Worried About Work Medical Accomadation

[mylilnikita]

So I have osteoarthritis in a knee that will need a goal knee replacement. This was last year of the diagnosis.

I started my current job a few months ago and I had a cortisone shot in said knee and it has helped greatly. But I still have limited movement in that knee how far I can bend etc. I have not told my work that the end game is surgery because I have to be there a year to take FMLA.
My Dr wrote a note end of March when I got cortisone that for time being to limit my bending , using stairs and stooping. And I need to be allowed to sit and rest my knee when needed ( which I only try to do on regular breaks (

Yesterday my boss said Associate Services would like an update of the limitations.

They have stairs but I don’t use them as there are elevators and I have no complaints with job performance.

We do get shipments in but I am not the only one who puts stuff away and I can do some but I’ll stop if it too much bending.

So I’ve made a follow up appointment for dr as I write in the patient portal that my work needs an update and possibly end date .

But I’m worried that if the dr says there won’t be a end date , they will get rid of me .

Any advice or experience?

 

[Christine]

I work for a government agency that is very concerned with following rules and not discriminating (it's office work too) so take this with a grain of salt.

For a "reasonable accommodation" which is what the term is where I am, the employer must try to do everything they can to "reasonably" accommodate you without putting undue stress or work on other employees and not impeding the job you've been hired to perform. We can turn someone down if their condition stops them from doing the job they were hired to do.

The time limit is concerning to them because if it's limited, an employer may say, "well I can deal with this for 6 months because I'll get my full performance employee back--there's hope on the horizon." If there's no time limit, they will not "let you go" right away, but they will deny the accommodation and give you the choice of working through it or saying you can't work through it.

And to the time limit, maybe the doctor could just put a 1 year end date on it and leave it at that. Or the doctor could state that the limitations would end once the patient has joint replacement surgery.

 

[Mle8308]

So I have osteoarthritis in a knee that will need a goal knee replacement. This was last year of the diagnosis.

I started my current job a few months ago and I had a cortisone shot in said knee and it has helped greatly. But I still have limited movement in that knee how far I can bend etc. I have not told my work that the end game is surgery because I have to be there a year to take FMLA.
My Dr wrote a note end of March when I got cortisone that for time being to limit my bending , using stairs and stooping. And I need to be allowed to sit and rest my knee when needed ( which I only try to do on regular breaks (

Yesterday my boss said Associate Services would like an update of the limitations.

They have stairs but I don’t use them as there are elevators and I have no complaints with job performance.

We do get shipments in but I am not the only one who puts stuff away and I can do some but I’ll stop if it too much bending.

So I’ve made a follow up appointment for dr as I write in the patient portal that my work needs an update and possibly end date .

But I’m worried that if the dr says there won’t be a end date , they will get rid of me .

Any advice or experience?

First, I am not a lawyer but do handle a lot of RA's for my company. We will ask for clarification if an end date is not given on an accommodation request, and if it is indefinite, and the accommodation prevents a person from doing an essential job function, it could be problematic. If receiving packages and putting them away is not an essential job function, and you have said there are others who can help, then they should work with you. However, they may not honor it for an indefinite period of time. Also, depending on how long you have worked for the company could matter.

 

[Mle8308]

I work for a government agency that is very concerned with following rules and not discriminating (it's office work too) so take this with a grain of salt.

For a "reasonable accommodation" which is what the term is where I am, the employer must try to do everything they can to "reasonably" accommodate you without putting undue stress or work on other employees and not impeding the job you've been hired to perform. We can turn someone down if their condition stops them from doing the job they were hired to do.

The time limit is concerning to them because if it's limited, an employer may say, "well I can deal with this for 6 months because I'll get my full performance employee back--there's hope on the horizon." If there's no time limit, they will not "let you go" right away, but they will deny the accommodation and give you the choice of working through it or saying you can't work through it.

And to the time limit, maybe the doctor could just put a 1 year end date on it and leave it at that. Or the doctor could state that the limitations would end once the patient has joint replacement surgery.

We must have been typing at the same time!

 

[RogueX]

I work for a government agency that is very concerned with following rules and not discriminating (it's office work too) so take this with a grain of salt.

For a "reasonable accommodation" which is what the term is where I am, the employer must try to do everything they can to "reasonably" accommodate you without putting undue stress or work on other employees and not impeding the job you've been hired to perform. We can turn someone down if their condition stops them from doing the job they were hired to do.

The time limit is concerning to them because if it's limited, an employer may say, "well I can deal with this for 6 months because I'll get my full performance employee back--there's hope on the horizon." If there's no time limit, they will not "let you go" right away, but they will deny the accommodation and give you the choice of working through it or saying you can't work through it.

