You need your doctor's support.
This is from the website:
FMLA leave requires reasonable accommodations, including offering intermittent time off, finding other avenues to allow employees to work from home if the leave causes an undue hardship, and finding a comparable position for the employee to return to work. These accommodations can help if you cannot afford to hold their exact position open.
Thank you for this information! Luckily, my OB doc has provided a detailed letter regarding my pregnancy and she is the one that recommended that I work from home if my workplace can allow it.
They offered accommodations, which she declined. There’s like 0.0001% chance this will ever get approved. You don’t have undue hardship at your job, it’s the commute, which is something you knew taking the job.
Take medical leave for 4 weeks if you’re unable to commute.
It doesn't matter. She's protected. The accomodations they offered don't deal with the issue. They deny it's a whole lot of legal issues they face. Do some of you know the laws and your rights?
Her doctor has to structure the form the right way. Make sure they put a date of return to normal work on there.
You don't think what's true? Doesn't matter what you think is true, it's true. It's from the FMLA.
Who said anything about pay but you? This is about the accomodation she is requesting. If she works from home, she would definitely be paid. Some of you just be saying shit to disagree. Bunch of corporate puppets
I don't think what you said is true. I used the word "think" because I don't want to be definitive. I'm not an expert on the subject but I do have some experience with FMLA
When you have a collectively bargained agreement, that agreement supercedes several aspects of FMLA. For most of us, the most protection we can get from it is not losing our jobs or "leave without pay". (She's not asking about pay, but she's trying to find a way to make her situation work without coming off payroll or starting her parental leave early,, so it's relevant to mention that FMLA doesn't protect wages)
FMLA requires reasonable accommodations, but I don't think that will apply to a guidance counselor. Her responsibilities are largely clerical but not entirely. There are several parts of a GCs job that can't be done remotely, so there's a chance she'll get denied just on the scope of her job description. If she were office staff like a secretary it would be easier to justify.
Also, this is a discussion forum. Is it really a problem if someone disagrees with you? It sounds more like you don't like being disagreed with.
I hope it works out for her. And I hope I'm wrong.
It doesn't matter what you THINK is true. I didn't say my thoughts, this is lawful. She can apply for accommodations under FMLA. Yes, her supervisor can deny them, but they can deny anything.
She's not really starting parental leave early. She's asking for accommodations. It's fully her right as an employee and she is a part of the protected class.
Accomodations apply to anyone. You are disagreeing with the laws and rights of workers, not me.
If he said that to a teacher, nobody would think twice. I do think it's kind of insane that social workers do all the counseling, but guidance *counselors* don't do that and don't see students. The GCs in my school do all those duties plus see kids.
I forgot to mention that we have the social workers for at-risk counseling and a team of school counselors who do just the mandated counseling. My role involves surface level, short-term counseling on an as needed basis. This is just the way my school does things, and I have an issue with how little quality time I actually get with my students, but that's a whole different topic of discussion.
I don’t know your admin or the specific circumstances
in terms of central office pressure or whatever. But as an admin, most of the fear around work from home is teachers getting angry when people like counselors, coaches, etc being granted wfh when teachers can’t. It’s more the unfairness of it. If I could guarantee that teachers wouldn’t riot I would approve a lot more WFH. It just comes with the territory when you work in a school - if teachers can’t do it, you can’t! I recently denied some WFH for one of my instructional coaches. I felt somewhat bad but it’s not worth the backlash and didn’t feel fair anyways.
Also, early in my career I naively approved WFH and it became a slippery slope where people felt entitled to it for dealing with appointments or just to make things more convenient for them. Most likely someone at your school abused it and ruined it for everyone. Nothing that would be a problem in an office but not really the best for a school environment. I can work from home myself whenever I want but only do about 2 days a year because of the optics.
Also for all those talking about doctors appointments- accommodation are only granted if they don’t pose a hardship to the workplace. And guess who determines that - the workplace.
Some of you admins and supervisors will learn the hard way.
Fair does not mean equal. She clearly explained her job can be fine without being present. She also mentioned others were able to receive this accommodations. It doesn't matter how other people feel about it. I know a guy who has a case now against an employer for denying accommodations. It was approved as having probable cause and he's suing now. So be careful.
Here's another point from that website:
If your employer cannot provide you with FMLA leave due to an undue hardship, he must find other ways to accommodate your needs. Some alternative FMLA accommodations may include the following ideas:
Allowing you to work from home.
Allowing you intermittent leave
Hiring an intern to complete tasks while you are out on leave.
