Chronic/On-going Illness for Children

Rockie

How do you guys treat individuals who have kids who have throat infections, ear infections, etc. on an on-going basis? Do you allow FMLA for this and what kind of doctor certification is needed here.

Our attendance policy is very strict about unexcused calloffs and the people with children have hopped on the band wagon trying to get all the childhood illnesses classified under FMLA so that unexcused absences can't be counted against them.

Just wanted to be fair in this situation without getting ridiculous.

Thanks!

Don D

Unless the original certification paperwork indicates the child will have or is subject to having repeated ongoing attacks of the same illness, OR, each illness results in a new meeting of the specific definitions of "Covered Illness", I would not consider these episodes FMLA. And I would definitely put the employee/mother through the same hoops each time, rather than have her think all she needs to do is tell you "I hate to miss, but, it's another thing with his ear, ya know." And if the doctor is weak enough to certify that the child may continue to have episodic events, he should be able to tie it to some sort of medical definition greater than simply 'nose may snot-up on occasion periodically throughout pre-adolescence'.

At the known risk of placing my neck squarely on the Forum Guillotine, I am predicting today that we will one day soon see monthly menstrual cycles being used routinely by employees as a basis for FMLA......as well as hemorroid flareups, flatulance following a weekend of Bar-B-Quing and deviled eggs, and razorburn (just to be sure I cover the male angle as well).

Rockie

Thanks for your input, as always. I just did not want to fall into the "trap" that I know this is going to be.

By the way....you forgot to mention "moon-fits" which is certainly a re-occurring event at each full moon.

I'm glad it's going to be a long weekend and I'm off tomorrow, as well.

Rockie

Gee Don....you left out the ever-popular erectile dysfunction!

Don D

I generally only talk about things I've experienced or heard about at home.

Rockie

"Nuff said".

Nat

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-23-03 AT 09:30AM (CST)[/font][p][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-23-03 AT 08:28 AM (CST)[/font]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-23-03 AT 08:28 AM (CST)[/font]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-23-03 AT 08:27 AM (CST)[/font]

Well Don, guess what, the future has come to where I work! I have already had two employees try to get FMLA for a few days each month because they just can't work during "that time". One did actually end up being a serious medical condition, according to the doctor and FMLA was granted after thorough investigation by our attorney. The other one was denied. We have a 90% female workforce. Can you imagine?

To answer the initial post, unless there is certification from the physician stating that the employee may need intermittent leave due to a serious health condition, we count it against our attendance policy. Our attendance policy counts occasions of absence, but is a no fault policy. Employees receive debit (-) points for unscheduled absences (doctor's note or not). Unless the absence is scheduled, FMLA, ADA, Worker's Comp, it gets counted as an absence. Employees can earn points back (+) by having perfect attendance (defined as no tardies, unscheduled absences, no non-completion of shift). Keep in mind, though, that there are situations where several illnesses combined are considered a serious health condition.