Legal Question in Employment Law in Tennessee
Demoted for Having Surgery
I am a full time salaried employee who needs to have outpatient surgery that will require up to 4 weeks to recover before I can actually drive to and from work. Because of the nature of my work, I can work from home while recovering as easily as I can work at the office. I work at the office now about 55 hours a week and work an additional 10-20 hours at home on nights and weekends. I informed my boss one morning about my surgery plans and that afternoon he demoted me to an hourly employee, refuses to allow me to work from home and told me that I can become salary again later on. Is it legal for him to demote me to an hourly employee just because I am going to have surgery only so he can change me back to a salary employee when I come back?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Demoted for Having Surgery
If you need time off from work due to a major illness or injury you are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year (if your employer has enough employees to be covered by the Family Medical Leave Act).
Your boss is not required to allow you to work from home 100% or at all.
Depending on a number of factors, your boss' solution to this problem may be improper. You should consult with an attorney to give him/her all the facts and let him/her ask you some questions and give you an opinion depending on the specific facts in your circumstances.
If you would like additional information, please contact me at 1.800.403.7868 or [email protected].
Re: Demoted for Having Surgery
Just to add to Mr. Crone's reply, the FMLA only applies if you have been working for the employer for more than a year and your employer has more than 50 employees. There are some variations on that theme as to what constitutes "employees" and what constitutes a year of employment, but I would suggest contacting an attorney who is familiar with the FMLA on these points. From the post, it is unclear whether you are in Alabama or Tennessee. If you are in Alabama, please do not hesitate to call me at 205-458-1100.
Sterling L. DeRamus
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