being late, or reprimanded for anything I missed one day of work. I called in because I was having back pain on a Tuesday. I called my boss's cell phone later that day, she didn't answer so I left her a voice mail letting her know that I would be at work the next morning (Wednesday). After not hearing back from my boss I decided that I should call her Wednesday morning on my way to work to make sure that she got the message that I was coming in. She then informed me that if I didn't have a Dr slip specifically stating that I would drive ( I drove bus) then I could not work. I explained that I had a slip from the Dr excusing me from work and that I could come back today with no restrictions. She told me that was not good enough and that I could not work until I got a slip stating that I could drive. I explained to her that it would take me a few days since my Dr was now gone on vacation. I called at least once a day to keep them updated and on Monday I got a call from my boss asking if I could come in to work to talk. I thought they were concerned about my health but they were not. I was told that "I wasn't working out". I asked how I could be fired while off on Doctors orders and was told that I was not being fired because it was within my probationary period. My reply was "well I'm not quitting and your telling me I no longer have a job so what is that? Only answer I got was "it's not working out for us". I had an appointment later that afternoon with my Dr and he would not release me to go back to work.

My question is can I legally be fired under Dr's care?
 


cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
It is a myth that being under a doctor's care provides automatic job protection.

An employee who is eligible for FMLA (you are not) has up to 12 weeks of job protection for a medical condition that qualifies under the statute. Barring a state law (Wisconsin does not have one) or a binding and enforceable contract or CBA that specifically says otherwise, there are no circumstances under which an employer is required to provide more than 12 weeks of leave, no matter how legitimate the need for additional medical leave and no matter how many doctors may be providing care.

An employee who is not eligible for FMLA (this includes you) is entitled to exactly as much medical leave as the employer chooses to provide. Barring a state law (again, Wisconsin does not have one, although their requirements for the state version of FMLA are slightly more employee friendly than Federal), or again barring a binding contract or CBA that says otherwise, an employer, with very few, limited exceptions that do not appear to apply here, is not under any obligation to provide any medical leave at all for employees who are not eligible for FMLA, either the state or Federal version. You qualify for neither.

You can legally be fired for missing work, even for a medical reason and even if you are under a doctor's care.

It may or may not be fair. It may or may not be overkill. It is, without question, legal.
 

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