My job has a no fault abscentee policy. They don't care why your out, it counts against you. We can only be out 7 times all year long and no more than 3 times in a 3 month period, and 7 times in a 8 month period can lead to termination. I guess I am going to have to go to work if I can make it out of bed no matter how I feel. I was wondering from those who still work is this normal? How do you make it through a flare while you are at work?
My company's policy is that you are expected to use your professional judgement to take paid sick/absent days, but there is no set limit. This is both good and bad...it means that if your boss is flexible and you are valued, you can probably get away with more days out, but if they don't like you or are trying to get rid of you, they can come down on you even if you're out for only a couple of days.
They also have a policy that if you are out for 3 or more consecutive days, you must call for Short Term Disability insurance.
I am very upfront with my boss about my conditions, so that he understands how hard I am trying and why I am sometimes late or out more often. He has been very understanding and has tried to work with me whenever he can. I have already been out on 7 individual sick days in 6 months, but so far nothing has been said about it. Last year I took some vacation days for my sick days, so my boss would know I'm not trying to take advantage. But then I wondered if that might work against me if I ever need to file for disability.
As far as how I make it through work...my RA isn't severe but it isn't under control either, so it's not easy. I wake up every morning at 4:30 am to take pain medicine, go back to sleep and wake up again at 6:00 to get ready, when the pain medicine has started to kick in. It takes me a long time to get ready. At work, if I'm having a bad day, I try to put off the heavy concentration or physical labor tasks (I have a desk job, but do some some physical stuff too). I try to ask for help when I need it. I take breaks when I need to and stay later if it's easier to get my work done more slowly. I take additional pain medicine every 6 hours (per my dr).
I'm sorry your company's policy is more rigid...it's going to be hard. Is the termination automatic after 7 absences in 8 months or is it up to the boss' discretion? Do you have an understanding boss?
Oh Caprice, I feel so bad for you. I'm lucky. So far, my boss has had no problems with me taking time off as long as I had it to take. Where I work, I get three weeks vacation a year and 10 sick days.
Bad news is my boss just quit. His last day is July 15th. Now I'm worried my new boss won't be as lenient.
When I first start flaring and before the prednisone kicks in, there is no way I can make it to work for the full 8 hours. The Darvocet N-100s help me get through some of the day, but I'm pushing to make it half the day.
I've been working at this job for the last 8 years and I think MAYBE there has been 4 days when I've been out sick. Three of those days my back was out and I couldn't move.
On many occations I'll come in and get what i have to get done in the office and then go home early if I have to; but RARELY if ever do I not show up in the mornings. I'm the office manager here so it's very improtant that I'm here to handle things that no one else can handle.
My boss is very supportive and if I need to go to doctors appointments, leave early or bring a child to the office with me it always fine. I'm basically in charge of myself and the office. They know me to be a good employee and to be one that goes above and beyond what's expected of me. That's bought me a lot of lead way in my opinion.
OH~as far as flaring while I'm working? I keep IUB in my desk drawer, house shoes under my desk......and pain patches close by. At times I limp around the office but for the most part it hasn't prevented me from preforming well at work.
My job isn't too physical. There are a lot of jobs I could not physically manage......but this isn't one of them!
I teach at a college and rarely miss work because of RA. I did have the flu and was out for 3 days the entire school year. I took off a week when my daughter needed surgery out of state.Google FMLA. Unless your company is too small, you can use that for RA related appts and illnesses. You will need to have your dr fill out and sign the form but it is very simple and lists RA as qualifying for FMLA leave. You will have to take FMLA as unpaid, but it protects you from being fired and means you do not need to use up vacation time for appts and illness. It is working well for me. Last year all my PTO was used up for medical - what a bummer! I was allowed to take unpaid vacation because the HR Manager was very kind about it, but now I don't need to worry about my medical appts etc. getting me into trouble.
Laker
I can take as many sick days as I need because they don't pay me if I don't work, guess that works well for them, but my boss is very understanding. I was home for 2 months for a bad flare last year. I take my Remicade day off too. I've been very fortunate in that I haven't caught anything that would make me too sick to go to work. I can't even fathom having to work for a company full-time with RA. I wouldn't be able to do it. It sounds like many of you have work-place policies that are very cruel and unforgiving. I feel for you. I am a mental health counselor and set my own hours. I'm able to plan my days around how I am feeling. I recently started my own agency and it's growing a bit faster than what I prepared for. I've had to learn how to say "no" and turn down projects that interested me, but that I didn't feel I could fully commit to. I know I could be doing much better financially if I took on more work, but physically I know my limits.Hi All,
Here (in the UK) we have some legislation that requires our employers to make 'reasonalble adjustments' to the workplace or way of working for people with a disability. The law also makes it illegal to discriminate on the grounds of a disability. There are policies in some organisations about sick pay etc, where i work you can get a few months per year on full pay, more the longer you work there. There is statutary sick pay which is a pittance paid by the Gov't and some employers offer no more than that. If they do work on a statutary sick pay only policy there are 3 'waiting days' for each period of sickness so you don't get paid for the first 3 days. I am lucky that I get full pay if I am sick but I've only had 4 days off in the last 2 years and 2 of those I was in hospital. Most companies have some sort of policy that instigates action if your absence hits a trigger (usually so many days over so many occasions or whatever). Then they will interview you and try to find out what's causing the problem. If you have a disability you're not immune from this process but you can bring in the stuff about making reasonable adjustments etc. My employers don't count hospital stays in the trigger calculation and they don't count days I have off to go for my infusion etc as that's classed as treatment not sick but when I was in hospital for 2 days and then had another day off at home they counted 1 day sick. At the moment I think my low sickness absence is due to having days at home studying every week when I can manage my time better and take breaks where I can lie down to rest. When I start full time in the office in October it will be tough - I'm trying to convince them to allow me 1 day a week working at home but not sure they will... I also have an agreement about travelling - for local journeys they pay for a taxi and for travelling further they hire me a car or I get a train and taxi. My colleagues have to get buses etc so they often plan their journeys with mine so we can go together by taxi! The new laws are good for me as without hte special chair and workstation in the office I'm sure I'd struggle more to stay at work.
KT