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FMLA Questions

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hholley

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IL

My husband is having major surgery. He is already off of work due to all of the Doctor appts and tests he is going thru. By the time of his surgery, next week, he will have already exhausted all of his sick, vacation and personal time and will have used up about a week of FMLA leave. I know he has 12 weeks of FMLA. It will be close, but if everything goes well, he should be back to work before his FMLA runs out. My question is: If there are complications and he needs to be off of work for any period of time past his FMLA running out, can he be fired? He works for County Government Agency. Thank you. If more information is needed, please ask.
 


cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
If you are talking solely about what the law requires, then no; once his FMLA expires the employer is free to fire him. The law does not require that the employer hold his job for him beyond the limits of FMLA.

The sole exception to the above would be IF the condition also qualifies under the ADA (not all conditions that are covered under FMLA are also covered under the ADA - not all conditions that are covered under the ADA are also covered under FMLA) AND IF a short extension of his leave would allow him to return to work and fulfill all of the essential functions of his position.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
FYI, FMLA time runs concurrently with sick time, vacation time, short term disability, and any other time off used for the medical condition. Sick/vacation/STD benefits allow him to get PAID for the time off - FMLA allows for his job to be protected, and they are only REQUIRED to hold his job for 12 weeks total, not 12 weeks after sick time has been exhausted.

However, just because they CAN legally terminate him after 12 weeks total time off, does not mean they WILL. Many employers will allow employees to return after much longer than 12 weeks, it depends on the total circumstances, the corporate culture, how valued the employee is and even how much it would cost to hire and train a replacement. So don't assume he will get fired just because he will be out longer than allowed.
 

hholley

Junior Member
Thanks for the responses so far. My husband is not union. There is a union at his Dept. but because he is considered management, he is not included. He is having triple bypass surgery so I don't know if that means anything with the ADA and FMLA. He has been there almost twenty years without any problems. He will be on short term disbaility thru his pension while he is off work, or I should say for some of the time. He has to be off of work for a period of time before it kicks in. If everything goes well, this is all a non issue. But, he has a lot on his mind and potentially losing his job is one of his concerns.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Well, it's not something that's within his control either way, so I would just encourage him to NOT stress about his job and just focus 100% of his energy on getting better after surgery.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Many, many employers will hold an employee's job well beyond the 12 week period. My employer will potentially hold it for up to two years, and in some cases longer. The fact that they CAN let an employee go after FMLA expires does not mean they WILL.

As for the ADA, that is a very fact and situtation specific question, and we can't answer here whether your husband's condition would fall under the ADA or not. I can think of situations when it would, and I can think of situations when it wouldn't. Exactly what his job duties are also falls into the mix. IF it looks as if he's going to exhaust if FMLA AND IF it looks as if the employer is looking to term him, then it will be enough time to investigate the ADA.
 

commentator

Senior Member
Best wishes to him and to you. I hope he will heal quickly be able to get back to work . Since he's in management, perhaps he will be able to come back to work sooner since his is probably not an outside or very strenuous job. Unless they were really "gunning" for him, wanted to get rid of him anyhow, most city and county governments are pretty good to their long term employees. I hope this is true in your case.
 

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