how much paid leave time should an employee receive after undergoing a major surgery?

12 Comments

1. AnonymousNovember 3,2022 at 3:44PM UTC

   That would depend on many factors. short term disability, FMLA, recovery, etc. The medical professionals of the patient would have the best info here along with how they are healing, what they do for work, etc. For example: I had total nose reconstruction (10 hour surgery) and was provided 2 weeks off (short-term), I was not healing how they expected and received additional time off of work. The only people that needed to be involved in my situation were the company's HR leave personnel. All notification on return to work were provided to my manager.

2. AnonymousNovember 3,2022 at 6:38PM UTC

   As others have said, there are a lot of factors to consider. At my org, anything more than 5 days, we tap into our short-term disability plan.

3. AnonymousNovember 3,2022 at 6:39PM UTC

   You would need to balance PTO EARNED/SAVED and disability and then family leave.

4. AnonymousNovember 5,2022 at 12:17PM UTC

   That depends on the policies of your employer. Some allow you to hold on to paid leave if you choose.

5. AnonymousNovember 3,2022 at 10:19PM UTC

   How much should? Depends on the company. There is no one size fits all response here.

   If an employee is covered by FMLA, 12 weeks. An employer could choose to allow more. Of course, they can choose or (if company policy dictates) be forced to use all PTO first.

6. AnonymousNovember 4,2022 at 11:54AM UTC

   It depends on your company's policies and state laws.

7. Bonny DanielsNovember 4,2022 at 1:26PM UTC

   the answer to this question is 2 fold. 1st - only the treating surgeon can make the right downtime recommendation for their patient, not the company they work for. Now how much time does the company pay the staff member for their time off due to illness is all based on policy. How much time the company protects that position whilst the staff member is out on sick leave is all based on regulation (in the USA FMLA if the company is large enough) and policy

8. Orlagh CostelloNovember 4,2022 at 1:35PM UTC

   Surely as much as the medical staff say they need? Although, I'm not based in the US, so different rules apply

9. Shelly EdwardsNovember 4,2022 at 4:37PM UTC

   It depends if your company qualifies for Family Medical Leave. If they have over 50 employees in a 75 mile radius and you have work there for more than a year (meeting the hours requirement), then you are entitled to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a year. If they are not that size, do they have another leave program. If they do not, they still need to follow the ADA process to see if the amount of time your medical team recommends is a reasonable accommodation for them to make. You may also have paid/unpaid leave laws in your state, county or city that would cover you. This is a broad question that would require more details to answer specifically. You should sit down with your HR person or your boss to review your needs and determine what type of leave your company offers.

10. AnonymousNovember 6,2022 at 3:20PM UTC

    The doctor performing the surgery should be sending the guidance on how long the person needs to recover before going back to work. Whether the time is paid or unpaid or covered by short-term disability insurance or FMLA depends on the company policies and state and federal labor laws.

11. AnonymousNovember 6,2022 at 5:08PM UTC

    Are you asking for paid or unpaid leave?
    It's different in the title and in the post.

    What I've seen happen (these are all right-to-work states) is that the employee is paid in full until they exhaust their accrued or allowed (per company policy) paid time off (PTO). A short-term disability policy can provide 2/3 of the employee's salary until the employee is out for 90 days. After that, it goes to long-term disability (usually up to a year), which can differ in amount depending on the policy. Many companies do not allow for paid short-term or long-term disability, but some offer them as employee-paid (usually) benefits.

    Note: The minimum the employer must pay is the entitled PTO when the absence starts. FMLA only protects the employee's job/position, not the paycheck. State laws and company policy cover anything beyond that. Some companies will have different absence/disability policies depending on the job title and exempt/non-exempt status. Beyond a year, the employee is usually expected to apply for Social Security Disability benefits.

12. Ashley KingNovember 7,2022 at 11:38PM UTC

    The company should provide as much paid time off as the surgeon recommends.