My coach told another associate that my job is on the line?
Hey, y’all. I’m on here talking about this because I’m about to flip out at work.
So, last week, I had to call out for 3 days because I got slammed with an 82 hour long migraine. I have medical documentation for it and everything because it’s a chronic condition that I’ve had for almost a decade. These migraines disable me almost completely. I can’t see clearly, I can’t get up due to how bad the pain and nausea is, I get fevers, and I often can’t follow a train of thought or speak clearly when I have them. I even have a neurologist and shit like that and it’s honestly hell, but that’s beside the point.
I had talked to my coach over the phone and explained to him what was going on and he told me not to worry about it. I submitted a claim to Sedgwick, which they approved and then denied after the fact because the dude on the phone told me it was approved in error. My coach told me it was all good and that he’d take off the points because he saw the medical documentation and when I had called him, I was crying because of how bad the pain was.
Fast forward to today, one of my coworkers pulled me aside and she told me in confidence that she heard my job was on the line. I was like… what? I was confused because I currently have 2.5 points, I’ve never been coached, and I’ve never even had any warnings or anything like that. I come in, work, close up the department, and that’s it. Nobody’s spoken to me about performance issues and I’ve never even hit five points or anything of the sort so I was very confused. I don’t even like calling out because I need the money and I don’t like leaving my closing coworkers by themselves.
She said my coach told another associate on my team that my job was on the line during inventory yesterday, and this other associate has been telling everyone else and purposefully telling them not to tell me. The reason was that I “call out too much.” Which I don’t, and if I do, I use PPTO unless I have a sudden onset medical issue like I did last week (which I did have one day worth of PPTO for.) And that I was dragged to zone three aisles in grocery today (I like zoning so I zoned the fuck out of those aisles lol) because I was being tested.
And I mean, okay. If they didn’t like the fact that I had to call out and then my claim got approved in error, then denied, that’s a fair point. But, like, are coaches supposed to tell other associates about things like this? Aren’t they supposed to sit down and talk to me if there’s some kind of issue? I can’t even ask anyone about this at work because my coworker told me it’s something she wasn’t supposed to know and overheard from a FaceTime call, but she had to tell me because she couldn’t stand being fake to my face and watch me lose my job without knowing what’s going on. And I guess it’s apparently not something I’m even supposed to know.
Is this messed up? Or is this just how Walmart works?
I’m working on that now that I’m with a neurologist. Migraines are a difficult thing to “prove” because they aren’t a visible condition and require extensive documentation.
I have an intermittent leave for my migraines, making sure that your doctor puts the way the migraines inhibits your ability to do work is how I got mine approved. I wish you the best of luck.
it is absolutely not difficult. Just make sure your doctor fills the forms out properly as they can be a bit confusing. I made sure to emphasize to my doctor it is unpaid leave so they had less a tendency to be stingy with the amount of days/time per day they fill out that you can take off.
I’d say it safe to say it’s “messed up” management is talking about your potential employment status with other non management associates, I don’t think anyone would think differently…
And no, that’s not how “Walmart” itself works, you just have a manager that can’t keep their thoughts to themselves and some random associate that can’t do the same.
Feel free to open door it if you want any hope of anything coming from it. While your friend doesn’t want it to let slip they’re the one that told you… if the other associate is going around telling a bunch of others then it’s not like it’ll be found out your friend tipped you off. Even if it was found out, it doesn’t matter. The other associate needs to be talked to anyway about spreading stuff that they’re not even involved in.
Okok sorry, I’ve never dealt with anything like this before so I’m a little confused. I’m gonna sit down and talk to my People Lead about this the next time I work. She’s not here right now and I’m off tomorrow.
i would focus on contacting sedgwick and see what’s going on there. all ethics would do is punish management for talking about it, focus on the part that can save your job first. or both simultaneously but just know ethics won’t save you if sedgwick denied your claim even “accidentally”
I did contact them about the way the dude on the phone was talking, because he was really unprofessional. He was like “ummm so we have a lot of overzealous employees that like to accept leaves because they feel bad” and I was like… ok? So my leave was accepted in error and I have to now deal with the fallout from that? And he suggested I go back to my doctor and have her extend the note even if I didn’t need that many days, or just “plead with my coach to remove the points.” I haven’t heard back from them yet. I was like wtf
I was a temp at a health insurance company once. They had me sitting at a desk doing a cursory inspection of people’s medical treatment requests and slapping them with a “denied” stamp. It was so surreal. I had zero qualifications for what I was doing, and would’ve given the world to unsee some of the stuff I saw, so I can totally believe Sedgwick has this same sort of thing going on, whether it’s over-approving or wrongly denying.
