"Issues" upon return to work...

[zul1732]

I sustained an on the job injury and was on workman's comp for 2 1/2 months. I maintained contact with my center for the duration of the time I was out. The week before I returned to work, I received a happy little certified letter from my center accusing me of being AWOL for a month and informing me that I had 3 days to report to work or I would lose my seniority.

Naturally, I was livid and confronted my center manager about it. He said that the date stated in the letter as the date I was supposed to be back at work came from my last Doctor's note. The problem is that wasn't true. I had the note with me to prove it, so I handed it to him and asked again why he had sent me a letter accusing me of being AWOL since a specific date that was not on the doctor's note. He said he guessed it must be a mistake and tried to blow it off. I wasn't satisfied with that explanation so I asked him how a mistake like that could be made. I asked him specifically where the date that he "mistakenly" thought I was supposed to be back at work came from since it obviously did NOT come from the doctor's note, and a specific date had to come from somewhere. There was an awkward silence followed by some mumbling and then the "reassurance" that I didn't have to worry about that letter...

Something shady seems to be going on here. Were they trying to get rid of me? Were they trying to cook the books in some way? There is no way this was an honest mistake...

Thoughts?

 

[upschuck]

Did you have a steward with you? If not, if he was shady enough to put a date on it, then he is shady enough to say that meeting never happened.

 

[olroadbeech]

in UPS land you are considered a liability if you get hurt on the job. almost everyone I know who has been on workmans comp has been harassed about it during and after coming back to work. do everything you can to protect your job. document document document everything.

another example of the integrity ( lack of ) of this company.

 

[Jkloc420]

Seems this guy is shady. You should file on it if it is a huge issue with you. I had a guy at my center who just had a hearing for misloads from January. So I wouldn't let them get away with something they could use against you in the future

 

[retiredTxfeeder]

I tore my rotator cuff on the job and had surgery and missed the better part of a year. I kept a folder, and everything pertaining to my injury went into the folder. I documented it all. EOB's, dr. appts, calls from LM. It came in very handy eventually, because there were several questions about he said she said. I was supposed to call my center manager and LM rep weekly. She was never in the office. I kept a phone log. Every time I went for a dr appt or therapy session, it generated paperwork. Document. Document. Document.

 

[rod]

I tore my rotator cuff on the job and had surgery and missed the better part of a year. I kept a folder, and everything pertaining to my injury went into the folder. I documented it all. EOB's, dr. appts, calls from LM. It came in very handy eventually, because there were several questions about he said she said. I was supposed to call my center manager and LM rep weekly. She was never in the office. I kept a phone log. Every time I went for a dr appt or therapy session, it generated paperwork. Document. Document. Document.

That's what you have to do with UPS/Liberty Mutual. They wrote the book on how to change a story or deny something.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

in UPS land you are considered a liability if you get hurt on the job. almost everyone I know who has been on workmans comp has been harassed about it during and after coming back to work. do everything you can to protect your job. document document document everything.

another example of the integrity ( lack of ) of this company.

Perhaps they react this way in response to those employees who commit comp fraud.

 

[olroadbeech]

its almost guaranteed that they are going to continue to harass this kid.

 

[OPTION3]

Perhaps they react this way in response to those employees who commit comp fraud.

Or perhaps UPS is just dishonest

 

[zul1732]

Perhaps they react this way in response to those employees who commit comp fraud.

You wanna see the MRI of my 3 herniated discs? Or a pic of the unsafe working condition that violates OSHA regulations that caused my injury in the first place? My mom always taught me If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. I guess your mom was too busy on the street corner to teach you things like that.

 

[zul1732]

Did you have a steward with you? If not, if he was shady enough to put a date on it, then he is shady enough to say that meeting never happened.

We don't have a steward for preload. But the driver"s shop steward was there. Unfortunately I couldn't tell if he was there to represent me or them. But he was at there so at least there"s that.

