Return to work limbo, family medical leave act

Pacemaker installed almost 3 weeks ago. Seems there’s a liability issue between my employer and Dr. The Dr. says I can’t return to normal activities for 3 months and my employer isn’t convinced I’m ready to return to work based on the form my Dr. filled out called "Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee’s Serious Health Condition" under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

My supervisor is willing to put me on lighter duty but has to abide by the HR dept. So, I’m trying to get my supervisor/HR to send a note to my Dr. describing what my physical activities will be until the end of 3 months so the Dr. will hopefully ok me for work.

Understandably the Dr. nor my employer want to be liable if something happens. Has anyone else had this situation?

NorAm

3 Comments

This should be a no brainer but

by janetinak - 2012-01-09 05:01:11

guess it isn't. Suggest you get a written job description of what you usually do & go over with the Doc. Maybe he will line out or modify what you do normally (like lifting weights, etc) & initial it then sign & date the pages & get it to your work. I would think that would be a good starting point & may be enough for verybody. Sure hope so.


Janet

Agree...

by Heidiglassmeyer - 2012-01-10 02:01:09

This should be a no brainer. Do you work for a small company? What is your profession?

The above suggestion should work for you. Your company should already have a formal job description available for the position they are considering "light" duty or even your current description that could be simply modified. Your company should also have a standard "workability" form such as would be used in a workers comp case. Those forms can then be taken and reviewed between you and your physician. Once he/she indicates your abilities, take the information back to your employer (HR) for review. They should review the documents, similar to an ADA review, and together you can decide what your job duties will be until the next indicated review time.

Are you on FMLA/medical leave of absence? To my knowledge, they can not deny you work unless they do not have such a "modified" position...unless your condition would be refered as impairing one or more life functions which would then be covered under ADA. Then your company would need to consider reasonable accommodations...sounds like modified duty which your supervisor already agreed to.

If they still do not allow you to return...and you are not receiving STD benefits, that could be a whole other post :)

Best of luck getting it all straighten out.
Heidi

Made it back to work

by NorAm - 2012-02-05 09:02:56

A month after having the pacemaker was installed and after the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) document the Dr. completed, I had to go back to the Dr. two more times to get paperwork for my HR dept to fully approve my return, which happened month after surgery. As Janet and Heidi suggested above, my employer inserted a temporary job description to cover me for the next three months that the Dr. had to approve.

Thanks for your suggestions.
NorAm



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