I was just wondering if your employer can fire you for having a medical condition, such as MS, which causes you to be immunocompromised. My best friend works in the same hospital and on the same unit as me and she was recently diagnosed with MS. She deciced to tell our boss that she had the condition and asked if they would adjust the attendance policy for her since it's strictly enforced at our hospital.
Once you call out 3 times in 3 months you must go 90 shifts without a single call out (which is just over 7 months if you're full-time, 11 months part-time, and 1yr and 10months PRN) or you are written up, suspended, and then terminated. Just to give you an idea I received a verbal warning for calling out last year sometime, then I called out twice in February (and was written up) and once in June (suspended) and have had no call outs since. However I can't call out again until May 2011 or I will be fired.
Anyway, our boss said that the hospital would make no accommodations for her, would not adjust the attendance policy for her and would not accept any doctors notes under any circumstances. She then went on to say that she could technically fire my friend right then and there because she shouldn't be working in a hospital setting anyway since she's immunocompromised. Oh, and MS isn't covered under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)? Something just doesn't seem right about this situation....
Virginia is a VERY anti union, former slave state. Since they cannot legally own, slaves, they do the next best thing- they hire them, and enact the very same "rules", that they did when they had slaves. They bully them, make up their own "laws", then fire them at will.
That is why nurses are unionizing with the National Nurses United. Many, but not enough, are fed up with discriminating policies by hospitals, whose main interest, is to keep the "slaves", too afraid to rebel.
And for the record, MS IS covered by the ADA. And they DO have to accomodate her. That IS the LAW. The hospital is NOT above the law.
This is why I advocate that nurses take a class in Employment Law, either at at Paralegal program at a local community college, or on line, with Kaplan Paralegal program.
Nurses NEED to know the law, and what their rights are. Nurses are unfortunatly, very naive when it comes to THEIR rights. That is why hospitals run over us in situations like this. Administrative Law is also a good idea.
My mother in law has been an RN for many many years and was diagnosed with MS in her 20's (she's in her 50's now) and she's never had any issues with getting or keeping a job. Sounds like her boss is just trying to be difficult.
Hospitals are filled with patients who are at-risk for developing serious complications and/or worsening of chronic health problems from the flu. This attendance policy essentially forces nurses to work while sick and thus increases the exposure and likelihood of becoming infected with the flu virus for the patients who have entrusted their care to the hospital and staff.
In addition to many other roles, nurses serve as advocates for the safety and well being of their patients. I'd wait until the incidence of flu began increasing and somehow, some way get that little piece of info re sick policy out to the public, which wouldn't be too difficult as all the media outlets are scrambling for flu stories to fill air time during an outbreak.
I know that I would be interested to have that information if I was a member of that community.
I was just wondering if your employer can fire you for having a medical condition, such as MS, which causes you to be immunocompromised. My best friend works in the same hospital and on the same unit as me and she was recently diagnosed with MS. She deciced to tell our boss that she had the condition and asked if they would adjust the attendance policy for her since it's strictly enforced at our hospital.
Once you call out 3 times in 3 months you must go 90 shifts without a single call out (which is just over 7 months if you're full-time, 11 months part-time, and 1yr and 10months PRN) or you are written up, suspended, and then terminated. Just to give you an idea I received a verbal warning for calling out last year sometime, then I called out twice in February (and was written up) and once in June (suspended) and have had no call outs since. However I can't call out again until May 2011 or I will be fired.
Anyway, our boss said that the hospital would make no accommodations for her, would not adjust the attendance policy for her and would not accept any doctors notes under any circumstances. She then went on to say that she could technically fire my friend right then and there because she shouldn't be working in a hospital setting anyway since she's immunocompromised. Oh, and MS isn't covered under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)? Something just doesn't seem right about this situation....
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
She isn't going through the proper channels.
It is not enough that she just goes to her boss and tells them she has MS...she has to file paperwork, in my opinion, yearly, for FMLA because her job is LEGALLY protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
However, they have the legal right to ask for proof of her condition and what kind of accomodations need to be made.
