Is it OK for my store manager to question me about me going on medical leave?
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Is it OK for my store manager to question me about me going on medical leave?
A few days ago, I told my immediate boss that I was going to need knee surgery. He tells me OK, asked when my surgery was going to be, and to make sure I turn in all my medical leave papers as soon as I can. Then my store manager came up to me and started asking me questions: When did I find out I needed surgery? How long has my
knee been hurting? Did I have to schedule the surgery now or could it have waited? I am just wondering if that was legal. Did he have the right to question me like that?
Asked on December 5, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Indiana
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
There is nothing improper about it. We are in the holiday shopping season--a critical time for a retail store, as you evidently work at. If the surgery is elective, not emergency or time critical, the employer would have the right to require you to schedule it for a non-critical period: employers can require employees to schedule anything non-emergency (elective surgery; vacations; etc.) for periods that are less disruptive for the employer; they don't have to allow you to take off whenever you like. So the questions the employer is asking are to find out if this is emergency or elective, and, if elective, why have you scheduled it at this time.
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