Please help!!!

[Abbey24]

What is the name of your state?Pa

My company has a handbook that says if you get wrote up and have no more problems in six months then the write up will drop off your record. I got wrote up four years ago for attendence but didn't have any more problems. I just got wrote up and my boss says they are gonna use my other write up and that I am on final notice now. Can they not go by there handbook? I don't think its fair. My company has been doing stuff to me sinse I came back from fmla.

 

[Sinsaint26]

If you feel you are being singled out because you took FMLA you can call the Department of Labor in your state. Your post doesn't have enough detail as to the "stuff" your employer has been doing and whether it could constitute retaliation for taking FMLA. If you post what other stuff your employer is doing it might help. I am actually not certain if it is retaliation for taking FMLA or discrimination based on taking FMLA. In any case, it is illegal. As to them going by their company handbook, I believe there is no law that states an employer must follow it's own rules but the company deviating from it's policy does lead one to speculate that it may involve an illegal reason. Maybe cbg or Beth can answer if the employer must follow it's own policies. I do know that in most handbooks there is a statement that the company can deviate from written policies at any time and that they can change policies without notice.

 

[cbg]

An employer can legally not follow their own policies unless the policy is written in such a way as to become a contract.

It is also true that they cannot retaliate against you for taking FMLA. However, I agree with Sinsaint that you have not provided enough information for us to have an informed opinion as to whether this is what's taking place.

If you can post more about the "stuff" they're doing to you, and also explain how long it's been since you came back from FMLA, it would help.

 

[Abbey24]

I was supposed to be on fmal for 11 weeks but my doctor said something was wrong and I need surjury but I can't have it right away so I came back last week until April 18 when I can have the surjury. I am on restricktions sinse I came back but they changed my job so now I do alot of lifting. I told my boss I was in pain and he said I could quit if I can't handel it. I sat down one day cuz I hurt and my boss said if he catchs me sitting he will fire me but later I watched him talk to a guy for 20 minutes who was sitting and he didn't tell him to get up. When I got wrote up for attendence my my boss said I need to get a sitter for my daughter that can handel her cuz I can't leave every time she has a sezure. I got my mom to watch her now so I won't miss work and I told him that but I feel like they are mad that I miss work. My boss even asked what my next vaction is for. It surjury not vacation. My company does this to lots of people. I know at least three other people that all got fired while on fmla. One lady was supposed to have surjury and on her last day her boss said she lyed about doing her job. She tried to show them that she had done her work but someone had emptyed to garbage. She said she would look in the dumpster and show them but they wouldn't let her. The plant superviser said at a meeting one time that if the company wants someone gone they will see to it that they are gone and they will make it so you can't get unemployment ether. He said no one gets unemployment from them.

 

[Sinsaint26]

First of all, if your last write-up had something to do with you being out to care for your daughter after a siezure there may be a problem for your employer, especially if I am reading correctly that your employer knows about your daughter's medical condition. I am assuming your daughter is an epileptic and that is a serious health condition. Your employer should have at least told you that your daughter's condition might be covered under FMLA and given you the proper forms to get filled out.

About the rest of what you wrote. On the face of it, it does seem as though you are being treated differently. The other man might have different job duties that you and that is why he is allowed to sit down. The company may have legitimate reasons why they put you in a different job (you weren't clear in your post but were given a new job or just new added duties?). The other three that were terminated also looks suspect. But your employer will undoubtably say they fired ten other employees who were not on FMLA. Aside from that, your employer will say that they have good documentation regarding those terminations. I hear what you are saying. It does sound like retaliation but you can't rely solely on the fact that three other people were terminated under similar curcumstances.

An employer does not decide who gets UC benefits. I am sure your employer meant that they will document the termination and make sure it is for misconduct which will leave an employee ineligible for benefits. Let me tell you, my employer said something very similar to that. I was accused of misconduct and I got my UC benefits. I highly doubt I was the first employee to get UC benefits in the twelve years that they have been in business. I would bet ten dollars there is an employee that won their UC benefits from this employer.

 

[Abbey24]

I already told my boss that I thought I should get fmla for my daughter but he said I can only have it for me or my daughter so that won't work and they didn't really change my job they just said from now on I have to empty all the garbage cans that are really heavy and lift all the boxes off the skids. We use to all do it but now my boss said I have to do it alone. Everyone else didn't get new jobs just me. the guy my boss was talking to has a different title but we have to do the same job. I not saying I know every reason why people get fired but people don't get fired alot. Most people get fired for real bad stuff like fighting or doing something unsafe. the three people I said about got fired for small stuff. One lady got fired for missing work when she was on fmla! My friend said there are 2 more so that makes five all together.

 

[Sinsaint26]

cbg or Beth can correct me if I am wrong but I believe you can have more than one reason for FMLA so long as you have the doctor's certification that the time off is necessary. I think you should call the Department of Labor about all of this. The number you need to call for PA's DOL is 570-826-6316. Don't be surprised when it says you have reached the Wage and Hour Division. They oversee FMLA issues.

 

[cbg]

You can have more than one reason for FMLA but you don't get 12 weeks per reason. It doesn't matter if you have six valid reasons for FMLA - you still only get 12 weeks in a 12 month period.