A few extra absences a year, would be considered a reasonable accomodation.
However, if she doesn't go through the proper channels and they fire her, the hospital will be able to DEFEND firing her by simply saying, "She said she had MS, but we never saw any documentation of it."
Which will mean, the hospital would not be held liable.
She needs to document, document, document. Could she prove that she asked for an accommodation, or is it her word against HR's/management's? Could she prove that management denied the request? She needs to save all emails and try to get things in writing when possible. Otherwise, it becomes a he said/she said situation, and HR/management typically come out on top because they are documenting these conversations.
It may be a reasonable accommodation for the hospital to allow her a little flexibility with the sick leave policy - or it may not. Either way, the hospital has a duty to engage in what is called the "interactive process" under ADA to determine an appropriate accommodation, if one exists. She does still need to be qualified for the job and able to perform all the major functions of her job, either with or without accommodation (and per your description, she can). Good luck to her!
Also, I work in HR - we're not all agents of Satan. =)
I WISH I could say what hospital it is!!!! I live in Northern Virginia. I called the corporate office and they didn't seem to think our hospital had to accept doctors notes. What's even more absurd is that management says if you have a doctors note it's considered an "excused" absence whereas if you don't have one it's an "unexcused" absence....but there's no difference because we still get penalized!! We've asked mgmt what the difference is between excused and unexcused and they said, "well it just looks better if it's excused....but you'll still get in trouble for calling out"! LOL.
We actually had a nurse who got dizzy while working and we took her BP and it was REALLY high so we put her in a wheelchair and took her down to the ER to get checked out, on our way down there we told the boss what was going on and she said it was okay to take her to the ER....then several weeks later the nurse was written up for "abandonment of patients!" So basically if we're going to have a heart attack, stroke, get the flu or something like that we should just make sure it's when we're NOT working! As if we have any control over that! Ridiculous....
I think I'd look for another job... that's just not worth it.
Thanks for all the replies! My friend is part time so she doesn't qualify for FMLA. She has asked HR and our bosses over and over again if she needs paperwork/documentation but they keep saying no. But mgmt has been very sketchy and NEVER wants to put ANYTHING in writing! I definitely think the EEOC is a good resource for her as well as a labor law attorney. It's times like this I wish we were union. Both my friend and I are looking for other jobs (as is the majority of our unit!) but with this economy jobs are harder to come by. I will keep you all posted. I hope my friend wins this fight....getting tired of getting pushed around by management especially when we're overworked and underpaid!
Have your friend look in to state FMLA as well as federal. I had some health problems a few years back. Being part time, I did not qualify under the federal guidelines, but the state required fewer hours.
I would not suggest continuing to go to HR. The state and federal laws are the same regardless of the facility. If she continues to try to get answers in house, she may not get the straight scoop, and she may tick off the powers that be and tip her hand about what she is looking into.
Encourage her to communicate with state and federal agencies directly and stay of the workplace radar as much as possible.
lindarn
1,982 Posts
Virginia is a VERY anti union, former slave state. Since they cannot legally own, slaves, they do the next best thing- they hire them, and enact the very same "rules", that they did when they had slaves. They bully them, make up their own "laws", then fire them at will.
That is why nurses are unionizing with the National Nurses United. Many, but not enough, are fed up with discriminating policies by hospitals, whose main interest, is to keep the "slaves", too afraid to rebel.
And for the record, MS IS covered by the ADA. And they DO have to accomodate her. That IS the LAW. The hospital is NOT above the law.
This is why I advocate that nurses take a class in Employment Law, either at at Paralegal program at a local community college, or on line, with Kaplan Paralegal program.
Nurses NEED to know the law, and what their rights are. Nurses are unfortunatly, very naive when it comes to THEIR rights. That is why hospitals run over us in situations like this. Administrative Law is also a good idea.
JMHO and my NY $0.02.
Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN
Somewhere in the PACNW