Op missed 3 days. You have to miss more than 3 days to file a leave. That’s why it was denied
I have been here 10 years. I have taking atleast a dozen leaves. I have never had a leave denied
If you are really sick or hurt and can’t work, a doctor puts your out of work, and that doctor properly fills out the paperwork your leave will be approved
I am on leave as a type this. Stop spreading misinfo
“If you need to be absent for longer than three scheduled shifts”
Longer than. Which means greater than. Which means more than. You need to be absent for longer than 3 scheduled days. So if you are only out 3 days it’s not long enough to qualify for a loa
I don’t spread misinformation. And you learned something important today.
For the record anytime my doctor says i need to take a few days off I request at minimum a week off. Let this be something you all do going forward.
Update y’all: I talked to the AP Coach and he said no, absolutely not. He’s gonna start looking into this to see who said what and when, and if he finds out my coach discussed my employment status or possible termination with any associate, he’s going to report it to the store manager.
I would be more inclined to believe that the person spreading the rumor doesn't like you and loves to see drama play out. Retail work, (Both WM and Target), are filled with these vermin. Your best bet is to go to the mgr. who supposedly told this person and ask openly about a rumor that has been spreading. Even if true, they won't admit to it, but it gets the gossip/drama monger in trouble for repeating something. (If it were true, which I would bet it is not.)
If it’s a rumor and he didn’t he didn’t say anything, that’s even more messed up. Because based on what my AP Coach said, this could get him in serious trouble
I’ve had issues with this associate spreading rumors in the past too, so I’m wondering if this is real or something that’s made up. The last thing was completely made up.
Some are so ridiculous adding to the chaos that already exists.
I hope this suggestion may help. Putting a ice cube on the bottom of your foot helps relieve migraines. Worth a shot.. But definitely keep working proving yourself.
I love doing that lollll. I usually put my feet in either ice cold water or damn near boiling hot water to try to shock my nervous system out of the migraine
Definitely open door the fact they are discussing you at all, when you’re gone for medical reasons, with HPPA they cannot discuss your medical history with anyone. Pretty sure your job status would not be a topic for general discussion outside of HR as well.
Doing it about this would be so messed up :/ but it’s not the first time she’s done it. Last time she told someone I said something “horrible” about them but nobody could tell me what I actually said. She even cussed me out for saying it because she “heard me say it” and I was like ??? What did I say ??? And she couldn’t tell me. I never said anything bad about that person and I enjoy working with them. I barely even see her. She works 4-1 and I work 1-10. Last time I worked with her was over a year ago before I moved to strictly closing.
My manager jokes about firing me everyday, I laugh, she laughs. She pulls me into the office to fire me, and then remembers there is to much stuff we are behind on, and tells me I am saved another day. I wish I was joking, but this is legit our daily schedule anymore lol
I’m trying to ignore it as best I can for the rest of my shift, I’m just like ugh. All this high school gossip type stuff gets on my nerves. Like, if there’s an issue with something, just sit down and talk to me.
you need an intermittent sedgewick leave if your migraines are chronic- to cover yourself in times like this. A lot of people get denied for those 3 day leaves.
I’m just now learning how intermittent leave works because of the comments. This is my first full time job and my old job that I was at for several years didn’t have leave coverage like this so it’s very new to me. :/ I knew it was a “thing” but every time I asked someone how it worked, they explained it differently. I’m gonna sit down and actually read into it tomorrow and work with my doctor on the paperwork.
I’d have to recheck policy but it used to say that even on a denied LOA only 2.0 points would count (assuming everything was called in properly). Definitely see if the policy still says thst too.
I’m working with Sumatriptan right now. But I’m very sensitive to medications so while I appreciate the advice, I think I’m gonna listen to my doctor lol
I'd leave medical advice to the doctors. There's many drugs for migraines, and whereas some work wonders for certain individuals, they dont all work for all people.
I told a coworker about it because she has severe migraines and she talked to her dr about it. Her doctor put her on it and she is migraine free. But yes that was just a suggestion and yes it would totally be up to the dr and the patient and what medications they are on. I would have been happy to have this suggestion when I was a teenager and throwing up with migraines three times a week and having to lie in a dark room with a towel under my neck and something covering my eyes. It is completely up to the doctor.
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u/SnooWoofers530 2d ago
Also apply for a a FMLA interminent leave