And to the time limit, maybe the doctor could just put a 1 year end date on it and leave it at that. Or the doctor could state that the limitations would end once the patient has joint replacement surgery.

You expressed it better than I could....and I work for a government agency that gets this type of question.

 

[tvguy]

Not sure why you are concerned about FMLA. You would be on short term disability.

 

[Christine]

Not sure why you are concerned about FMLA. You would be on short term disability.

Not everyone gets that.

 

[Mle8308]

Not everyone gets that.

And it also depends on how long you've worked for a company.

 

[tvguy]

Not everyone gets that.

Good to know. I thought it was a Federal mandate but I guess it isn't.

 

[Christine]

Good to know. I thought it was a Federal mandate but I guess it isn't.

Nope. I work for the federal government and we do not get short-term disability nor even the option to purchase it through our employer.

 

[tvguy]

Nope. I work for the federal government and we do not get short-term disability nor even the option to purchase it through our employer.

That is another can of worms. Federal sick leave policies are much more liberal than the public sector. My brother worked for the Federal Government for 27 years and was allowed to accumulate 13 months of sick time by the time he retired. Sick time he was required to use before he could start drawing retirement benefits.

 

[mylilnikita]

We do have available shirt and ling term disability that I did sign up for. I’m 55 and never had to sue anything except FMLA to take care of my dad before he passed.
I have an appointment with my orthopedic doctor in a couple weeks.
Thanks for the replies

 

[Christine]

That is another can of worms. Federal sick leave policies are much more liberal than the public sector. My brother worked for the Federal Government for 27 years and was allowed to accumulate 13 months of sick time by the time he retired. Sick time he was required to use before he could start drawing retirement benefits.

They are very generous with accruing sick leave. 4 hours per pay period and can roll indefinitely. It is one reason they do not offer short term disability benefits--because they know their leave is generous. Nowadays, they no longer make you use the sick leave before you retire--you can roll it into your retirement. So if you retire with 25 years and you have one year of sick leave banked up, you get 26 years toward your pension.

 

[lanejudy]

We do have available shirt and ling term disability that I did sign up for. I’m 55 and never had to sue anything except FMLA to take care of my dad before he passed.
I have an appointment with my orthopedic doctor in a couple weeks.
Thanks for the replies

Your short-term disability should provide you with some amount of paycheck for up to 12 weeks. Usually a percentage of your regular pay. How much may depend on years at the job or other variables specific to your policy. Length of leave is determined by the reason and your medical provider. If more than 12 weeks, long-term disability will kick in, possibly at a lower amount of pay.

FMLA holds a job (not necessarily the same job) while on leave to care for a family member or yourself, but no paycheck.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I am not sure your office can demand an end date.

I would ask your Dr to make that as vague as possible and maybe just write in the date of your next visit.

Now the Dr doesn't fill it out, staff does and Dr just signs off on it so if you can think of a way to have it worded do that. Also, ask your Dr to give the original to you first so you can request corrections.

If your current job demands things you can't do maybe try to move to something less physically demanding.

 

[Mle8308]

I am not sure your office can demand an end date.

I would ask your Dr to make that as vague as possible and maybe just write in the date of your next visit.

Now the Dr doesn't fill it out, staff does and Dr just signs off on it so if you can think of a way to have it worded do that. Also, ask your Dr to give the original to you first so you can request corrections.

If your current job demands things you can't do maybe try to move to something less physically demanding.

They can ask for how long accommodation will be needed. If indefinite, depending on the function the employee cannot perform, it could lead to being let go. Of course there are many other factors that will come into play, but the question can be asked and the ultimate outcome could be loss of a job.

 

[LuvOrlando]

They can ask for how long accommodation will be needed. If indefinite, depending on the function the employee cannot perform, it could lead to being let go. Of course there are many other factors that will come into play, but the question can be asked and the ultimate outcome could be loss of a job.

Dr can say, like mine did, that the person is under treatment and will be evaluated for improvement in a month, in three months etc. When the employee speaks to employer it would be best to not be a complainer to coworkers etc and be on the positive outcome side or things.

In the US there are many physically punishing jobs, no pain management around anymore & employers who have no reason to accommodate employees with injury who are moving slower etc. There is the ADA, but literally no-one advocates for it so all the people who could/should be protected by ADA will end up on SSDI instead, I can't fathom how anyone doesn't see where this is headed. Removing pain management medication from the workforce and allowing employers to ignore ADA is going to cost taxpayers a mountain of money and it can all be avoided by common sense. The ADA was meant to prevent this mess but it doesn't work if everyone is allowed to ignore it & there are no consequences to those employers who ignore it. Because of my employer's behavior things got worse and worse until I ended up on SSDI, I expect this will end up increasingly common unless something changes.