severe back pain, 20 wks, stupid job!!!!!!?

Question

Everytime I go into work with a doctors note about my lifting limit or something else, they b*tch behind my back. I get 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave and if I have any sort of problem related to my pregnancy where I need to leave work, they take that time from the 12 weeks. I am parttime but I still work 9 hours days, 4 days a week grooming dogs. My insurance is thru my husband so I dont have an option of taking a medical leave.

I doubt they would fire me because they spent $3000 to send me to grooming school, and I have signed a contract for 2 years with the company.

I am having TERRIBLE back pain. I can't bend over hardly, and when I walk, it hurts really bad to move my left leg forward. I feel like a problem at work if I give them a note saying I can't really do anything but answer phones. I want to insure that I still get 12 weeks after my baby is born. Could I still get a doc note if i need time off for back pain but still get 12 weeks later? How do I work the system???

Also, I can't quit due to contract I signed; I would have to pay back $2000.

Answer 1

If your havnig pain, it's your body's warning to stop because you're causing harm to yourself. This is extra true considering you're pergnant.

Get a note from your doctor. They cannot fire you if the doctor says at this point you are unable to do your normal routine. I would much rather feel like a problem than had problems with my body or pregnancy/labor problems due to doing work that was harming me.

As far as the 12 weeks medical leave, there are conditions. I know you can only have 12 weeks per year, after you've worked for a year with the company. I've recently done research for this. Anything you take now can be deducted from the 12 weeks, meaning you can't have the full 12 weeks after you've had your baby. Besides, taking leave now & then returning to the same job will just dely anymore harm you may be doing. It's really just best to have your doctor give you a note to avoid lifting anything. You can still do your job I'd think, just have others lift the dogs & other items, you can still groom without lifting.

Answer 2

wow! that sounds awful! if i was you i would just tell them that i was going to take the 12 weeks off after the baby was born because a medical problem shouldn't take away from the maternity leave. if you don't quit there really doesn't seem to be anything they could do to stop you from still just taking the 12 weeks unless they fire you and if i was in your position i would say good riddance!!

Answer 3

I assume that the 12 weeks you're talking about is FMLA time. What they're doing is legal, if you dropped down to half days, they could also count the other half of the day as leave.

I don't know if you could use a bar stool to sit on while doing your job?

Here's a site with more on the FMLA: http://www.employer-employee.com/fmla.html