I have been on several months of medical leave from work in recent months. It has been going on and off since October 2013. My work has been very nice about it but I can tell that my HR manager, store manager, and a couple of associates I work closely with, are becoming frustrated with me. They are not mean or giving me a hard time, but I can tell my frequent and extended absences are wearing on them. They are willing to accept it because in their own words I am an excellent employee, when I'm there. And they have to accept it by law. I can't help but feel miserable about being gone so much, but it's not my choice, I have serious conditions that require surgery and down time.
How many of you out there have the same or similar issue? What are your experiences with this? How do you deal with it?
I have recently had to deal with this in a way. I have had back to back surgeries. When the second came up I was advised by my manager that I might have a problem if I missed more than six months.
Our company has a policy that if an employee cannot return to work with in that time frame they will place him or her on long term disability and a disability claim is filed with the carrier of our disability insurance.
My manager was not being mean he was just giving good advice. I was lucky because my second surgery was deemed a separate incident and the 6 month clock started over. Our company policy is more than fair and I suppose determined by law. There does come a point where it is obvious that a person will not be able to do the job that is expected of them. At least disability insurance does not leave them out in the cold.
If they are upset because they want to give you more work that’s good job security. Could you ask, “are my absences inconvenient?” Might they respond, “saving the company money is good for the bottom line. The less I pay the bigger my bonus.”? Don’t feel guilty if you get full salary despite continued absence. People get huge incomes for being born to rich parents.
