The HR lady for my district has me seriously considering mailing in my letter of resignation (which I have printed, signed, and waiting on my desk at home).
As many of you know, I returned to school in October after the majority of my cancer treatment was over. However, I still have to go to Radiation. Originally my radiation was once a week on Saturday, which was fine. However, they have since upped it to every day, and the latest they can take me is 3:30, which is when my contract time ends. My doctor is only 10 minutes away, so I got permission from my principal to leave school at 3:15 (school ends for students at 3:00). Well, somehow the HR lady from Satan's Layer found out and sent me a scathing email saying she was going to have to dock my pay if I continued "not fulfilling my contractual duties". Do you know what aren't my "contractual duties"? Lesson planning for a long term sub, which includes making all the notes for students, the homework assignments, and the tests and quizzes while I am going through chemo over the summer. But you know why I did? Because I knew you were going to be lazy and not want to go through all that effort of onboarding someone just for a temporary position.
I'm sorry my cancer is somehow an inconvenience for you, but you wouldn't have this issue if the district would put in the effort to actually hire a long-term sub for my class and put me back on disability. Believe me, my doctor (as well as myself, my wife and most of the people I know) are FURIOUS at me for working right now, but if I didn't come back to work, she would be bullying me into coming back and in the meantime, my kids would have been stuck with a revolving door so subs who just hand out premade copies of the notes and the worksheet. And you cannot tell me there isn't anyone to take that position, my county is one of the most prestigious school districts in the state and there is a line a mile long of teachers who would love to teach here.
This isn't the first time I had to battle with her over my leave. In April, when I started chemo, she tried to tell me my chemo "wasn't that bad" so I could take off just the Fridays I had chemo. Needless to say, I threw a temper tantrum with my P (not an exaggeration), so that did not happen. To me, this feels like bullying and harassment, so I filed a formal grievance with the county. Not that it will do anything because her father-in-law is the superintendent for the school district.
I love the school I work at, but I honestly do not know how much longer my cancer treatment will go on and how much more of her crap I can take.
OTOH, you take the time you need to recover, you win! And she loses, because she has to do more work.
Your students will survive. Yes, they won't get the best you could give, but they wouldn't get that if you resigned, either.
I would put it something like this:
"Since the district isn't willing to be flexible with my working hours, I will need to take FMLA leave until my treatments are over and my doctor believes I am recovered enough to resume my duties. "
I agree to not quit. Take the leave you need and deserve. Don’t go back until you are ready. The kids will be fine. You need to put yourself first. Please.
No! Ridiculous! Make an appointment with your Superintendent and calmly explain what you wrote here. The Superintendent will most likely lay into the HR person because, even if he/she isn’t swayed by the most humane plan, surely he/she will want the most cost-effective plan.
I wish you good luck resolving this ridiculous mess. I am furious for you. Go straight to the top. Really.
I am sorry you are going through this. Don’t quit, hr wins. Do not worry about school, kids, or plans. Your health is more important. Take the time off, use sick days and have your doctor write you out for chemo. If you need to, use fmla days. You could take off every day of chemo and attend school the other days. It’s up to you.
I am furious with you! Leaving 15 minutes early for medical reasons and the kids aren’t even there!
I’m sure that you never arrive before contract hours, you never plan outside them, you never correct papers outside them, you never prepare report cards outside them, or the endless list of things teachers do outside contract hours.
Frankly, I would do everything and anything to get my health in check — but I would NOT resign, if only to spite her. But that’s me in hypothetical land. You got to do what’s best for you.
I was actually going to suggest FMLA too. I get that you're worried about the kids, but your health (mental and physical) comes first. Go on FMLA and take care of yourself. If she has any concerns she can direct them to your doctor (or lawyer if necessary). At some point not even her FIL being the superintendent will protect her. I think we might be there.
I agree with taking FMLA while your treatment is ongoing. I also would contact a lawyer to see what your options are, she has no right threatening you. Do you have a union you can talk with? You are the most important person, so please do what you need to do to heal.
What a complete bitch!! A friend of mine had a brain tumor, and our psychopath principal made her life hell for some reason...sending her minion in to camp out in her classroom, after which the minion would run back to the principal and tell lies. The stress was unbearable. Some people take joy in making others miserable.
I like Amigas idea....go right up the food chain to the superintendent. It may get booted back down to someone else, it now this person is on her radar.
This woman needs another session in how to interact with people. I would also get my union involved, as well as however many people it would take to make this woman’s life miserable. As miserable as she is making yours.
Do you still have days to cover FMLA and get paid? If you do, take them. If you don't, listen to the advice others have given. Maybe talk with a school board member?
Years ago, I had a female principal who was a real bully. I Googled “bully boss” and had a real eye opener. Bully bosses like to pick on people who are having issues in their personal lives: divorce, illness, etc. My mother was very ill and died during that time. The P was incredibly nasty to me. She got her comeuppance, though, and had to realize how difficult she made people’s lives. This woman is a real BULLY!
