Chronic Illness

DMK

We have two employees, both suffering from migraine headaches, who take off regularly. We are in long-term care and the call-offs cause hardships for the other staff to be sure we meet patient/staff ratios. They have both received medical certifications, are on FMLA intermittent leave and the call-offs are being counted against their entitlement. The employees know exactly how many hours of leave they have available a year. Does the employer have any recourse at all?

LindaS

Unfortunately there isn't much you can do about your situation. I am in the same boat, although we aren't in long-term care. The best you can do is track their missed time accurately and ensure that your call-in and attendance policies are followed as well.

Down_the_Middle

You didn't mention how often you ask for re-certification on migraines.... I moved to a 90 day re-cert couple of years ago and that added some value to the lingering problem. New med's and different therapies come into play and the re-cert helps keep everybody on the same page. Your frustration is shared by many............

marc

Linda has a good approach. As insidious as migraines can be, the medical profession has lots of new ways to treat them. It seem the pharmaceutical (sp?) companies have all discovered what a gold mine Imitrex is and are getting competing products on the market, such as Axert. Both of these treatments have been hugely successful in returning thier lives to migraine sufferers. Being one myself, I felt like I got a new life when I first used Imitrex.

These approaches don't work for everyone, but keep them going back to their doctor until they find one that does. If the ees truly have migraines and are not goldbricking, they want they treatment more than the employer does.