DO YOU KNOW ANYONE? I received a bad appraisal yesterday for the period 10/1/2008 to 9/30/2009. It is carefully crafted but, in truth, it is based upon things I couldn’t do or achieve because I was off work a lot due to my chronic AVM illness. I invoked FMLA in June. I could use help on my next steps. If you know anyone with expertise in this arena, please advise! If not, please ask your friends. THANK YOU.
Hi Beth,
I’ll offer some suggestions, but the best suggestion I have is to consult an employment lawyer, who specializes in FMLA cases.
You might want to consult him/her prior to taking any action with your boss or HR.
I think you have to ask yourself if you want to push this or not. You don’t want to win the battle (the appraisal) and lose the war (your job/insurance benfits). If the worst case scenario is that you might not get a raise this year, that might be worth overlooking. If you think the appraisal will cost you your job, might be worth pursuing, or at least getting your ducks in a row if this leads to your termination/layoff.
If you have quantifiable data that shows that you met output (whatever that was for you) other than during your FMLA time, you would have a stronger case.
That said, it would likely be a difficult win if the appraisal is more subjective and your job is anything other than a repeating position, such as assembling X number of parts per shift.
If your boss has anything on the ball, he won’t have included verbally or in writing anything that violates FMLA. If he had any doubts prior to doing your review, he would have cleared it with HR. So he likely has HR backing already, unless he’s a renegade.
I would write down as clearly as you recall what was said by each of you in the review. Reviewing that with an attorney should provide the best guidance.
If you have an HR rep that you absolutely positively TRUST to speak with you in confidence, you might start there. But you have to understand that all HR reps work FOR the company first! And you’d have to assume that your “complaint” will find it’s way to your boss, even if he doesn’t hear the details.
I think I would consult an attorney first, and (if he recommends it), met again with your boss to discuss the appraisal and why you think it is wrong. The minute you disclose that you have an attorney involved, your boss will most likely not discuss anything with you unless he is in the presence of a company lawyer. Expect any job relationships from that point on to be cooler, maybe even among your peers.
If there are other jobs at the company that you might like to go to, now might be a good time to transfer. I was in Mgt for a lot of years, then RIFed during a down time. I staying in my former job, with fewer responsibilities. At the time, I welcomed that, but in retrospect, I should have transferred to a new job.
Hope you can find some of this useful.
Ron, KS
Thank you, Ron, for your very detailed post. You gave me lots to consider.
I’m in management myself. We seem to have a tougher time of it because we are not in the union. My peer (in the office right next door) is currently suing our employer and has a good case of age discrimination. I am certain he will win and win big. (My employer’s top folks have been arrogant in their ignorance of employment regulations.) I’ll ask him to refer me to his lawyer.
Companies do strange stuff some times. At times, they will do whatever they can to avoid lawsuits; yet at times they will fight tooth and nail in court. Their pockets are likely much deeper than yours, so if nothing else, they can “bankrupt” you by court-stalling tactics.
Any settlement you would be happy with would have to provide enough $$$$$ to get you into retirement, provide for medical insurance, and hopefully continue funding any pension you have amassed. Oh, and provide a chunk of $$$$$$$$ to your lawyer.
Face the fact also–would you like to hire someone who sued their former employer? Unless you could have the settlement include non-disclosure words, it might be tough to answer your next interviewer’s question “Why did you leave XYZ Company?” Uh, ah…
I’m not suggesting that you do or do not sue the ***********, just be sure to look at all the possible outcomes, and get the advice of that good attorney.
Ron
Ron, I just sent you a friend request. If you don’t mind, I’d like to add some details in a non-public way via a private message. Thanks again for your insight. I appreciate it.
Ron, KS said:
Companies do strange stuff some times. At times, they will do whatever they can to avoid lawsuits; yet at times they will fight tooth and nail in court. Their pockets are likely much deeper than yours, so if nothing else, they can “bankrupt” you by court-stalling tactics.
Any settlement you would be happy with would have to provide enough $$$$$ to get you into retirement, provide for medical insurance, and hopefully continue funding any pension you have amassed. Oh, and provide a chunk of $$$$$$$$ to your lawyer.
Face the fact also–would you like to hire someone who sued their former employer? Unless you could have the settlement include non-disclosure words, it might be tough to answer your next interviewer’s question “Why did you leave XYZ Company?” Uh, ah…
I’m not suggesting that you do or do not sue the ***********, just be sure to look at all the possible outcomes, and get the advice of that good attorney.
Ron
I work in HR for a State agency, and let me tell you… FMLA is VERY complicated, and even worse when you have to add things like CFRA (California Family Rights Act) on top of it. I don’t know what things are like in MI and if you go based strictly off of FMLA or if you have anything state-specific that goes above and beyond FMLA. At any rate, FMLA, as complex as it is, can be very helpful to the employee. The tricky part, however, is that is is always changing, applies in different ways to different situations, and depends a lot on the employer. I am constantly getting updates on FMLA/CFRA, going to conferences, contacting our legal counsel, etc., and it is STILL easy to make mistakes.
