One of the great—and worst—things about working in a cubicle, or an open-office environment, is that it allows you the freedom to openly interact with your coworkers. There are no walls, no doors, no barriers which can be used to stifle intercommunication. Such a lack of physical barriers does have its drawbacks, however. For one thing, it lends itself to the spread of disease. Within the cubicle jungle, a cold, a flu, a virus still unbeknownst to the world of medical science, can spread quicker than chicken pox through a kindergarten class. Coworkers shake hands, give high fives, sneeze, cough, sit in cramped meeting spaces, and taint all of the plastic cutlery available in the kitchen as they innocently reach for a knife or fork and in doing so manage to touch every fork or knife in the basket or container. Even with the presence of hand sanitizer (which, studies recently have shown, may be ineffective in killing the flu virus), epidemics are inevitable. Sick employees, frightened that their work will pile in their absence and constantly concerned about job security, trudge into work with the best of intentions, giving very little thought that they might be the source of an office-wide Ebola outbreak. In the case of serious health conditions (of which I would consider an Ebola infection to be one) the thought of going into work should not only be outright dismissed, but respected by employers, who are required to give employees with serious health conditions time off.
The truth is, employers are legally bound to do so by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which forces them to allow employees facing a serious health condition an extended period of unpaid leave (12 weeks or more). Unfortunately, some employers, short of workers but not short of work, have driven employees with such conditions to work who should have stayed home. MSNBC contributor Eva Tahmincioglu recounts one situation in which a Michaels employee who had just undergone a double mastectomy was arm twisted by her boss into going back to work. The employee was subsequently fired when, it was discovered, her husband was assisting her with some of her workplace chores, particularly those involving heavy lifting. The employee, who, because of the nature of her surgery quite obviously was incapable of such heavy lifting, sued Michaels under FMLA and was awarded $8.1 million. Joan Williams, director of the Center for Worklife Law, explains, “Very often, employers very subtly discourage workers from taking leave…They set up with assumption that if you’re really…serious about your job you’d be devoted and always available. But that’s science fiction.” In addition to this, many workers eligible for FMLA cannot afford to take unpaid leave (notwithstanding employees living in California, Washington, and New Jersey, whose respective states have established insurance which provide partial pay to workers on leave). Though, if you face a serious ailment, and require FMLA leave, it is important that one, you know your rights (enumerated hereafter), and two, not feel pressured into working when you should be at home resting.
A Department of Labor factsheet explains that employees who have been with an employer or company (who has employed “50 or more employees in 20 or more weeks”) for a year or more are eligible for FMLA leave. Such employees are eligible to take up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave per year (family members caring for a servicemember are eligible for up to 26 workweeks per year).
What’s covered?
- Employees can use FMLA to care for a newborn child, a new foster or adopted child, their spouse, son, daughter, or parent with a serious health condition, for reasons related to their own health, or for reasons relating to one’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent being called to active duty.
What constitutes a “serious health condition”?
- Though the definition is rather long, a serious health condition might be described as one which requires inpatient care, or one which requires continued treatment by a healthcare provider, and could encompass various ailments, from a particularly nasty virus or bacterial infection to surgery.
What is important to remember is that dismissing your health needs in the present,could seriously affect your ability to work in the future. While common courtesy dictates that employees suffering from infectious diseases (including pink eye or strep throat) should stay home, employees faced with serious health conditions should consider the long-term impact of going into work. If you find yourself in a situation where you are eligible for FMLA leave and you feel your boss or supervisor is pressuring you into working, pay a visit to your HR department—if indeed you are eligible, nothing permits your employer to violate federal law.
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