Disabled, Working and the Coronavirus

First some background about me. I had my right kidney removed at age 4 because I had a Wilms Tumor. This is a cancer of the kidney that usually occurs in children. At 28 years old I had a huge cyst on my left ovary that had to be removed during emergency surgery. About a month later I was still having complications and vomiting on and off for no reason. In a couple more months I would find that when my doctor took out my ovarian cyst she put a butterfly stitch into my only urerter (tube from kidney to bladder that slows urine to travel to the bladder for waste removal). This caused a great many surgeries, stent placements and removals, as well as several reimplant. So I am considered disabled under the ADA(Americans with Disabilities Act). I was working as a full-time art teacher for a small school system in North Carolina. I had flare ups of pain that caused me to have to miss about 2-3 of work each month. I never got fired and I was allowed the days I needed. Amazing, right! Here is what saved my job and protected me for being disabled. If you are considered disabled you can protect yourself by filling out the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act). This doesn’t have to come from your employer. You can download it straight from http//:www.dol.gov. This can be used if you need to be out of work because of health reasons. It can be consecutive days or for a couple of days here or there. You will be able to use sick/vacation days if you have any but if you don’t you just won’t get paid while you are out of work for medical reasons. Here is a link directly to the FMLA forms. Click here. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla/forms

Not only can you fill out the FMLA forms for just your disability, but also if you are a caregiver for an immediate family member, or a winded veteran. Click thelink above for all the FMLA forms you need for these circumstances.

Also if you go to your doctor and they send a work note that says you have to stay home or wear a mask because of medical reasons then you will need to be accommodated. Another solution could be that you start working in the back doing something else while the coronavirus is at its peak. I pray this helps you. I didn’t mind answering any