Regular Member Patrick_Joyce Posted January 31 Regular Member Share Posted January 31 Has anyone used FMLA or taken a leave of absence for hair transplants? At my job, we have to put in our time off requests nearly a year ahead of time and on top of that, getting approved for it depends on your seniority. Since I'm newer there's no guarantees I'd get the time off that I request and so it's hard to coordinate the time off I would need with the availability of the clinics. So I thought my best option would be FMLA. Has anyone ever done this? I mentioned this to one of the hair transplant surgeons and the weren't getting it. I said I would have to use sick time or FMLA to take the slots you have available, but I would need a a doctor's note for it to be approved and they just kept saying, "request a vacation" despite me saying it doesn't happen that easily at my job." Any advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member jjalay Posted January 31 Regular Member Share Posted January 31 You can take vacation and after that fmla for 1 week plus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Otis james Posted January 31 Regular Member Share Posted January 31 I’ve no idea what that is, but I went back to work (a roofer) 4 days after surgery…. I think, if you’re careful, you can go back sooner than you think…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Berba11 Posted January 31 Valued Contributor Share Posted January 31 3 hours ago, Patrick_Joyce said: Has anyone used FMLA or taken a leave of absence for hair transplants? At my job, we have to put in our time off requests nearly a year ahead of time and on top of that, getting approved for it depends on your seniority. Since I'm newer there's no guarantees I'd get the time off that I request and so it's hard to coordinate the time off I would need with the availability of the clinics. So I thought my best option would be FMLA. Has anyone ever done this? I mentioned this to one of the hair transplant surgeons and the weren't getting it. I said I would have to use sick time or FMLA to take the slots you have available, but I would need a a doctor's note for it to be approved and they just kept saying, "request a vacation" despite me saying it doesn't happen that easily at my job." Any advice? Is it that hard to coordinate? Can you ask your prospective surgeon to hold two or three dates for you whilst you put in your time off requests? That way if one gets rejected you have others dates to aim for. You’ll surely be given one of your preferred dates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Patrick_Joyce Posted January 31 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 31 (edited) 1 hour ago, Berba11 said: Is it that hard to coordinate? Can you ask your prospective surgeon to hold two or three dates for you whilst you put in your time off requests? That way if one gets rejected you have others dates to aim for. You’ll surely be given one of your preferred dates. Yes it is that hard because I only get one week a year right now and we have to request all of our vacation time for the year by January 15th so it's too late at this point. And if we have one week we could only put in for one particular week. We can't put in for a variety of weeks with hopes that we'll end up getting one of them. Even if it was before January 15th, if I put in for the week and somebody more senior than me put in for it, I wouldn't get it but I wouldn't know that until after January 15th when vacation times are posted, and at that point, the window to put in vacation requests already closed so I wouldn't have any further options. Edited January 31 by Patrick_Joyce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Patrick_Joyce Posted January 31 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 31 1 hour ago, Otis james said: I’ve no idea what that is, but I went back to work (a roofer) 4 days after surgery…. I think, if you’re careful, you can go back sooner than you think…. The problem isn't about going back to work the problem is about getting the time time off to begin with... At this point I can't request vacation time to be able to use it for the hair transplant procedure. We have to put in all of our vacation requests for the upcoming year by January 15th. Not only that but whatever time we put in for goes by seniority, so if I put in for a week and one of the several people above me put in for it I'm not going to get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Gatsby Posted January 31 Valued Contributor Share Posted January 31 Can you not just get a medical certificate stating you had to take leave owing to a medical condition? You could be creative as you need to be. It is surgery and you could make up some dermatological excuse? GATSBY 'UNPLUGGED!' 15,671 (3 surgeries) Grafts FUE+BHT Dr. Sethi Eugenix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Berba11 Posted January 31 Valued Contributor Share Posted January 31 51 minutes ago, Patrick_Joyce said: Yes it is that hard because I only get one week a year right now and we have to request all of our vacation time for the year by January 15th so it's too late at this point. And if we have one week we could only put in for one particular week. We can't put in for a variety of weeks with hopes that we'll end up getting all of them. Even if it was before January 15th, if I put in for the week and somebody more senior than me put in for it, I wouldn't get it but I wouldn't know that until after January 15th when vacation times are posted, and at that point, the window to put in vacation requests already closed so I wouldn't have any further options. I get that. Obviously this is 'by the way' given we're past the 15th of Jan now, but I was rather suggesting that you have a few dates in mind *with the clinic*, and then put in for your first choice at work. I assume if those dates are rejected by your work, you can then request different dates. So the idea would be to have backup options with the clinic in case your initial request at work is declined. But only getting one week paid per year + no guarantees you'll get your desired dates sounds very brutal to me. What do you do? