Why do I have to call in each while on Short Term Disability?

[buckeyegirl]

Can someone explain to me why I have to call in each week while on disability? The company already knows I'm on it. But why do I have to call the supervisor every week. My Husband (a small business owner) says its insane that I have to call in and that I should be able to recover from surgury in peace and not have to worry about it. He is also concerned about the HIPPA issue.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Can someone explain to me why I have to call in each week while on disability? The company already knows I'm on it. But why do I have to call the supervisor every week. My Husband (a small business owner) says its insane that I have to call in and that I should be able to recover from surgury in peace and not have to worry about it. He is also concerned about the HIPPA issue.

buckeyegirl,
I have been out on STD for the past 5 weeks and not once had I called in other than to book-off initially and give them the courtesy of knowing the situation. Once providing an ER and doctors note to HR and you are listed as on disability, I don't think you are an active employee and are not liable to call-in. However, if you are only on STD on a week to week basis, I would think then, you may need to call-in each week to give an update.

Assuming this is medical, did your doctor provide something that listed you as unable to work for an extended period? If so, you should not need to call-in every week. I did not.

Also I found out that the company is not supposed to pay any vacation time if you are on vacation and on disability (something I learned last week). I was paid for a week of vacation, which is frustrating.

 

[companal2]

Buckevegirl, you do not have to call your supervisor every week. If the supv wants to call you to check on you, that is one thing, but having to call in is not required. The main thing is to make sure that you are on an approved STD through Aetna, if you are a PT union employee or non-union employee. If you are a FT Union, your STD would be through Central States. Either way, once you are placed on an approved STD, the info that your physician provides has an estimated return date on it.

 

[FracusBrown]

Buckevegirl, you do not have to call your supervisor every week. If the supv wants to call you to check on you, that is one thing, but having to call in is not required. The main thing is to make sure that you are on an approved STD through Aetna, if you are a PT union employee or non-union employee. If you are a FT Union, your STD would be through Central States. Either way, once you are placed on an approved STD, the info that your physician provides has an estimated return date on it.

The employee does not have to call, but why be difficult? Life is a two way street and sooner or later you're going to be back to work with the same supervisor you refused to call. The sup or the manager is required to make contact with the employee each week they are out.

 

[mva1985]

what's the big deal about calling in once a week. touch base with them and keep HR informed. i was out once for 5 weeks and i called once a week just to stay in touch... i would hate for there to be some confusion and have a 3 day letter sent out just because you don't want to make a freaking phone call ONCE a week.

an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

p.s. if you are on life support have your spouse call ;-)

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Why would you call? Just to stay in touch? No thanks.

 

[mva1985]

Sorry I should have been more clear. By staying in touch I was calling HR weekly to make sure that all my paperwork was received and that there weren't any problems. My main goal was prevention - it wasn't an AT&T moment

 

[SWORDFISH]

buckeyegirl,
I have been out on STD for the past 5 weeks and not once had I called in other than to book-off initially and give them the courtesy of knowing the situation. Once providing an ER and doctors note to HR and you are listed as on disability, I don't think you are an active employee and are not liable to call-in. However, if you are only on STD on a week to week basis, I would think then, you may need to call-in each week to give an update.

Assuming this is medical, did your doctor provide something that listed you as unable to work for an extended period? If so, you should not need to call-in every week. I did not.

Also I found out that the company is not supposed to pay any vacation time if you are on vacation and on disability (something I learned last week). I was paid for a week of vacation, which is frustrating.

+1

Buckevegirl, you do not have to call your supervisor every week. If the supv wants to call you to check on you, that is one thing, but having to call in is not required. The main thing is to make sure that you are on an approved STD through Aetna, if you are a PT union employee or non-union employee. If you are a FT Union, your STD would be through Central States. Either way, once you are placed on an approved STD, the info that your physician provides has an estimated return date on it.

+1

The employee does not have to call, but why be difficult? Life is a two way street and sooner or later you're going to be back to work with the same supervisor you refused to call. The sup or the manager is required to make contact with the employee each week they are out.

No thanks -1, they get their info from the DR.

what's the big deal about calling in once a week. touch base with them and keep HR informed. i was out once for 5 weeks and i called once a week just to stay in touch... i would hate for there to be some confusion and have a 3 day letter sent out just because you don't want to make a freaking phone call ONCE a week.

an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

p.s. if you are on life support have your spouse call ;-)

Again no thanks -1

Why would you call? Just to stay in touch? No thanks.

AMEN

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I fail to see how a weekly phone call is that big of a deal.

 

[SWORDFISH]

I fail to see how a weekly phone call is that big of a deal.

+1 Agreed so he doesnt need to do it.

 

[beatupbrown]

A weekly phone call is a way of harassment .Give the doctors report of a time frame and leave it be .If if is work comp you do not have to call or report in.They will try to bend that rule have 3 or 4 big wigs ask you the same questions over and over in a office.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Sorry I should have been more clear. By staying in touch I was calling HR weekly to make sure that all my paperwork was received and that there weren't any problems. My main goal was prevention - it wasn't an AT&T moment

I agree , checking in with the people who are handling the STD, benefits, paperwork is a good idea, just to make sure there are no surprise issues and peace of mind.

