HR asking invasive questions

bratscher
bratscher Member Posts: 17
edited December 2014 in Employment, Insurance, and Other Financial Issues
HR asking invasive questions
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  • bratscher
    bratscher Member Posts: 17
    edited December 2014

    I work for a not-for-profit company, in IT. I started in July of this year. In early October I was diagnosed with DCIS and made the "mistake" of letting my employer know fairly early on, just in case I needed to take some time off at some future date. I am not eligible for FMLA, and the only option my employer offered was unpaid leave, which I decided to avoid at all costs. I am 51, in excellent physical health (other than the DCIS), and was hopeful I could get through lumpectomy/radiation/hormonal therapy with a minimum of, well, bother.

    My HR person somehow took all this as a formal request for leave, because I was told to fill out a form to that effect. Since then they have badgered me to return the completed form. After my lumpectomy surgery last week, I returned to work feeling fine after a few days, but I was actually prohibited from working until HR received either the FMLA form or a return-to-work note.

    Now HR is asking for ever more documentation, including a "clarification" of the wording of the return-to-work note (which I have not seen). I am not applying for FMLA or any other leave. I took two of my own vacation days to have surgery. In other words, I have not asked for any special treatment or accommodation, so I see HR's keen interest in my illness as invasive and unnecessary. Yet they are insisting that they are "only trying to do what's best" for me.

    Could they be trying to build a case to fire me, or get me to quit? We were recently informed that out health insurance premiums would increase by 15% next year, because of "high usage" this year. I wonder if they see my illness as the cause of the increase in premiums.

    Any advice would be appreciated.

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  • mary625
    mary625 Member Posts: 1,056
    edited December 2014

    Dear Bratsher: I work in HR. A lot of employers are concerned, perhaps overly so, about employees attempting to work at times when their medical team wants them to be recuperating. That's why they are probably asking for the return to work note. They may not realize or want to make assumptions that the recovery period for lumpectomy is quick comparitively speaking. In other words, I think it's a CYA thing. It can be a liability to an employer if they knowingly let an ill person work and then something happens. I doubt that your situation has had a major impact on their insurance rates.

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  • DeliriumPie
    DeliriumPie Member Posts: 1,370
    edited December 2014

    I know it feels invasive but they are obligated, since they know why you were out, to make sure that you have either been released by your dr to perform your normal duties or that they are able to accommodate (or not) any restrictions you may have. As Mary said it is all about CYA. Good luck with your recovery.

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  • bratscher
    bratscher Member Posts: 17
    edited December 2014

    Thanks, your replies help me to understand this better.

    I guess the biggest red flag for me was that the decision to send me home and not let me work until the doctor's note arrived seemed completely arbitrary - it wasn't documented anywhere, and came as a surprise to me. I had made a good-faith effort to have my doctor fax the note (in fact, it had been faxed immediately after surgery and apparently lay untouched in the fax machine at work for a few days) and yet I was sent home from work like a bad child. I understand that HR wants to protect the company, but this whole thing was an unnecessary pain in the butt for me, and I don't want to get hit with any more surprise rules.

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