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Patrick_Joyce Posted January 31 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 31 24 minutes ago, Gatsby said: Can you not just get a medical certificate stating you had to take leave owing to a medical condition? You could be creative as you need to be. It is surgery and you could make up some dermatological excuse? Well that's what I was referring to for FMLA (for those in other countries, that stands for family and medical leave act here in the states). But I I can't just say I'm going out on medical leave without documentation. I would need a letter from the doctor stating that I am out for medical reason (doesn't have to state what specifically). But when I brought this up to the surgeon he was acting so confused and just kept repeating, "why don't you just request vacation time." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Patrick_Joyce Posted January 31 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 31 16 minutes ago, Berba11 said: I get that. Obviously this is 'by the way' given we're past the 15th of Jan now, but I was rather suggesting that you have a few dates in mind *with the clinic*, and then put in for your first choice at work. I assume if those dates are rejected by your work, you can then request different dates. So the idea would be to have backup options with the clinic in case your initial request at work is declined. But only getting one week paid per year + no guarantees you'll get your desired dates sounds very brutal to me. What do you do? Icu nurse in a hospital. Well all the vacation times that have been granted and approved will be posted March 1st. So at that point I guess I can see what slots have not been taken and then ask the director if it's possible to take time during one of those slots. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Berba11 Posted January 31 Valued Contributor Share Posted January 31 46 minutes ago, Patrick_Joyce said: Icu nurse in a hospital. Well all the vacation times that have been granted and approved will be posted March 1st. So at that point I guess I can see what slots have not been taken and then ask the director if it's possible to take time during one of those slots. That sounds more viable than having to get creative with your sick leave. Hopefully you can sort it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Patrick_Joyce Posted January 31 Author Regular Member Share Posted January 31 (edited) 28 minutes ago, Berba11 said: That sounds more viable than having to get creative with your sick leave. Hopefully you can sort it! I'm just planning ahead in case it doesn't work out and I do have to use sick leave. That's the purpose of this post to see if anyone else has had to do that. Edited January 31 by Patrick_Joyce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Cospine Posted February 1 Regular Member Share Posted February 1 The good news is that post op you can probably hide your scalp with the a surgical cap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Melvin- Admin Posted February 2 Administrators Share Posted February 2 I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice. Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey: View my thread Topical dutasteride journey Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog. Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Al - Moderator Posted February 2 Moderators Share Posted February 2 I understand your problem. Where I work if we are short a person or two then all vacation time may get blocked, or if someone has already taken off even one of the days that I need then I won't get approved for it, then there are high volume business days that are blocked from vacations which are usually the holiday weekends or if some big event is scheduled, so it's not always as simple as just take vacation time. You could try asking for some time off without pay, but if you are a newer employee like you said then you may not get it. You may also be able to switch with someone or give away days to a part time employee if you have those where you work. You said you are an ICU nurse. I'm surprised it sounds so rough with vacation time. Usually it's easy to get time off on those jobs or change your schedule to get 6 to 8 days off straight. Do you usually wear surgical caps or something similar? If you do then you can probably get away with just taking 4 or 5 days off and letting the cap cover any sign of the hair transplant. Al Forum Moderator (formerly BeHappy) I am a forum moderator for hairrestorationnetwork.com. I am not a Dr. and I do not work for any particular Dr. My opinions are my own and may not reflect the opinions of other moderators or the owner of this site. I am also a hair transplant patient and repair patient. You can view some of my repair journey here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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