Possible Health/Firing Issue

[sandcat70]

What is the name of your state? Illinois

I work for a major telecommunications company here in Illinois and have for 14 years. I was diagnosed with Diabetes when hired by this company and have since added several health issues. I have severe asthma and seizures. Last year in March I was hospitalized and put on life support for three days and needed to be resesitated. It was discovered that I had a seizure of unknown cause ( possibly diabetes ). During the seizure I fell and shattered mt shoulder and broke my arm. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks and throughout 7 months I had 3 reconstructive surgeries on my shoulder as well as multiple tests for my seizure and a new diabetic program. My return was on October 6th of 2003. The disability was covered and FMLA ran concurrent. Since then I have been off 3 times for asthma and diabetes related issues. On two of those occasions I was not offered FMLA from my manager or anyone else at the company nor could I apply for it myself due to FMLA protocol. On the last occasion I was off 15 days for asthma, diabetes and was put on blood pressure medecine. I requested to take some of those days as vacation to help share the burden and it was approved. When I returned to work I was told I needed to take vacation for all of the days because I didnt have enough hours worked to qualify for FMLA, which I didnt receive untill 3 days later. I had explained that I didnt want to take vacation for all of it and was then dragged into a meeting with 4 managers and a director to be told that I was going to be investigated by Human Resources to see if my time off was legitimate and told I would be put on a performance improvement plan if there was an issue, since I had taken three seperate occasions off work which is against corporate policy and results in a written warning ( PIP ). I had never been reprimanded before for any time off and I am currently very concerned about my job. In the past the director has told managers that they could not have Ill days and that they have to use vacation, which is not company policy or to the best of my knowledge, legal. In addition the director has in the past held people responsible for taking 3 days off at any time and qouting that as being a local policy, which is not the same as corporate policy. I have doctors notes and was told to stay home for this occasion and was prescribed medication. I dont know what to do but I am in fear of losing my job or being targeted. I need some help and legal advice. Thanks

 

[cbg]

I can't quite follow your time line but here's the deal:

If the company has more than 50 employees AND you have worked for them for over 12 months AND you have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours in the last 12 months, you are entitled to UP TO 12 weeks of leave, which can be either paid or unpaid, in a 12 month period, for a serious health condition. There are several different ways that the 12 month period can legally be calculated, but the company MUST use the same method consistantly. As long as you do not exceed the 12 weeks the company is required to reinstate you to the same or an equivalent job. If you use more than 12 weeks within the same 12 month period, it doesn't matter how legitimate the absence, the company is legally entitled to terminate you or, if they choose not to do that, they can put you into a different job that does NOT have to be equivalent.

If the company has less than 50 employees OR you have worked for the company for less than 12 months OR if you did not work 1,250 hours in the last 12 months, you are entitled only to what the company chooses to give you under their company policy. This remains true even if the reason you did not work 1,250 hours is that you were out on legitimate medical leave, whether it was FMLA or not. In this case, you have NO job protection.

In the very large majority of states it IS legal for the employer to require you to take vacation, sick or personal time concurrently with FMLA.

If you are out of FMLA time or if you do not qualify for FMLA to begin with, it doesn't matter whether you have a doctor's note taking you off work or not. A doctor's note is not a get out of jail free card. They are far too easy to come by. There are doctors out there who, when asked for a note excusing someone from work, will say, "Sure, how many days do you want?" (I am NOT suggesting that your note is not legitimate; just explaining why the company is not legally required to honor it.)

Now, with all that in mind, if you still think the company is in violation, would you please CLEARLY post your situation again with the reasons why you think they are in violation, and I'll do my best to help.