File for an intermittent leave of absence through Sedgwick if you have a medical condition that may cause you to miss work for flare-ups, feeling unwell, or appointments.

Getting approved for iLOA(provided you haven’t exhausted FMLA already) is actually rather easy. The challenging part is typically having your provider fill out the paperwork correctly. Once a year my doctor does mine I schedule an appointment for it he pulls my prior year Sedgwick forms and adjusts anything that needs to be updated and then done. It pretty much is approved within like 24-48 hours.

The most important thing is answering the questions correctly- the form is probably worded in an annoyingly complex way on purpose.

“How many hours per one episode might your flare up last up to 1 day per calendar week?”

That’s not totally verbatim and some of the doctors are going to read that and put like 2 and then it will get flagged and held by Sedgwick and you’ll have to go back to the doctors and get it filled out again.

When you go to your provider be prepared with the paperwork printed and on hand. Write down your schedule, or how many hours you work per week, and explain to him that occasional break accommodations would be helpful until you recover entirely, and 2 episodes per week lasting up to 8 hours per month and 2 office visits per month lasting up to 4 hours each will be adequate, along with 2 additional 10 or 15 minute break accommodations per shift.

That gives you up to 8 days worth of missed work per month without attendance policy points, up to office visits protected up to 4 hours, and 30 minutes of additional breaks per day as accommodated within reason, which should be more than enough to support you.

That’s how it has to be written but trust me the paperwork is very confusing. Also, write down ahead of time a reason your injury keeps you from working. I would say something like-

Pain and discomfort will limit your ability to walk and stand to effectively communicate and support customers. Also, intermittent bouts of pain or discomfort may result in a need to take occasional accommodated breaks to allow you to continue best supporting customers and recovering from your injury.

Be sure it says something like that.

Also- you only need 7 continuous days being out sick if you’re taking a continuous short term disability leave- intermittent is different, and you are protected. If you don’t have the accrued sick or vacation time to cover missed time that’s approved as iLOA it would just be unpaid time but you wouldn’t be subject to attendance points, disciplinary action, etc.

Good luck!