FMLA and Job Status

[sharon1977]

I have Lupus. It has "flamed up" again and this time it is kicking my butt. I am having to miss work here and there because of it. I first went to the HR Manager and told him about it and asked about FMLA. (Apparently couldn't keep his mouth shut, because several people knew about my illness before I told them) He told me I could take it for 12 weeks and he would hold my job for me. Others in the company have taken it and come back only to be given a different job, usually less money and then fired shortly after.

Our president of the company has threatened every salary person's job that "If numbers are not met, there will be one person fired each week until the numbers are met". Well you can imagine the stress, which is what brought on my flare-up with the Lupus.

My question: If I come back and don't receive the same job I had before I left, and I work another job and am fired. Is there anything I can do?

 

[cbg]

Your question is too much into the hypothetical range to give a very effective answer.

If you go out on FMLA and you return within 12 weeks, meaning that you do not exceed 12 weeks by even one day, then they must return you EITHER to your own job or one that is equal in all respects. However, if you exceed the 12 weeks by even a single day, they do not have to return you to work at all, or if they do, they can put you into any job they want.

As for being fired, you cannot be fired BECAUSE you took FMLA. They cannot trump up a reason because they're mad at you for taking FMLA. But at the same time, having taken FMLA is not a be-all and end-all job protection, either. You can still be fired, even after having taken FMLA (even while you are still on FMLA), for a reason that would have gotten you fired if you had never taken it. If your department is shut down and everyone else gets let go, so do you. If there is a layoff and you would have been one of the ones laid off regardless of whether you took FMLA or not, you still get laid off. If your work is poor, you can still be fired. FMLA only protects you from terminations that are related to the leave itself.