Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Uh...Good Question....
I don't talk about my job much but I got a question posed to me a few days ago that has me scratching my head. An employee has asked if she can use sick leave to get a massage (I don't know any other details) because her insurance pays for part of it. The Code of Federal Regulations says that sick leave can be used for medical treatment. Anyway, I've come up with as many reasons why she could use sick leave as she can't... Any thoughts? I know there's at least two masseuses that read my blog..but I'm trying to look at it from the HR viewpoint, not really the masseuse view point.
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19 comments:
HR View: Is the massage directly linked to medical treatment? If so, yes. If not, no.
Just my take on things. :)
I concur with Stephanie. If you have a legitimate medical need (especially with physical therapy or pursuant to a muscle injury), it's probably permissible. If you're going because you want a relaxing afternoon out of the office? Not so much.
i concur with both above comments... granted i am neither a massage therapist or hr person. but it should be related to a medical purpose if that is the reason you can take time off from work.
I agree with Stephanie. I think that most insurance companies will only pay for things that they consider legit treatment- so if the insurance company is paying for all or part- I'd say it's treatment.
I DISAGREE 100%!
As a massage therapist with ten years experience, I have yet to have a client who has come to me for "relaxation" purposes. People always wait until the last minute to get a massage, when their pain is most intense.
I think that is so awesome that an insurance company is willing to foot some of her massage bill. Hallelujah! Believe me, that is SO RARE. The fact that they're doing that makes me believe she's got a real medical condition that requires therapy.
Massage therapy is not a "fluffy" therapy at all. And this is coming from someone who has a large spa background. It is the ONLY type of therapy that affects every single system within your body simultaneously. Joy, you can never tell what is going on with this woman that requires her to need massage therapy. Maybe she's experiencing something completely debilitating, but might be too embarrassed to disclose to you or the company what that is. My heart actually aches to think about what I hear on a daily basis from clients about the stresses they're going through. Maybe her husband is dying... maybe she's recovering post-trauma from a rape or something. I've had clients going through both of those examples. You just never know!
Plus, on the HR side, studies prove that people who receive regular massage therapy take FAR fewer sick days and are much more productive than those who don't. You have to find that balance in your life. I think that if you allow her to take the sick leave, you're going to have a much more satisfied employee on your hands. And to be perfectly frank, it would cost a hell of a lot more to have to rehire and train a new employee than to grant her an occassional sick day!
Oops, I meant that I disagree with the idea of NOT letting her take the sick leave. I did a poor job of clarifying.
Sherp,
Being 'in the system' and knowing how our sick leave works, I totally support her taking sick leave for that. Besides, I know lots of people that take sick days and just stay home watching the Price is Right and cartoons, or so I hear, hehe. We refer to these days as 'Mental Health Days'.
Besides, she is entitled to these sick days and can use them however she deems fit.
Yeah, I had a lot of the same feelings you guys did. The thing is though, and I kind of threw a curve ball at you, several fehb insurances pays for part of gym memberships and other preventive measures that employees can't take sick leave to use. I thought about the medical treatment/masseuse link--however, that's still in the gray area for a few reasons.
Steve, I think everyone in the system knows about Mental Health Days .....but not a reason to grant sick to someone using a masseuse.
Steve, she's entitled to sick leave to use when she:
(1) Receives medical, dental, or optical examination or treatment;
(2) Is incapacitated for the performance of duties by physical or mental illness, injury, pregnancy, or childbirth;
(3)(i) Provides care for a family member who is incapacitated by a medical or mental condition or attends to a family member receiving medical, dental, or optical examination or treatment; or
(ii) Provides care for a family member with a serious health condition.
She can't use them how she deems fit. When supervisors feel their employees are abusing the sick leave system, there's recourse there.
Steph, I totally agree. If I were working private sector, it would be a no-brainer. However, the Federal Government is a strange beast and after discussing it with my boss, I ended up e-mailing OPM about it a couple of days ago. I was just curious as to what y'all would say.
Laurie....I know where youre coming from, but as I said, I have to look at it from the Administrative Law side of things, and not just the health side. I know its not fluffy-I've got a lot of respect for certified masseuses and eastern medicine.
However, from the Federal Govt. HR perspective, its a gray area. Before you light into me again, employees here can't exercise on work time, yet work time is one of the top two preventive measures for your health. Funny though-to show you the logic is amiss, people do smoke on govt time, and that's the number one detriment to your health.
Sorry my tone came off as harsh. I feel rather passionately about the topic and I didn't mean any offense at all, I was just trying to express my feelings on it.
At the same time, I like the points you just brought up. It's a tough call for sure and I don't envy anyone working in an HR position. One thing I've since thought of is that if you allow her to take time off for massage, and word got around, who knows what else people request eh?
My work pays for massages as well, but I've never heard nor thought of taking a sick day for that. I for one go both for medical reasons, and for relaxation.
I think it's some clever out of the box thinking on that girls part, especially if she's not actually going for medical reasons.
If her insurance is paying for it then HR HAS to assume it is for medical reasons. I worked with a guy that had to go to the chiropractor three times a week for about three months for his back (a science that rightly or wrongly gets lumped in with massage as not legit, which is totally not true either) and he got to use all the sick leave he wanted.
And by your definition, massage is a medical treatment, clearly due to the insurance paying for it, thus I think the HR side can't say anything against this since the last thing I want is my HR person making my medical choices for me. :)
Steve-HR doesn't have to assume its medical-and thereby grant sick leave just because insurance is paying for it.
Joy, I'm in a related field. I'd probably require a doctor's note stating that the massage is medically necessary or at least recommended by her physician.
Steve, we're not making your medical choices--just clarifying what sick leave can be used for. Big difference there.
CWE, that's a practical answer. When employees fill out their time, they do indicate if the sick time is either sickness or medical treatment for a sickness. I don't think a note is necessary, but the hr office may end up asking for one. And yeah, that goes back to the crux of the matter---is the employee going to a masseuse for a medical reason......
Laurie, no worries. I wasn't offended. Its cool. Its your profession, passion is totally cool.
Yeah, that's the big thing. Sick leave is pretty limited as to what you can use it for. Abuse of it is a big deal.
However, personally, I wouldn't be surprised if opm goes either way. I'm about 60% sure they'll say its okay if there's a medical reason...that's how I felt when I first got the call, but there's enough ambiguity that it was one of those issues that needed to be clarified through OPM.
She could always punch herself in the leg really hard. There's nothing like a good massage to get rid of a charlie horse.
And the answer is...it has to be linked directly to an injury or medical treatment. She needs to get a note from her Dr. to her supervisor ensuring that she is getting massage for medical reasons. Figured thats what it would be, however when supervisor says go to opm, you go to opm.
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