The fact that you were able to file for FMLA and have it approved means that you must work for a pretty large company/institution. But just because they are a large, doesn’t mean they are all-knowing or that they are processing FMLA properly. Unforuntaly, FMLA does not guarantee payment for you, that’s really more of an issue between your employer’s contract(s) and the State’s disability laws. It also doesn’t mean that you are going to be guaranteed medical benefits. What it DOES guarantee is that you will still have a job to return to. This is again one of the tricky areas, because the length of time may vary, but usually does not go for longer than 12 weeks, unless it is used as an intermittent leave. While FMLA is helpful to people that have serious medical conditions, it was also designed in an attepmt to limit the ways that people can take advantage of the program.
It’s not a bad idea to get in contact with a legal professional, but it is far less expensive to get started by reviewing the most recent federal FMLA guidelines as well as any applicable State policies, then review your employer’s policies. If your employer is smart, their policy should sound nearly identical to the FMLA policy. It’s when they try to get fancy that they make their mistakes. Once you have done your homework, if there is anything that brings up questions, that might be the time to bring the specific questions to the legal pros.
Good luck!
Thanks for the added info Jake.
If I’m not mistaken, FMLA state you will have “a job” when you return, not necessarily “the job you left”. As long as it’s the same pay, I think it can be almost anything, but maybe has to be similar. That leave the employer a lot of leeway.
Best wishes,
ron
Thanks, Jake, for posting! I work for the feds. I am on intermittent FMLA. Folks at work have donated leave to me. I have also borrowed leave (advanced sick leave). I haven’t had to use much borrowed leave because I am loved by the wonderfully caring, giving folks at work. So, I am not on LWOP. I have had a disability for years and always worked very hard in spite of terrible health problems because of these damn avms. The past year beginning on 10/13/2008 was hell and I nearly died. I’ve been hospitalized five times and had five surgeries since then including an amputation above my knee on 9/11/09. I used to work in the policy area and write guidance so folks would have an easier time doing their jobs and so that they could do it more accurately and efficiently. I held workshops to help them understand the guidance and to answer their questions and concerns. I developed ways to “cleanse” the data in our giant database. I would figure out ways to systemically correct or eliminate problems in the database, so that manual reviews were minimized or eliminated and the corrections were made more quickly. When our HQ agency modernized the database our database integrates, we had to cleanse 2.5 million records. The project got launched and promptly took a nosedive. Then they brought me in. I successfully relaunched it and saved our agency’s face with HQ. I’ve saved my agency and HQ millions of dollars. I have had an enormously positive impact on our national security, too. I don’t deserve to be treated like this.
Jake M said:
I work in HR for a State agency, and let me tell you… FMLA is VERY complicated, and even worse when you have to add things like CFRA (California Family Rights Act) on top of it. I don’t know what things are like in MI and if you go based strictly off of FMLA or if you have anything state-specific that goes above and beyond FMLA. At any rate, FMLA, as complex as it is, can be very helpful to the employee. The tricky part, however, is that is is always changing, applies in different ways to different situations, and depends a lot on the employer. I am constantly getting updates on FMLA/CFRA, going to conferences, contacting our legal counsel, etc., and it is STILL easy to make mistakes.
The fact that you were able to file for FMLA and have it approved means that you must work for a pretty large company/institution. But just because they are a large, doesn’t mean they are all-knowing or that they are processing FMLA properly. Unforuntaly, FMLA does not guarantee payment for you, that’s really more of an issue between your employer’s contract(s) and the State’s disability laws. It also doesn’t mean that you are going to be guaranteed medical benefits. What it DOES guarantee is that you will still have a job to return to. This is again one of the tricky areas, because the length of time may vary, but usually does not go for longer than 12 weeks, unless it is used as an intermittent leave. While FMLA is helpful to people that have serious medical conditions, it was also designed in an attepmt to limit the ways that people can take advantage of the program.It’s not a bad idea to get in contact with a legal professional, but it is far less expensive to get started by reviewing the most recent federal FMLA guidelines as well as any applicable State policies, then review your employer’s policies. If your employer is smart, their policy should sound nearly identical to the FMLA policy. It’s when they try to get fancy that they make their mistakes. Once you have done your homework, if there is anything that brings up questions, that might be the time to bring the specific questions to the legal pros.
Good luck!
That is correct, Ron, FMLA guarantees “a job,” not necessarily the same job, so long as you are places in a positions with the same pay and similar status.
Ron, KS said:
Thanks for the added info Jake.
If I’m not mistaken, FMLA state you will have “a job” when you return, not necessarily “the job you left”. As long as it’s the same pay, I think it can be almost anything, but maybe has to be similar. That leave the employer a lot of leeway.
Best wishes,
ron
I am going to ask my sister in law because she works in HR. I had a similar experience when my daughter suffered her first stroke and I had to take some days off to take her to therapy and I called the Federal Department of Labor and they were very helpful. I’ll let you know what my sister in law says but you should call the Department of Labor, they can give you information about your specific situation. Happy Holidays.
I can’t weigh in on this but I just wanted to say that I am so sorry you are going through this on top of dealing with your AVMs. It just isn’t right.
Thanks, Jacsha, for your kind advice. I’ll be interested in what your sister-in-law has to say.
Thanks to you, Christine, for your kind words.