Cardiac Rehab and your Job

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By Leslie Pepper
Photo by Masterfile

Worried about returning to work after a heart attack? Here's how to work with your employer to make sure everything goes smoothly at the workplace.

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Many cardiac rehab patients are concerned about their jobs. Will you lose it for taking so much time off? Luckily, the law protects your job and your benefits through the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The FMLA entitles you to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons during a 12-month period. You don’t have to take that entire 12 weeks in one block of time. The FMLA allows you to take leave to receive “continuing treatment by a health care provider,” which can include recurring absences for therapy treatments such as cardiac rehabilitation.
           
In order to be eligible, you must have worked for your employer for at least 12 months, and for at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months. And you must work at a location where at least 50 people are employed by the employer within 75 miles.           

Keep in mind, the FMLA does not entitle you to a salary while you’re gone—it only guarantees that your job (or an equivalent) will be there for you when you get back. But many companies have accumulated sick leave policies, as well as short- or long-term disability, so speak to your manager or human resources department about your options.