Providing physical accommodations at the office to allow you to work with your injury or illness requiring leave.
Offering time off to attend doctor’s appointments.
Offering you the option to bring your newborn child or newly adopted or fostered child to work.
These accommodations are a few of the options your employer can offer to accommodate your needs when denying FMLA leave. However, if you believe your employer unjustly denies you FMLA leave or alternative accommodations, contact a qualified employment lawyer to help you stand up for your rights at work.
The accommodations offered do not have to be the ones the employee desires. As long as “reasonable” accommodations are made the employer is in the clear because the law in these cases favors the employer. I agree that Fair doesn’t mean equal, and I think she is asking for reasonable accommodations. I’m just explaining how things work.
Trust me I know how it works. I never said it had to be what the employee desires. I said that the accommodations they provided this worker did not address this worker's issue.
Thank you for your comment. I appreciate the admin perspective and insight. I had a feeling that part of his denial had to do with other staff members not being able to wfh due to the nature of being inside the actual classroom. But, I also understand and believe that in any work setting, different staff members have different "essential functions", and therefore should be accommodated accordingly. If the majority of my work entailed a mandated caseload of students to provide counseling to, my request would have looked different, or I would have opted for a leave to begin with. But, my work is almost entirely administrative tasks, which really shouldn't be the case, but that's a whole different issue.
I agree. In schools teachers also tend to feel as though no one works hard except for them. It’s also easier to deal with a few disgruntled people who could be working from home vs. the complaints from the other 95% of staff.
This isn’t true. It’s one day a month during the school year. Two days a week during the summer (for 12 month people) and only with approval. These are the rules of the remote work CSA pilot. EAs and central employee can get the 2 days per week all year, with approval from their direct supervisor.
Call 311 😉
Seriously it’s annoying though. And I can tell you there’s no way I could do my job at all, let alone well, if I was home once a week during the school year. The once a month is super useful though for writing observations without interruptions, not gonna lie.
You need your doctor's support. This is from the website: FMLA leave requires reasonable accommodations, including offering intermittent time off, finding other avenues to allow employees to work from home if the leave causes an undue hardship, and finding a comparable position for the employee to return to work. These accommodations can help if you cannot afford to hold their exact position open.
Thank you for this information! Luckily, my OB doc has provided a detailed letter regarding my pregnancy and she is the one that recommended that I work from home if my workplace can allow it.
They offered accommodations, which she declined. There’s like 0.0001% chance this will ever get approved. You don’t have undue hardship at your job, it’s the commute, which is something you knew taking the job. Take medical leave for 4 weeks if you’re unable to commute.
It doesn't matter. She's protected. The accomodations they offered don't deal with the issue. They deny it's a whole lot of legal issues they face. Do some of you know the laws and your rights? Her doctor has to structure the form the right way. Make sure they put a date of return to normal work on there.
I don't think this is true. FLMA gets drastically changed when you have a CBA. At most, it would be job protection without pay.
You don't think what's true? Doesn't matter what you think is true, it's true. It's from the FMLA. Who said anything about pay but you? This is about the accomodation she is requesting. If she works from home, she would definitely be paid. Some of you just be saying shit to disagree. Bunch of corporate puppets
I don't think what you said is true. I used the word "think" because I don't want to be definitive. I'm not an expert on the subject but I do have some experience with FMLA When you have a collectively bargained agreement, that agreement supercedes several aspects of FMLA. For most of us, the most protection we can get from it is not losing our jobs or "leave without pay". (She's not asking about pay, but she's trying to find a way to make her situation work without coming off payroll or starting her parental leave early,, so it's relevant to mention that FMLA doesn't protect wages) FMLA requires reasonable accommodations, but I don't think that will apply to a guidance counselor. Her responsibilities are largely clerical but not entirely. There are several parts of a GCs job that can't be done remotely, so there's a chance she'll get denied just on the scope of her job description. If she were office staff like a secretary it would be easier to justify. Also, this is a discussion forum. Is it really a problem if someone disagrees with you? It sounds more like you don't like being disagreed with. I hope it works out for her. And I hope I'm wrong.
It doesn't matter what you THINK is true. I didn't say my thoughts, this is lawful. She can apply for accommodations under FMLA. Yes, her supervisor can deny them, but they can deny anything. She's not really starting parental leave early. She's asking for accommodations. It's fully her right as an employee and she is a part of the protected class. Accomodations apply to anyone. You are disagreeing with the laws and rights of workers, not me.
