FMLA... ADA...? accommodations and dealing with employers.....

[Teekybird]

Hi all,

I have a question. Am I automatically covered by the ADA upon disclosing my MS diagnosis to my employer? (I'm a teacher at an "Independent School" or a private school. I believe we are classified as a non-profit. Employee/teacher body size is around 50).

I have a meeting with our HR person and my boss this week which I understand is to go over my FMLA paperwork. (I requested FMLA, upon getting my diagnosis, in event that I have to be out for an extended period of time. I filed the paperwork for it mainly just to protect myself, and also "just in case" I do end up needing to miss work for some length of time).

The meeting that I am having is scheduled as a meeting to go over my FMLA. However, in going into the meeting, I want to know if it is appropriate to mention "reasonable accommodations" that I am requesting.

The main accommodation is for the allowance that I can take notes in meetings, and also that it be understood that I might write long emails containing a lot of details to summarize what is going on--this is so that I can have and refer back to the details and know that everyone is on the same page. (I have found that my boss doesn't always like me taking notes, and in general it seems that people at work do not like to receive emails that are longer than a few lines). These accommodations are basically to help my memory and cognitive abilities.

I'm sort of nervous about this meeting, and appreciate any advice that anyone has related to requesting accommodations, and dealing with the employer in general. I like to be prepared going into things and I feel a little unprepared for what to expect.

Thanks!!!

[pennstater]

I believe the answer is yes, but I am not an expert. I worked for a large, for profit employer. I had to provide my neurologist's support for the accommodation requested, as well as FMLA. I had two types of FMLA, intermittent that allowed me to use time in 30 minute intervals to support medical appointments, tests, PT, infusions, and so on. I also had normal day leave for relapses.

One thing with FMLA, your employer can require you to use any paid time off as part of FMLA. When I needed FMLA, I had to use vacation until my STD kicked in. So I had used 1 week vacation, 6 weeks of STD. Both were paid and counted as 7 weeks of FMLA. If I didn't have any paid time remaining, the days would then be unpaid.

Likewise, for intermittent leave, I had to use vacation time as well for appointments. So I would only use the FMLA when I didn't have the normal time window to request a vacation day. We had to request vacation at least 30 days ahead. So if within 30 days, I used vacation and it counted as FMLA, but if outside the 30 days, I just used vacation time, as why eat into the FMLA?

Employers have some flexibility in how FMLA leave is administered, so you want to make sure you understand the process and requirements.

From an accommodation stand point, what you are requesting is "reasonable". If they don't already, maybe at the end of each meeting, a recap can occur of action items, time frames, other key info.

Good luck.

[jreagan70]

Applying for FMLA and identifying that you have a disability and are requesting reasonable accommodations are two different things. If you're uncomfortable about not knowing what to expect from an FMLA meeting and you feel like you're not prepared to talk about reasonable accommodations, it's probably a good idea not to bring up the reasonable accommodations until you're more comfortable and prepared to talk about them.

If you're not comfortable talking about FMLA, then it would be beneficial to go to the US Department of Labor website and download the employee guide to FMLA. You should know in advance whether your employer is or isn't covered by the FMLA rules, or if you are or aren't covered by the FMLA rules. For example, it isn't good enough to say that your employer has "around 50" employees. The number must be 50 or more within 75 miles. If your employer has only 49 employees, they aren't bound by FMLA rules and you're out of luck.

It might also be beneficial for you to go to the EOC website and read up on the ADA and reasonable accommodations. You're absolutely entitled to ask for reasonable accommodations under the ADA. But declaring that you have cognitive and memory impairments puts you on a slippery slope.

Reasonable accommodations are intended to help someone perform the essential duties of their job. Accommodations are not substitutes for being unable to perform other essential areas of a job. So even if allowed the reasonable accommodation of being able to take notes during meetings, you must still be able to perform essential job functions. And unfortunately, there aren't many accommodations for cognitive impairments.

Once your employer knows that you have memory and cognitive deficits, it's a very short move for them to decide that you lack the cognitive capacity to be responsible for the safety of your students or to be able to evaluate them logically and fairly. There's no reasonable accommodation for those. And they're going to be watching everything you do to start keeping count of every mistake you make to prove that you don't have the cognitive capacity to perform the essential functions of your job.

You're entitled to ask for reasonable accommodations. But you also have to be aware of other things you might open the door to for which there are no reasonable accommodations and no way to work around. You must be able to perform the essential functions of your job, with or without reasonable accommodations. If your employer can show that you can't, the ADA can't help you. So it's best if you do your homework on the subject and know what you do and don't want to ask for before you bring it up with your employer. I wish you the best of luck with your meetings.

[Teekybird]

FMLA meeting today with employer

I had a meeting today with the two "hr people" and my director (Principle) about my intermittent FMLA leave. Hr people is in quotes because we do not have an official hr department. I sort of think that my director made a statement that was inappropriate, but would like to get a current Human Resources perspective. In the meeting I said that I really do not like asking for time off; even when I am really sick--be it flu or whatever, I will push myself. I said in retrospect last February when I had optic neuritis and was wearing an eye patch for a week while trying to teach middle school Spanish (as if everything was fine and dandy with me), I really should have taken that week off. And the director said, "Well we do not want the curriculum to suffer, so maybe we better look into hiring a long term substitute who is qualified to teach Spanish." Which is true, but in my role as just "a teacher" I felt like she was placing that burden onto me, and I believe it really is "not my problem," but the Administration's... That sounds sort of snarky, but...I felt like it was a little inappropriate for her to make that statement at that moment then and there at the meeting.

I provided a copy of the following documents to the HR people for reference:
https://askjan.org/media/educators.html

I said that I am really not asking for any accommodations right now, other than being able to attend my medical appointments, but that I do have heat sensitivity and fatigue. I also said that I appreciate the location of my classroom right now as it is near the restroom. I said that the temperature in my room is fine, and that due to students being cold, I do actually have it warmer than I would like, but that I use a fan. I made the point that fatigue is an issue and that I do find myself taking the elevator in the morning and doing what I can to minimize fatigue and to preserve my energy reserve throughout the day.

I did actually work in Human Resources before my career in teaching. (Human Resource function between 1999 and 2003, but more focused on recruitment than benefits). I actually have another HR-ish type of question that I am going to post separately as I know sometimes really long posts can be annoying.