Question:
I have a question for all of you HR people out there about returning to work!

Okay, I'm going to try to make this as short as possible. I was let go from my company about 1 month ago. There were a lot of other people let go also. The reason they let us go wasn't very ethical. Needless to say someone, either labor relations or an atty. put them in the hot seat & now all of a sudden they are calling us back & offering us our old jobs back. Kind of a strange situation! Well, when I was let go a month ago it couldn't have been at a worse time. I was just getting approval from my insurance comany for the WLS. Now, I had no other choice but to stay on COBRA until I got this surgery done. The surgeon I am going to is IMPOSSIBLE to get into. I have been waiting for over a year now. I explained my situation to the Drs. office about being unemployed & they were totally unwilling to work with me. So, I finally am starting my pre-op testing & they said I could probably expect a surgery date not until JUNE!!!!!! Well, now my old job is calling me back at once again the worst time. I advised the HR manager when she offered my job back that I will be having a surgery & will need time off to recover. I didn't tell her what kind of surgery it was though. I explained to her that I just wanted to be upfront with them. They have a real STRICT occurance policy even from before & I've heard horror stories of them giving people a hard time about getting time off for medical things no matter what it was. When I told the HR manager about the surgery she got kind of quite & didn't know what to say. We do have STD & from what I understand they will treat us like we never left as far as eligability for STD & vacations & so on. No probationary period in other words. She said she would talk to the director about this. Now I'm between a rock & a hard place. I would really like to have my job back. After all of that, my question is can they legally retract my job offer due to the fact I told them I was going to have A (notice non-specific) surgery after they offered me my job back after letting me go obviously unjustly? This is SUCH a mess!! I refuse to let anyone from prevent me from having this surgery. I was going to try to have this surgery while I was off so I had time to recover & wouldn't have to fight with my new employer about getting time off if need be. It's not my fault that my old company made mistakes & decided to call us back!! Any info. or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!    — [Anonymous] (posted on February 19, 2002)

February 19, 2002
You have a very difficult question to answer. A good HR department never give people a hard time about medically necessary surgeries! Most don't give a hard time for any reason. The good thing, as you said, is the fact that they are suddenly calling people back who were fired unjustly means that someone has called them on their past practices. They are probably on their toes about doing the wrong thing. We could all comment on this, but you will really have to wait and see what they do now that you have told them about the surgery. If they do suddenly pull back the job offer, I would suggest that you consult with an attorney. There are many out there who will give you an initial consultation free of charge. Good luck.
   — Julie S.

February 19, 2002
I agree with Julie but what about the FMLA (family medical leave act). If you file these papers which your HR people should have by law and the doctor signs them their is nothing that your employers can do about you having surgery because it is medically necessary. This should hold your job as long as your doctor gives you clearance. They can't legally let you go if you have an excuse from the doctor. I hope this helps!
   — Breakaway_1

February 20, 2002
If your employer has more than 50 employees and you have worked there for that last year for at least 1250 hours during that year, you qualify for up to 12 weeks of family medical leave. That means they have to hold your job for you up to 12 weeks. If you have annual or sick leave on the books then you would use that until it ran out and then you would be on leave without pay. This is a federal law and if it is not abided by then the company can get into a lot of trouble. Good luck!
   — Tammy M.

March 7, 2002
IM A HUMAN RESOURCE DIRECTOR FOR A LARGE COMPANY AND I HAD GASTRIC BYPASS SURGERY ON MAY 5TH 2001. I WAS BACK TO WORK IN 1 WEEK. I COULD OF STAYED HOME LONGER, BUT I FELT GOOD ENOUGH TO RETURN AFTER 1 WEEK. FMLA IS OUT THERE FOR US TO USE AS NEEDED FOR ANY SURGERYS OR EVEN CHILD BIRTHS. ANY GOOD EMPLOYER TAKES EACH CASE AND SHOULD HANDLE IT WITH CARE ESP A GOOD EMPLOYEE. GOOD EMPLOYEES ARE HARD TO FIND AND EACH CASE SOULD BE HANDLED IN A COMPASIONATE STATE. I FIND FOR MY EMPLOYEES THAT FOLLOWING UP WITH THEM AND COACHING THEM TO RETURN HEALTHY. MY BOSS ALSO HANDLED MY CASE AS I WOULD. I HAD NO PROBLEMS! MY BOSS IS SUPPORTIVE AND GLAD I MADE A DECISION TO GET HEALTHY. IF YOU DONT GET THIS TYPE OF SUPPORT, FIND ANOTHER JOB!!! THERES ALOT OF GREAT EMPLOYERS OUT THERE WHO CHERISH THERE EMPLOYEES...
   — SUSIE B.