Q: For the last three years, I have worked from home as an insurance-compliance specialist for a major hospital.
I like the job, have received good performance reviews and always have shown up for required meetings and training classes.
I have an autistic child who spends his mornings and early afternoons in a special-education classroom, where there are two adults for each student. No day care or after-school program will accept him.
The only way I can keep my job is to telecommute, but I recently was informed that anyone who telecommutes must be able to come to the office on a moment's notice, and those who don't comply will be terminated.
I told my managers I could come in any morning as long as I could leave by 2 p.m., but I was told the new policy applied to everyone, no exceptions. This will force me to quit my job and likely end up on welfare and food stamps.
Are there any state or federal laws that can help me keep my job?
A: Yes - the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows eligible employees to take unpaid leave to care for family members with serious health conditions, said Cindy Brennan Ryan, a labor-and-employment lawyer with Holland & Knight in Orlando.
Full-time workers with more than a year's tenure at companies with at least 50 employees are eligible for FMLA leave.
The leave - up to 12 weeks within a 12-month period - can be taken intermittently, in increments of hours or even minutes.
The FMLA requires giving employers notice beforehand "or as soon as practicable," Ryan said, which means you could invoke your FMLA leave if a manager ordered you to the office on a weekday afternoon.
But she suggests letting your managers know now about your situation and your planned use of the FMLA. Because your FMLA leave could run out if you are called in too often for afternoons, you want your managers on your side.
For example, you could offer to work out a job-sharing arrangement with another telecommuter, in which you would cover mornings, while your colleague covers afternoons.
TEMPORARY RETIREMENT: Some still may view retirement as a one-time event, but about 7 million U.S. workers - one of every 10 employees older than 40 - has retired at least once, according to a new national survey.
"For many, retirement is just a planned pause before resuming a career," said William Connolly, an executive with Putnam Investments, the management investment company that sponsored the survey. "These ‘working retired' are, by our estimate, now almost one-third of all American retirees."
The survey of more than 1,700 working retirees was conducted in August 2005. It found that their average age was 61 and they had re-entered the work force after a typical "pause" of 1 ½ years.
- Harry Wessel is a reporter for The Orlando Sentinel. He can be reached at 407-420-5506 or hwessel@orlandosentinel.com.