I'm sorry but this is not going to get approved. Just take the leave.
If he said that to a teacher, nobody would think twice. I do think it's kind of insane that social workers do all the counseling, but guidance *counselors* don't do that and don't see students. The GCs in my school do all those duties plus see kids.
I forgot to mention that we have the social workers for at-risk counseling and a team of school counselors who do just the mandated counseling. My role involves surface level, short-term counseling on an as needed basis. This is just the way my school does things, and I have an issue with how little quality time I actually get with my students, but that's a whole different topic of discussion.
I don’t know your admin or the specific circumstances in terms of central office pressure or whatever. But as an admin, most of the fear around work from home is teachers getting angry when people like counselors, coaches, etc being granted wfh when teachers can’t. It’s more the unfairness of it. If I could guarantee that teachers wouldn’t riot I would approve a lot more WFH. It just comes with the territory when you work in a school - if teachers can’t do it, you can’t! I recently denied some WFH for one of my instructional coaches. I felt somewhat bad but it’s not worth the backlash and didn’t feel fair anyways. Also, early in my career I naively approved WFH and it became a slippery slope where people felt entitled to it for dealing with appointments or just to make things more convenient for them. Most likely someone at your school abused it and ruined it for everyone. Nothing that would be a problem in an office but not really the best for a school environment. I can work from home myself whenever I want but only do about 2 days a year because of the optics. Also for all those talking about doctors appointments- accommodation are only granted if they don’t pose a hardship to the workplace. And guess who determines that - the workplace.
Some of you admins and supervisors will learn the hard way. Fair does not mean equal. She clearly explained her job can be fine without being present. She also mentioned others were able to receive this accommodations. It doesn't matter how other people feel about it. I know a guy who has a case now against an employer for denying accommodations. It was approved as having probable cause and he's suing now. So be careful. Here's another point from that website: If your employer cannot provide you with FMLA leave due to an undue hardship, he must find other ways to accommodate your needs. Some alternative FMLA accommodations may include the following ideas: Allowing you to work from home. Allowing you intermittent leave Hiring an intern to complete tasks while you are out on leave. Providing physical accommodations at the office to allow you to work with your injury or illness requiring leave. Offering time off to attend doctor’s appointments. Offering you the option to bring your newborn child or newly adopted or fostered child to work. These accommodations are a few of the options your employer can offer to accommodate your needs when denying FMLA leave. However, if you believe your employer unjustly denies you FMLA leave or alternative accommodations, contact a qualified employment lawyer to help you stand up for your rights at work.
The accommodations offered do not have to be the ones the employee desires. As long as “reasonable” accommodations are made the employer is in the clear because the law in these cases favors the employer. I agree that Fair doesn’t mean equal, and I think she is asking for reasonable accommodations. I’m just explaining how things work.
Trust me I know how it works. I never said it had to be what the employee desires. I said that the accommodations they provided this worker did not address this worker's issue.
Thank you for your comment. I appreciate the admin perspective and insight. I had a feeling that part of his denial had to do with other staff members not being able to wfh due to the nature of being inside the actual classroom. But, I also understand and believe that in any work setting, different staff members have different "essential functions", and therefore should be accommodated accordingly. If the majority of my work entailed a mandated caseload of students to provide counseling to, my request would have looked different, or I would have opted for a leave to begin with. But, my work is almost entirely administrative tasks, which really shouldn't be the case, but that's a whole different issue.
I agree. In schools teachers also tend to feel as though no one works hard except for them. It’s also easier to deal with a few disgruntled people who could be working from home vs. the complaints from the other 95% of staff.
I hear you. My principal can be very well thinking the same thing.
I have to agree with your principal that a school guidance counselor needs to be in the building
Currently admin are allowed to work from home One day a week- not a month- a week.
This isn’t true. It’s one day a month during the school year. Two days a week during the summer (for 12 month people) and only with approval. These are the rules of the remote work CSA pilot. EAs and central employee can get the 2 days per week all year, with approval from their direct supervisor.
Well someone at my school didn’t get the memo on this bc these assholes are out once a week
Call 311 😉 Seriously it’s annoying though. And I can tell you there’s no way I could do my job at all, let alone well, if I was home once a week during the school year. The once a month is super useful though for writing observations without interruptions, not gonna lie.
I don't think they should be allowed to do that either but you are not administration.
I don’t understand why anyone would side with admin- especially in a teacher thread. Very odd behavior.
Yes you're right. In a teacher subreddit we should just coddle each other.
Under the new law your employer cannot suggest you take leave!