Shoomm
ex-caffeinator
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2016
- Messages
- 127
Let me just preface this by saying I've worked my fair share of retail in a miriad of different places and situations; everything from a cart in a mall to other ridiculously large corporations. Of course, that also means having dealt with a ton of polices or lack thereof.
Given all that, I've gotta say that my recent dealings with the Leave & Disability folks while working here have actually been pretty amazing.
I was told just days after Thanksgiving that I was going to have surgery in early January. While the surgery wasn't expected, it was extremely welcome, as it should ultimately fix several issues I've had more than half my life. Regardless of where you work, we all know how much fun it can be to schedule anything around that time, but ultimately it was fine, seeing as it was just after the majority of the holiday blackout period. It also worked out well that my recovery time would be when hours were scarce, anyway.
My store's HR folks were totally cool with it, and I had no trouble contacting the Leave & Disability office. Leave & Disability immediately sent me a packet of info and a few forms, everyone involved swapped a few faxes and phone calls, and it was actually all pretty easy to deal with (certainly a little tedious, but not overly so). They actually called and checked up on me every couple of weeks to ask how I was doing, which I'm sure is part of their requirements, but I thought it was nice. I've worked elsewhere and been told if I didn't start coming back to work (despite being in and out of the hospital over the course of a week, and giving them plenty of proof), I was going to get fired. Completely different attitude here.
I know the laws are different depending on location and other requirements, but Leave & Disability was able to actually do the paperwork on their end to qualify me for temporary disability while I was recovering. So even though I was out for the better part of nearly two months, I still had a few dollars coming in, which helped a lot.
Since I came back, everyone at my store has been pretty amazing about the whole ordeal. The TLs and LODs will still occasionally check up on me, or ask if I need an extra break (I am seriously over all of this fatigue business, but apparently my body keeps ignoring that memo), and they even let me use a stool at the register for the first few weeks. They started me off with just a few short shifts a week, and asked me ahead of scheduling if I felt I was up to anything longer. Some of my medical issues are chronic, and might include more surgeries later on (ugh), but the way it was all handled this time around makes me feel pretty confidant that if I'm still working here when that happens, my job is one of the few things I won't have to worry about.
Given all that, I've gotta say that my recent dealings with the Leave & Disability folks while working here have actually been pretty amazing.
I was told just days after Thanksgiving that I was going to have surgery in early January. While the surgery wasn't expected, it was extremely welcome, as it should ultimately fix several issues I've had more than half my life. Regardless of where you work, we all know how much fun it can be to schedule anything around that time, but ultimately it was fine, seeing as it was just after the majority of the holiday blackout period. It also worked out well that my recovery time would be when hours were scarce, anyway.
My store's HR folks were totally cool with it, and I had no trouble contacting the Leave & Disability office. Leave & Disability immediately sent me a packet of info and a few forms, everyone involved swapped a few faxes and phone calls, and it was actually all pretty easy to deal with (certainly a little tedious, but not overly so). They actually called and checked up on me every couple of weeks to ask how I was doing, which I'm sure is part of their requirements, but I thought it was nice. I've worked elsewhere and been told if I didn't start coming back to work (despite being in and out of the hospital over the course of a week, and giving them plenty of proof), I was going to get fired. Completely different attitude here.
I know the laws are different depending on location and other requirements, but Leave & Disability was able to actually do the paperwork on their end to qualify me for temporary disability while I was recovering. So even though I was out for the better part of nearly two months, I still had a few dollars coming in, which helped a lot.
Since I came back, everyone at my store has been pretty amazing about the whole ordeal. The TLs and LODs will still occasionally check up on me, or ask if I need an extra break (I am seriously over all of this fatigue business, but apparently my body keeps ignoring that memo), and they even let me use a stool at the register for the first few weeks. They started me off with just a few short shifts a week, and asked me ahead of scheduling if I felt I was up to anything longer. Some of my medical issues are chronic, and might include more surgeries later on (ugh), but the way it was all handled this time around makes me feel pretty confidant that if I'm still working here when that happens, my job is one of the few things I won't have to worry about.
