Required FMLA in order to use sick days?

[vrwl]

What is the name of your state? Texas

In about 6 weeks, I will be having an elective surgery procedure which has about a 2 week recouperative period. I do not want to disclose to the people at work the type of surgery being performed because it is of a personal nature and I don't feel that it's really anyone's business to know.

I have enough sick time currently accumulated to cover the days off for the surgery and the recouperation, however my company has a policy where if you are going to be off from work more than 3 days and want to use your accumulated sick time, you must apply for FMLA leave.

I really don't want to do this for a couple of reasons: first, because my surgeon would need to fill out a form detailing my medical "condition" which I feel is personal and nobody's business and that form would then be submitted to our HR department; second, it specifically states on the FMLA form that this is for a serious medical condition, which I'm not really sure would be the correct classification for why I'm having the surgery and it's quite possible the FMLA claim would be denied.

Does it sound right that I would have to apply for FMLA leave in order to use my accumulated sick time?

Thanks in advance for you help.

 

[KYSassy]

I worked for a company that did require its employees to file for FMLA even if they had sick days. In our case, a point system was used and unless you filed FMLA, you were docked points for any absences. They also expected an employee to use up any and all sick days and vacation days before filing for short-term disability payments.

 

[Sinsaint26]

You should discuss the situation with HR. Explain what you have explained here, that it is elective surgery and that due to your privacy issues you would rather not go into any details about why the surgery is needed. But be advised that how they handle the situation will most likely be determined by company policy and past practices. If your employer still wants you to apply for FMLA they are within their rights to do so. If you chose not to apply for FMLA your employer could completely deny the leave and if you still chose to go ahead with the surgery, you may be subject to disciplinary action for attendance problems. If I were you, I would get the FMLA application filled out. Whether they deem it a qualifying medical condition is their call. You should also not be worried about people finding out what type of surgery you are having or the reasons behind you having the surgery. Your employer, by law, must not disclose medical information about you to anyone.

 

[vrwl]

When you say they can't disclose my medical information to anyone, do you mean they can't disclose it to anyone outside the company or that they can't disclose it to anyone, whether inside or outside the company?

More importantly, if I get this FMLA form filled out, turn it in to HR and then my supervisor calls HR to find out what kind of surgery I'm having done, HR is not allowed to tell my supervisor?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Beth3]

It is perfectly legitmate for your employer to require you to take FMLA for any absence/leave that qualfies under that law. The fact that you have sick days/sick pay to use for that time is irrelevant.

Medical information on employees the employer may have needs to be kept in confidence and handled on a "need to know" basis. For example, if you had work restrictions, your supervisor would need to know that. Whether or not he'd need to know what your actual medical condition is depends upon what the problem is. If you had MS for example, that has many different symptoms including extreme fatigue and memory loss at times and it might be quite necessary for your supervisor to know that.

What I suggest you do is to go to the appropriate person in HR and tell them you are concerned about your medical information being kept confidential and that you would like them not to share that with anyone, including your supervisor. Assuming your supervisor has no legitimate "need to know" why you're taking leave, I would expect there won't be a problem.