I am only a sub, but my district worked with me so I could leave before the end of the school days this fall. Other teachers covered the last 15 minutes of classes for me so that I could get to radiation on time every day for 21 days. I didn't sub all of those days, but I did work most of them. I would be furious that they would punish you for leaving AFTER students were gone, but only 15 minutes before the end of the school day.
Before you do FMLA, if need be, check to see if your county has short term disability. Mine did and it wasn’t a plan that I had to pay for. It just wasn’t well known since they wanted us to purchase a separate plan and not use theirs. My doctor wrote me off for the majority of the school year due to PPA and PTSD after my son was born severely premature. At least you’d get partial pay with short term disability.
I'm pretty sure that you can do intermittent FMLA, as well as partial day FMLA. In other words, those minutes you need to leave early can be covered that way.
Realistically, it would be simpler and probably less expensive for the district to just let you leave slightly early since you don't have teaching responsibilities at that time. If they basically require you to take afternoons or days off, they will be paying you and a sub.
I just thought about the Americans with Disabilities Act. It appears that the act covers someone in your situation, and the HR person needs to be strongly informed. https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/fs-ada.cfm
I'm sorry you're having such a difficult time with HR, but I'm stuck on this part: "my doctor (as well as myself, my wife and most of the people I know) are FURIOUS at me for working right now, but if I didn't come back to work, she would be bullying me into coming back and in the meantime, my kids would have been stuck with a revolving door so subs who just hand out premade copies of the notes and the worksheet."
Please, please, don't worry about the students. UNLESS you have a really nasty P who would hold a sub accountable for test scores and/or your evaluation. OR, they'll hold you accountable for your absences and it'll count against you. Someone else's children should not come before your own health. Believe me, the kids will survive and it's really not your problem that HR can't fill the sub spot.
I had to be out for months years ago, the students were fine--I'm not that invincible--none of us are Yes, it's ridiculous that they're giving you a hard time for leaving when students aren't even there. That is crappy.
You are a genius. I love that your link includes this very situation!
Quote:
An employer is required to make a reasonable accommodation to the known disability of a qualified applicant or employee if it would not impose an "undue hardship" on the operation of the employer's business. Reasonable accommodations are adjustments or modifications provided by an employer to enable people with disabilities to enjoy equal employment opportunities. Accommodations vary depending upon the needs of the individual applicant or employee. Not all people with disabilities (or even all people with the same disability) will require the same accommodation. For example:
A deaf applicant may need a sign language interpreter during the job interview.
An employee with diabetes may need regularly scheduled breaks during the workday to eat properly and monitor blood sugar and insulin levels.
A blind employee may need someone to read information posted on a bulletin board. An employee with cancer may need leave to have radiation or chemotherapy treatments.
It may even be worth the money to have a lawyer write a letter to the Superintendent and Board head as well as the HR head stating the adjustments you will need to have for them be in compliance with the federal law.
And you need to consider carefully with your doctor and family just what sort of accommodations are needed to allow you to successfully negotiate this needed treatment of your disease before presenting the letter. Including any and all time off to recover from daily radiation.
It may well only take a letter from your doctor, but I'd be holding the lawyer on speed dial, given the static you've gotten from HR.
Do NOT allow them to drive you out!! They might be trying to save treatment dollars on your disease if they are self insured or have some unknown financial impact. Not your problem. Your concern is to get well.
Yes, you care about your students, but you need to get well so you can be there for them later in the year.
Last edited by broomrider; 11-24-2019 at 11:09 PM..
Reason: added stuff
The HR lady is lacking in empathy. But what she was probably saying is that he has to take intermittent FMLA for that last 15 minutes of the day. When you take FMLA you have to use your sick time and once sick time is used up, you don’t get paid for the time you missed. His principal had probably said he could just leave early and it would not count against his Sick Time/FMLA but then HR found out and is going to count the time. It doesn’t sound like the HR lady said he could not leave, she just said his sick time/ FMLA would be docked from his paycheck. This really isn’t illegal so he probably does not have a leg to sue on. Also, hiring a lawyer is really expensive about $300.00 an hour. Unless you are a celebrity, it’s really difficult to have a lawyer on speed dial because it’s so expensive. In my experience, HR people see their job as a business. They really don’t care about individual teachers/employees. I had a situation similar to the OPs and expected HR to treat me the way I treat my students. Didn’t happen. When I threatened to sue, they weren’t scared at all. They knew the average teacher can’t afford to pay a lawyer. I would be furious and hurt if I were the OP as well but I’m also being realistic.
I had a consultant make a snide comment about my vision issues. I responded that the ADA might see things a different way. My P was in the room. Miraculously I have received every projected bit of information in printed form since that date. I have never asked for it. I have expressed appreciation multiple times. It is amazing how those words make a difference.
We have the Disability Law Center in my state which represents clients in similar situations, free of charge. Before paying for an attorney, check and see if your state has a similar organization.
It’s shocking this woman has made it this far in HR without the district being sued! Good luck!
I hope you've found the appropriate references to have your situation resolved to everyone's (or at least your, your family, and your doctor's) satisfaction.
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11-23-2019, 10:22 AM
Yes, it's ridiculous that they're giving you a hard time for leaving when students aren't even there. That is crappy.
