FMLA

I just applied for FMLA last week. I used it before at a previous job and so far I'm having the same basic experiences with it. Your company website or HR Rep should have forms available for you to apply for FMLA and forms that the physician will need to complete. Based on the extent of the illness/condition and the duration of care needed by you, your company will approve up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for you to use under FMLA. Make sure you speak with your physician(s), because what they write determines how much time you are approved for. If it's a chronic condition, it will need to be recertified every year. When requesting leave related to the care of your family member (or yourself, if you are the one with the medical condition), ensure that you indicate you want to use your FMLA, that way you won't burn your annual or sick leave. Some things though are specific to your company, like the company I'm with now allows me to substitute paid leave for unpaid days of FMLA, while my last company did not. Anyway, hope this helps (I just joined the forum by the way).

For us, the greatest hassle was making sure the paperwork went through properly. We had to follow up (frequently) because our HMO kept losing pages. Long story, took 5 weeks. Meanwhile, my employer called every day to ask why the paperwork wasn't turned in. My advice? Even though it's the worst possible time to have to deal with minutia -- follow up as often as you must with your doctor, hospital, HMO or health plan, and keep in touch with the HR offices of all employers involved (so they know you're actively working on it), until you know the process is complete. By complete, I mean that the health professionals have sent all paperwork to the appropriate public agency (you may want to call them too, just to make sure) and to your employer(s).

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