 

[FracusBrown]

You do not have to call in weekly. If you choose not to call to make a statement, that's your prerogative.

If you are mistakenly terminated, it is the employee that will have to fight to get reinstated. Once an employee is terminated it's nearly impossible to fully rectify the damage done.

Benefits stop, pension contributions stop, seniority is interrupted, permanent record will reflect termination. The records at the union, the company, and all of the benefit providers will be affected.

When you show up at the pharmacy or doctor and find that your prescription card and benefits have been canceled or 10 years from now when you learn that your seniority was interrupted you may question whether it was such a good decision.

I know, you can file a grievance, you can take it the the panel, you can do what ever you want. The people involved on the management side have no incentive to help you and even if they choose to help fix the issues it's not within their direct control.

Refusing to be cooperative can be a two way street. There's probably at least one management person out there that's prerogative would be to make your life difficult just to make a statement.

 

[tieguy]

+1


+1




No thanks -1, they get their info from the DR.




Again no thanks -1



AMEN

As a shop steward you should familarize yourself with the contract. In it it states that the management person has the right to dictate to the employee how frequently they will contact the supervisor to keep them informed of your status. So if the supervisor tells you to call them weekly then you should call them weekly or risk removal from the seniority rolls. Your advice could cause someone to lose their job.

 

[SWORDFISH]

As a shop steward you should familarize yourself with the contract. In it it states that the management person has the right to dictate to the employee how frequently they will contact the supervisor to keep them informed of your status. So if the supervisor tells you to call them weekly then you should call them weekly or risk removal from the seniority rolls. Your advice could cause someone to lose their job.

Thats only correct on a small injury not a disabiblity injury. Such as last year when I had a minor injury off the job, I contacted my center manager each week to let him know what was going on because it was a short term injury like week to week. However I had another injury that was not week to week that the DR. put me out of work for a month and I notified the center manager that I would be out of work and for what period of time and faxed them the note. At that point he cannot request that I call him each week when I have been put out of work by the DR for a month.

So your half right in the cases of a short term injury but in the long term your incorrect. I am familiar w/ procedures of injuries and Im also familiar w/ the tactics that some management use that are incorrect

 

[UnconTROLLed]

As a shop steward you should familarize yourself with the contract. In it it states that the management person has the right to dictate to the employee how frequently they will contact the supervisor to keep them informed of your status. So if the supervisor tells you to call them weekly then you should call them weekly or risk removal from the seniority rolls. Your advice could cause someone to lose their job.

Tie, I don't think this applies to employees who are out on disability. FMLA may be different, but we are not talking about that.

 

[tieguy]

Tie, I don't think this applies to employees who are out on disability. FMLA may be different, but we are not talking about that.

It definitely does apply to someone on disability. We know you need your time to recuperate. And the language is probably there because someone somewhere used some disability excuse to go dissapear for long periods of time.Company is willing to hold your job for you while you reccuperate they will need a periodic update from that should be dependent on your conditions. If you have surgery scheduled next month then there really is no reason for you to call me every week to tell me that you have surgery next month.

 

[tieguy]

Thats only correct on a small injury not a disabiblity injury. Such as last year when I had a minor injury off the job, I contacted my center manager each week to let him know what was going on because it was a short term injury like week to week. However I had another injury that was not week to week that the DR. put me out of work for a month and I notified the center manager that I would be out of work and for what period of time and faxed them the note. At that point he cannot request that I call him each week when I have been put out of work by the DR for a month.

So your half right in the cases of a short term injury but in the long term your incorrect. I am familiar w/ procedures of injuries and Im also familiar w/ the tactics that some management use that are incorrect

I am absolutely shocked that you a shop steward would try to give that kind of advice that could cause someone to lose their job. Would you actually tell someone to roll the dice and not make that phone call?

 

[dilligaf]

It definitely does apply to someone on disability. We know you need your time to recuperate. And the language is probably there because someone somewhere used some disability excuse to go dissapear for long periods of time.Company is willing to hold your job for you while you reccuperate they will need a periodic update from that should be dependent on your conditions. If you have surgery scheduled next month then there really is no reason for you to call me every week to tell me that you have surgery next month.

I have to agree with Tie and Upstate on this. Work as directed, or call in as directed. If you feel you're being harrassed, file on it. Let the grievance procedure determine right or wrong.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

It definitely does apply to someone on disability. We know you need your time to recuperate. And the language is probably there because someone somewhere used some disability excuse to go dissapear for long periods of time.Company is willing to hold your job for you while you reccuperate they will need a periodic update from that should be dependent on your conditions. If you have surgery scheduled next month then there really is no reason for you to call me every week to tell me that you have surgery next month.

Which article in the contract covers what you are talking about ? (management dictating how often and when to communicate)