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  1. #1

    Default Can Your Employer Change Your Duties When You Come Back from FMLA Leave

    My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Louisiana.

    I have been employed at my civil service job for six years. I have ten years experience and a two year degree in Land Surveying. From July 2015 I began intermediate FMLA. There are only two surveyor positions.

    One that works on back burner projects and does inspections. That's where I started. The other is supposed to be an equal position but is cleary more desirable and carries more responsibility and importance as they are in charge of permitting, project layout, training, stakeouts, and any other jobs as needed. The employee that is in latter position is viewed to be most important as the whole dept relies on their knowledge for permits getting done correctly everytime and most projects are based off the data they provide.

    Two years ago the surveyor holding the 2 position got fired and I stepped up. I did great! I never made any mistake that costs the dept money. I managed my 4 employee office efficiently so that work deadlines where always met and employees stayed busy. They hired a second surveyor to fill the 1 position. He had no experience in surveying and lacked the mathematical skills to perform duties. I was instructed to teach him. So everything I did he came along. I trained him, fulfilled my duties of new position, fulfilled duties of old position, trained another new employee under qualified for his position, and did all this with ease and never complained.

    About Aug 2015 I began to severely suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome caused by the demands of my job. I got on fmla and missed work sparaticly up untill Feb 2016 when my condition had gotten to the point my doctor placed me on short term disability through my employer. My leaves of absence where always approved by my supervisor and I never allowed it to affect the work flow in my office. We had great team work and communication.

    During my std leave for surgery my the other surveyor did permits while I was out as planned. My boss and coworkers knew my condition and knew surgery would be unavoidable. So we made plans that the other surveyor would do my work untill I returned.

    While out on std I kept my boss and hr informed of my progress. I ran out of fmla during my std leave and asked if my boss would be able to save my position. I was told yes. I had both hands operated on and returned at the end of may 2016. Upon my return if they had put an employee in my position they were not required to return me to that position since I didn't have fmla. I was never informed my position was filled even upon my return. I was lead to beleive I was returning to my position as described by my superintendent while on leave and when I returned.

    My second week back they called us both into his office and informed me that my coworker will now be in charge of all duties and I will do misc back burner projects as when first hired. I expressed the fact I didn't agree with this decision and asked for an explanation. I was told no reason just shifting duties around. I asked if I hadn't of taken off for surgery would you have taken my duties from me still? I was told probably not. I wrote a letter of grievance after trying to convince my boss and superintendent that this was unfair treament. My coworker has less seniority over me and no experience as a surveyor.

    I was told my coworker was allowed overtime to do my job. Because I missed work they my coworker had to work overtime to do my work. If he wasn't so under qualified OT wouldn't be needed. When I was doing all mentioned before and asked to make up time I was told no and that need to be able to do my job in the hours I was given and its not their problem if I can't do my job in that time.

    I was told they have no complaints about my work and the only reason he gets my duties is cause I took off time to have surgery. I feel so betrayed, used, and discriminated against for my disability. My superintendent told me before that he does not hire women because they just bring dram to the workplace. That although he feels this way I proved myself when I took the 2 position and was pleased with my work. I worked so hard to break where I am. A woman in a man's field leading her office with grace and efficiency and just because my hands failed me I no longer get the opportunity to get a raise or even move up in positions. I was told recently that the economy is bad and there may be lay offs and since my coworker is doing everything it would be easy for the board to not see good reason to keep my position. He is only doing all the work because that is what they are delighting him to do. He gets help from my supervisor on completing his work cause he can't do it himself. Isn't this discrimination? No I still get the same pay. But now that under qualified coworker with less experience education and seniority will be up for a raise and viewed as important while I might be considered for lay off. What can I do from here? I already began couseling to help deal with my uncontrollable out Burts of crying and depression keeping me from being able to be at work at all. I do my best to stay professional and attend work but I am not always successful.

