medical leave

[Abigg4]

curious if anybody’s had to take a medical leave and how you went about it and how your company treated you

[Doomann]

Hi Abigg4 A leave of absence do to medical I would talk with your doctor first for the appropriate approval and then discuss it whith your HR department. Were I work we have state medical for up to 40 hours

And my work offers FMLA for longer terms your medical insurance may also have some sort of assistance

Thanks for reading Doomann

[STEM_Dad]

Not for my own medical need...

The longest leave that I took from a job was 5 weeks, to be caretaker for my (then-)wife and children, after our youngest was born via C-section.

(I filed FMLA paperwork, in case I needed extended leave. But as it was, I had that much in sick leave and vacation time. However, after 5 weeks of me being home, she practically kicked me out the door to go back to work. In think that she'd had all she could take of my constant doting. 😂 But seriously, I had to start working for an income again.)

[Gettingittogether]

Yes, I've taken a 12-week leave that my company offers on the Family Medical Leave Act (12 weeks). Uh, here's the thing. I didn't take it for ADHD. I took it officially for "mental health" reasons. That's all my company requires--don't have to say depression ... and my provider mentioned in her forms I think depression and anxiety.

Ironically my workplace is very open about leave ... I talked to the leave people in HR and they encouraged it actually when I said i was overwhelmed with trying to take care of my sister who is three states away. You can take FMLA leave for a child or a spouse or a parent. Can't for a sister. The HR guy told me these rules and then looked at me ... and said, "Is this stress interfering with my work?" I said yes. "Are you getting mental health treatment?" I said yes again. He said just take it for yourself. Wow. And I did.

How big is your workplace. Mine is big, and the HR folks protect privacy on inquiries. You can literally call them and ask what the requirements are for taking leave.

I really am treated for depression along with ADHD. For some reason, depression to me works better for leave than ADHD. Depression = I'm temporarily overwhelmed. ADHD is permanent. I'm sure there is a way to get leave just with ADHD. But I just went the depression route and again at my job, they don't say "depression" ... they say "mental health treatment."

Ask about paid leave--just call up HR and ask it. Sounds awkward, but it's not to HR officials. You can also just share what you're going through.

Oh, one interesting fact about FMLA leave for yourself--you don't have to be disabled. The law allows you to take leave just to devote attention to a chronic condition. And you have to go see a provider for this condition 2x in a year. Oh, and yes, you want to start a conversation about this with the provider who has to fill out your form explaining your condition. They should now that you're struggling.

I'm fortunate. My job offers paid leave for people in my position.

[Abigg4 in reply to Gettingittogether]

I am trying to take over mental health as well. My doctors office is taking forever to fill out the papers even though I called them twice a day I had a horrible experience in the department I was working in I feel like my boss retaliated against me she came at me saying my registration numbers were low for the past six months and that’s the reason the department was behind. I told her that I was having some issues that’s what I disclosed the ADHD. And getting She was supportive two days later she sent me an email saying I know you’re having health problems but if you continue to make mistakes, I will write you up. The last time I had communication with her was when she thought I was bashing the department and making things up about her she came to my desk fuming mad and said we need to talk right now so I went to the conference room. She had told me that one of my coworkers said that I was going around telling everybody I have a disability and then everybody’s picking on me and that she was the worst blah blah so I asked her she’d bring in that employee so we could discuss it so when she did when she came and then came in she said please tell Amanda what you heard that she’s going around telling everybody that she has a disability and that we’re making giving her a hard time. I left there pretty upset. Sent her an email to follow up and they moved my transfer up a week early and she never spoke to me. Never responded to me. I called HR tried to deal with them and nobody’s responded to me as of three weeks ago.

[wtfadhd]

twice! different companies each time. both for my mental health. i have ADHD dx only. n i never told HR a single personal detail about why i was taking it.

1. my treating NP n i discussed the idea of me taking STD n she agreed it was necessary

2. i told HR i needed to file the STD paperwork. so they provided me with the paperwork that i personally needed to fill out.

3. HR, their STD vendor, and my doctor all exchanged the paperwork, documentation, etc

4. i was paid STD, i rested my ADHD brain and re stabilized to baseline MH

5. my NP had to work with the STD vendor the whole process.

6. i got paid my STD benefits and my doctor set a date for me to return to work and i did.

HR in both companies prob knew the reason for my leave was MH but HR doesn't receive an employees doctors notes or personal health records regarding a STD leave.

ps- the process between my medical n STD vendor was an ongoing nightmare but i think you were talking more about anyones experience with HR.

HR reps are not counselors, doctors, advocates, etc. They go to school to learn policy n procedure, and how to ensure that a company is in compliance with all policy n procedure. thats it. nothing more. just like any other career, some HR folks are very people oriented, compassionate, etc, but thats just a bonus.

i think us ADHD folks sometimes get overestimate how much information we need to share with employers, HR, just about everyone, lol lol. we mistakenly take lifes taxes n tolls as if it is personally against or about us. kinda like lots of adhd folks thinks the stimulus shortage is a stigma against adhd people n those who fake it. when it fact it is nothing personal at all.

i think us ADHD folks have such a struggle to balance the social emotional part of ADHD n so desperately want to be heard n understood n validated that we sometimes create more chaos in the workplace. HR are not our friend, nor enemy- they are a neutral dept of the company that ensures policy n procedures are being adhered to. ❤️