Vanessa’s Story

When I was diagnosed with gallstones in December 2012, I was forced to go on FMLA for weeks to recuperate from surgery. Once I was almost completely healed from that surgery, doctors found another gallstone which was left behind from the first surgery. I had to undergo a second surgery, and subsequently had to stay out of work on FMLA for an additional six weeks putting me at a total of 12 weeks out of work.

In order to get paid for my time off, I needed to exhaust my paid time off (PTO) and then exhaust my sick time for FMLA. I have been back to work for seven months, and I only have accumulated nine hours of time to put back into my PTO accounts. I work twelve hour shifts, therefore I would not be able to take a full day off with pay again until I have additional earned time.

If I had not needed to exhaust all my accumulated paid time off for my FMLA, I would be able to take a couple of days for an emergency or even a day or two of vacation. As it stands I have no way of taking anytime off with pay due to my past illness.