Taking FMLA in a rage over RTO

[Anonymous]

If I am a cold hearted numbers guy. An employee who is racking up medical bills who refuses to come to work wants to leave I would need a hard business case to show why i should keep them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait, you're taking it because you're "in a rage" or because you truly cannot work in office?

You sound like a complete brat and I would want you gone even if you're hard to replace, based on your post.

Op here. Both.

It can't be "both." Either you have no choice, or you're throwing a tantrum. Clearly it's the tantrum.

Op here. Not sure how they are mutually exclusive. I am angry, and also I am sick. FMLA/STD in my situation required a lot of medical documentation. As I explained earlier, I was hospitalized multiple times this summer and had sepsis in addition to other things.

This is all past tense.

If you hadn't spent the past 3 years WFH, there would be no question of you working in office. That's what people with these kinds of medical challenges did before Covid and it's what they'll be doing in the future.

You're delusional about the "dead cat bounce." RTO aka the old normal is the new long tern normal.

[Anonymous]

What diseases do u have

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What diseases do u have

Op here. Ones that entail hospitalization and multiple doctors signing off on my need for FMLA/STD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been in my job for 5 years.

Over the summer, I developed severe health problems (several infections and eventually sepsis) after being healthy my whole life and still being young (early 30s).

I repeatedly asked for accommodation to work from home as RTO approached and it was denied, despite all the documentation I had of the sepsis and from my doctors.

Due to my health issues and the lack of flexibility, I ended up taking FMLA at the recommendation of my doctor.

I am just feeling so incredibly angry though. I worked so hard in this job, and we worked from home for 3 years. If they would have just been flexible with me, I could have kept working from home but they wouldn’t.

I took FMLA and was unable to do any meaningful handover and my projects are a mess and my clients are texting me (since they are getting my auto-response on email and Skype).

It looks like I’ll end up getting paid through FMLA (through my existing leave reserves, donated leave, and STD), but I just keep coming back to this feeling of anger towards my work for being so inflexible and for not showing me any compassion or empathy. My coworkers are mad at me, I worry.

I’m even feeling slightly better but my doctors have said I should not go back to work (at least not in person) so I guess I can’t. I could have considered a shorter FMLA but I ended up putting in for the full 3 months.

Is anyone else in the same situation? It just seems like the company is acting in such a short sighted manner.

Your company is not being short sighted, they are running a business and have decided they would like to do that with employees in person. That’s a larger business decision and not really about you so try not to take it so personally. With just a few years of employment there you’re taking 3 months of paid leave, yes I bet your coworkers are mad at you and don’t want to pick up the slack. You can either leave and find a fully remote job somewhere else or stay and go back to your office. I suppose you could also complain all of the time and feel rage but who would that benefit?

[Anonymous]

If WFH is so great for employers why aren’t you easily finding a new job that actually wants you to WFH?

[Anonymous]

You do understand you are replaceable, right?

I am not saying this to be mean but it sounds like you need the reminder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You do understand you are replaceable, right?

I am not saying this to be mean but it sounds like you need the reminder.

Op here. Yes, I’m aware that I can be replaced. It will take my company quite a bit of time though. If they fired me today (which they can’t since I’m on protected leave), the soonest they could even get a posting up for my role would be 3-4 months, then another 4-6 months to actually get a replacement, if all goes well.

Though they’ve had a very hard time getting applicants to our current roles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If WFH is so great for employers why aren’t you easily finding a new job that actually wants you to WFH?

Op here. Well, all of this happened just in the last 48 hours. Fingers crossed I find a fully remote role and my employer finds someone who is a better fit for my role.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do understand you are replaceable, right?

I am not saying this to be mean but it sounds like you need the reminder.

Op here. Yes, I’m aware that I can be replaced. It will take my company quite a bit of time though. If they fired me today (which they can’t since I’m on protected leave), the soonest they could even get a posting up for my role would be 3-4 months, then another 4-6 months to actually get a replacement, if all goes well.

Though they’ve had a very hard time getting applicants to our current roles.

They're going to start now since you're not doing your job. They absolutely CAN legally hire now for your replacement and I'm sure they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What diseases do u have

Op here. Ones that entail hospitalization and multiple doctors signing off on my need for FMLA/STD.

Ones that required one (?) hospitalization a while ago but now you are substantially better? Get back to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What diseases do u have

Op here. Ones that entail hospitalization and multiple doctors signing off on my need for FMLA/STD.

Ones that required one (?) hospitalization a while ago but now you are substantially better? Get back to work.

Op here. Take it up with my docs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do understand you are replaceable, right?

I am not saying this to be mean but it sounds like you need the reminder.

Op here. Yes, I’m aware that I can be replaced. It will take my company quite a bit of time though. If they fired me today (which they can’t since I’m on protected leave), the soonest they could even get a posting up for my role would be 3-4 months, then another 4-6 months to actually get a replacement, if all goes well.

Though they’ve had a very hard time getting applicants to our current roles.

They're going to start now since you're not doing your job. They absolutely CAN legally hire now for your replacement and I'm sure they are.

Op here. They can hire a replacement I guess but since I’m on FMLA have to keep my role open for me until I return.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do understand you are replaceable, right?

I am not saying this to be mean but it sounds like you need the reminder.

Op here. Yes, I’m aware that I can be replaced. It will take my company quite a bit of time though. If they fired me today (which they can’t since I’m on protected leave), the soonest they could even get a posting up for my role would be 3-4 months, then another 4-6 months to actually get a replacement, if all goes well.

Though they’ve had a very hard time getting applicants to our current roles.

They're going to start now since you're not doing your job. They absolutely CAN legally hire now for your replacement and I'm sure they are.

Op here. They can hire a replacement I guess but since I’m on FMLA have to keep my role open for me until I return.

They CAN fire you (just not BECAUSE you took FMLA). They can also hire a person in your job while you're out. You are just not as protected as you think you are. Tread more carefully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do understand you are replaceable, right?

I am not saying this to be mean but it sounds like you need the reminder.

Op here. Yes, I’m aware that I can be replaced. It will take my company quite a bit of time though. If they fired me today (which they can’t since I’m on protected leave), the soonest they could even get a posting up for my role would be 3-4 months, then another 4-6 months to actually get a replacement, if all goes well.

Though they’ve had a very hard time getting applicants to our current roles.

They're going to start now since you're not doing your job. They absolutely CAN legally hire now for your replacement and I'm sure they are.

Op here. They can hire a replacement I guess but since I’m on FMLA have to keep my role open for me until I return.

They CAN fire you (just not BECAUSE you took FMLA). They can also hire a person in your job while you're out. You are just not as protected as you think you are. Tread more carefully.

Op here. What do you mean by tread more carefully? I’d help facilitate the transition but I’m literally not allowed to work.

There’s nothing in the works to document any performance issues before I took the FMLA, so I think it would be hard for them to let me go now.

If they let me go though, I could get unemployment which would be great.