The Tarnished Tiara

I was contacted by corporate yesterday regarding my Leave of Absence.  First of all, it isn't a full LOA, it's actually FMLA - you know the Family Medical Leave Act.  What that does is guarantee that my position and rate of pay will be guaranteed for 12 weeks.  I can go on full Leave of Absence for 12 months, but after the first 3 months my position and rate of pay are no longer guaranteed.  The HR rep I spoke to said store usually don't demote you.  Anyway, this is important because Tiara, the associate at Arlington Orthopedic Specialists totally ignored everything I said when I gave her my paperwork.  I had told her my LOA needed to begin on 3/30 and run until 6/20 which was not what was written on the form.

She listed my starting date as 5/6 (the date of my surgery) and running until 7/29 and then beginning again on 7/30 and running until 11/6.  So I called Arlington and the first person I talked to was  really surprised by the November date.  And, of course, I had to wait on the line for almost 15 minutes before Tiara finally picked up her extension.  When I explained the situation to her she said "but that's your surgery date and we automatically extend it for 6 months."  So, I explained the situation again repeating how my surgeon said it was "realistic" for me to go back to work on 6/20 with restrictions.  And Tiara said, "well, you can go back to work any time."  And I wondered if someone had hit her with a stupid brick, or was she normally this inept.

Anyway, she agreed to changed the dates on the form and fax it a 2nd time back to corporate.  I will call corporate later this morning to make sure Tiara did the right thing.  I've already talked to the store and they know when I return I'll have restrictions.  I wasn't that impressed with Tiara to begin with, but now I know she truly is tarnished.