    I believed my coworker sabotaged me by leading on that a job took a certain amount of excess time because he was doing all my work instead of admitting it took that long cause he didn't know how to do the work.there for my leave of absence caused my coworker to have to work extra hours when our dept is on a budget freeze. All to paint a picture to the board that their actions against me where justified by doing what's best for the parish. I can prove this through the paper trail of his work and any job we worked on together half my time spent answering his questions. I was scolded when I wrote a letter pointing out the fact a 10 hr day was spent doing nothing because he didn't know what to do when he was already working on it for 2 weeks before my boss told me to finish it. And I did so without said coworkers help and did it within in 3 hours. My boss made sure his equipment was working and not mine so that it was all shot on his equipment so that it would seem as though he did the job himself.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
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    Default Re: Isn't This Discrimination and What else Can I Do to Restore My Duties

    I gave up part way through.

    If if you had used all fmla leave available to you at the time, the employer is not required to allow you to return or if allowed, put you in any particular position.

    given you are a civil service employee and in LA (which seems to be a world of its own when it comes to law), there may be some protections there but I am not familiar enough with either to advise.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
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    Massachusetts
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    Default Re: Isn't This Discrimination and What else Can I Do to Restore My Duties

    Agreed. As soon as your FMLA ran out and you were not yet able to return to work, your protections expired. There is no discrimination involved.

    Unless the civil service mandates some protections that I am not aware of (and that is quite possible - I have never dealt with civil service) this falls into the "possibly unfair but not illegal" category.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Isn't This Discrimination and What else Can I Do to Restore My Duties

    Right but regardless they allowed me to return to my same position. They had their chance to change my position or fire me and didnt. So now after returning to work to my postion they changed my dutiess. What about equal opportunity??? Sabatoge is grounds for immediate termination. Can I do something there? And after reading my employee manual it says if an employee is on short term disability due to a non-work-related injury my position maybe filled upon my return that employee will be terminated without severance pay and I will return to my position as long as it's before 6 months. It doesn't say I have to get fmla.

    The employee manual talks about equal opportunity and says that no one shall be discriminated against their disability when it comes to delegating job duties hiring firing and so on... it's not like they hired somebody for my position that's just as qualified as me. He is not even qualified at all.

    When the employee manual talks about short-term disability leave it does not say I have to get on Family Medical Leave also it says when I take a leave of absence under short-term disability while I'm gone they may hire somebody to fill my position when I return they are required to fire that person hired and return me to my position and it never says I have to have family medical leave

    But yes when my boss talk to me they focus on the fact that I had no family medical leave left but I wasn't out on family medical leave anymore I was out on short term disability so really they had no right to change my duties or not give me my job when I came back and equal opportunity also says that they can't discriminate against me only because of a disability when it comes to delegating duties

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
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    Default Re: Isn't This Discrimination and What else Can I Do to Restore My Duties

    What about equal opportunity? Equal opportunity law doesn't say that all employees are treated identically, it just says they can't be treated differently because of race, religion, etc...
    As we used to say back when I was a federal employee, the government isn't an equal opportunity employer...there are better opportunities elsewhere. Your coworker being given a promotion because he was there continuously and you were not is not a violation.

    There's nothing in the civil rights law that's going to help you. You might have a merit pay beef. You can go through the appropriate channels with OPM on that but I don't see anything particularly onerous here.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Isn't This Discrimination and What else Can I Do to Restore My Duties

    I mean reading what you just wrote you're telling me this because I have no more FMLA when I return to work they can treat me however they want to and it's not discrimination no they could have fired me and they could have changed my position and they could have not let me return but they chose none of that they chose to give me my job back so now they can treat me however they want to until I get family medical leave again even tough I am at work fultime?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
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    Massachusetts
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    Default Re: Isn't This Discrimination and What else Can I Do to Restore My Duties

    The fact that they did not change your position immediately does not bar them forever from doing so.

    They are not doing anything illegal.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Isn't This Discrimination and What else Can I Do to Restore My Duties

    How? The manual does not say when I come back they have the option to fire me change my position it says when i am out on leave or upon my return from leave.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Isn't This Discrimination and What else Can I Do to Restore My Duties

    Quote Quoting Surveyorforthewin
    View Post
    I mean reading what you just wrote you're telling me this because I have no more FMLA when I return to work they can treat me however they want to and it's not discrimination no they could have fired me and they could have changed my position and they could have not let me return but they chose none of that they chose to give me my job back so now they can treat me however they want to until I get family medical leave again even tough I am at work fultime?
    You got it!

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