 

[zul1732]

Seems this guy is shady. You should file on it if it is a huge issue with you. I had a guy at my center who just had a hearing for misloads from January. So I wouldn't let them get away with something they could use against you in the future

Taken by itself its a ridiculous issue. Unbelievable that anyone could be so incompetent as to make a mistake like that and still somehow manage to hold down a job. But the real reason I posted about it is that it was just the first of many issues to arise since I returned. I haven't been sure if I was just reading too much into the behavior of management. But taken together, that issue plus all the other smaller issues combine to create what sure feels like a hostile work environment. I'm not sure how to handle it because they have been smart enough to keep things subtle so I won't have anything to grieve. But now that a pattern of borderline grievance issues has been established I wish I had filed about every little thing. It seems like they do something shady, wait five days for the grievance window to close, and then do something else shady. Wash, rinse, repeat. Is this standard operating procedure? I don't know if anyone in management here is clever enough to come up with a system like that...

 

[zul1732]

in UPS land you are considered a liability if you get hurt on the job. almost everyone I know who has been on workmans comp has been harassed about it during and after coming back to work. do everything you can to protect your job. document document document everything.

another example of the integrity ( lack of ) of this company.

Thank you for the info. They've been treating me very differently since I got back. I had been trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I guess there isn't really anything to doubt anymore.

 

[Catatonic]

Or perhaps UPS is just dishonest

Or some people assign personal attributes to the title of a company.

 

[Catatonic]

You wanna see the MRI of my 3 herniated discs? Or a pic of the unsafe working condition that violates OSHA regulations that caused my injury in the first place? My mom always taught me If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. I guess your mom was too busy on the street corner to teach you things like that.

I think he was not talking about you but these situations in general ...
... It was who?
Ooohh ...
Nevermind!

 

[BigUnionGuy]

I sustained an on the job injury and was on workman's comp for 2 1/2 months. I maintained contact with my center for the duration of the time I was out. The week before I returned to work, I received a happy little certified letter from my center accusing me of being AWOL for a month and informing me that I had 3 days to report to work or I would lose my seniority.

Naturally, I was livid and confronted my center manager about it. He said that the date stated in the letter as the date I was supposed to be back at work came from my last Doctor's note. The problem is that wasn't true. I had the note with me to prove it, so I handed it to him and asked again why he had sent me a letter accusing me of being AWOL since a specific date that was not on the doctor's note. He said he guessed it must be a mistake and tried to blow it off. I wasn't satisfied with that explanation so I asked him how a mistake like that could be made. I asked him specifically where the date that he "mistakenly" thought I was supposed to be back at work came from since it obviously did NOT come from the doctor's note, and a specific date had to come from somewhere. There was an awkward silence followed by some mumbling and then the "reassurance" that I didn't have to worry about that letter...

Everyone, makes mistakes.

Something shady seems to be going on here. Were they trying to get rid of me? Were they trying to cook the books in some way? There is no way this was an honest mistake...

Thoughts?

You have to realize, the "best and brightest" in management at UPS....

Aren't necessarily the "best and brightest".

Perhaps they react this way in response to those employees who commit comp fraud.

You wanna see the MRI of my 3 herniated discs?

Be careful, of what you ask for....

My mom always taught me If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

Always good advice.

I guess your mom was too busy on the street corner to teach you things like that.

That's uncalled for.... from a newbie part-timer.

Unbelievable that anyone could be so incompetent as to make a mistake like that and still somehow manage to hold down a job.

Think about, what you are saying.


Your "claim" is.... you have 3 herniated discs from an "on the job" injury.

And are back to work, in 2 1/2 months.

That's a miraculous recovery.


But....

You haven't (claimed) to have filed any grievances (or the disposition)

On what you say, are OSHA safety violations.


Help me out.



-Bug-

 

[OPTION3]

Or some people assign personal attributes to the title of a company.

Are you saying a company can't be dishonest? Now that IS a fantasy

 

[Catatonic]

Are you saying a company can't be dishonest? Now that IS a fantasy

Personification of a non-animate entity is an allusion.

 

[OPTION3]

Personification of a non-animate entity is an allusion.

Oh.....so it's NOT UPS that is dishonest.....just the management that runs it......mmmmm....ok

 

[Catatonic]

Oh.....so it's NOT UPS that is dishonest.....just the management that runs it......mmmmm....ok

Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?