ADA and P

[mikealex80]

This came up in the coping board to a thread I posted just venting about work. I never thought about it. Having p not pa do I qualify under the ADA act? If so how does it work who do I need to contact? I'm currently having attendance issues at work. I've missed 8 days total in the past 6 months due to p. I thought they were going down as excused but just recently learned they are going against my attendance record. Attendance is one of the few things the company I work for uses to fire people. I haven't been with the company for a year yet so, as far as I've been able to learn I don't fall under FMLA guidelines. I need time off from work to have treatments and Dr visit however they are making me work mandatory overtime so, I'm working 7 days a week. Any advice?
Thanks,
Mike

[elveeh]

Arthritis is recognized by the ADA as possibly disabling. If yr employer is giving you trouble about excessive absences, make sure you notify yr boss that yr absences are related to a chronic illness and you want to explore possible accommodations. Discrimination against a health condition that meets ADA requirements for disability usually falls under Title I of the ADA. Go to http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/publicat for information from the US Dept of Labor ("DOL") which is the regulatory agency for Title I of the ADA.

At the SAME TIME, search your company's employee manual and any info from your company about disability benefits. Look for "FMLA" (Family and Medical Leave Act). The FMLA requires employers over a certain size to allow benefits-eligible employees up to 12 wks of unpaid leave a year to care for their own chronic health condition (or for a close relation's health, or for your child's health, or attend to a family emergency). Search the DOL website for "FMLA" to see bunches of info and how to use FMLA when you need it.

If your employer is subject to the FMLA AND you are approved for an FMLA leave, your job is protected while you are on leave. Getting approval for an FMLA requires your physician to complete an FMLA leave form to verify you have a chronic health condition and to detail the time off you need and in what increments (3 consecutive days at a time, or 3 hours every week, or whatever, up to a total of 12 wks/yr). Search the DOL website for a sample FMLA application to compare to your company's form. If your company's form asks for more health info than the DOL's sample form, then use the DOL sample instead. Companies are not always as careful as you'd like when it comes to the intricacies of what health info is private (and subject to HIPAA) and what health info you can be required to disclose and to whom. You need to control who knows your private health information and when they know it. Once the info is out, it's hard to get it back.

Make sure you alert your Dr that you may be asking her to help you apply for FMLA! If she's reluctant to help, you need find a more sympathetic Dr ASAP! Note: disabling health conditions can also include being on chemo -- methotrexate is a chemo agent that makes some people plenty ill.

The objective of all these maneuvers is to use an approved FMLA to cover extra sick time you need to care for or get treatment for your P/PA. Approved FMLA time cannot be construed as "excessive" absence.

Then you can concentrate on any ADA Title I issues you may have to deal with.

Both the FMLA and ADA are complicated enough that you may want to contact an employment attorney. For instance, you could ask her to write a letter to the employer to alert them --nicely -- that someone is watching your back re ADA/FMLA.

All of this buys you a little time to catch your breath and put the brakes on any employer shenangins to unfairly discipline you for simply being sick. Annoyingly, the unsick tend to bully the sick for being "lazy." Not that I'd ever wish a moment of illness on the unsick.

If you're lucky, you work in a company whose HR department recognizes discrimination and retaliation when they see it. If not, you may want to see that attorney sooner rather than later. In any case, the more you know about ADA/FMLA, the better you can protect yourself.

Good luck!