I would talk to your manager and ask him/her that you need to have a 4 day week for about 4-5 months until you can solve some personal issues. You don't have to give her/him any explanations on why, just tell her that this is a personal matter and that you can not discuss it with your employer, hopefully that will work, if not you are going to have to go to the PM Doc and have him do a note for work. Hopefully everything will work out for you.

I agree with Tipper. You may want to think about applying for FMLA (its so you can take time off and your insurance is covered during a medical crisis in your immediate family which includes you)if there is going to be a problem and they need proof from the dr. Tippers advice is spot on.

FMLA is awesome it saved my job for over a year. ADA helped me also. I however had to quit (medical termination) if I ever get well enough to work again I can get my job back which is awesome.
Wishing you the best,
Marci

Don't tell them about CP. Just say you need 4 days and their reaction will tell you what your next step needs to be.

but if i sign up for fmla wont they find out why?

Yes if you sign up for FMLA they cannot fire you or anything. That is why it is there to protect the workers. I too have had to use it and the process was actully pretty smooth. I wish you the best and hope all goes well and you can get the 4 days a week.

You wouldn't be signing FMLA to go from 5 days to 4. It is for continuous leave. It holds your job, but the employer doesn't have to pay you unless you work. Just say you'd like to work one fewer day per week and see what the reaction is. Can you work 4 ten hour days? or do you just want 32 hrs? Do NOT tell them about taking meds at work! Less (info) is more sometimes. Protect your own interests and don't apologize for it. Your company protects their interests, doesn't it?

If it is an option, you may ask if you can work from home one day a week. ALOT of co.'s are moving that direction anyway. The ONLY reason to EVER tell an employer what meds you are taking is if you are subject to random or regular drug-screening--period! And being someone that had worked in management positions before, the FMLA is indeed ONLY for leave of absence and to answer definitively, YES, if one uses FMLA, Human Resources will know ALL. I found that out when I had to start taking HIV meds, and the initial side effects were affecting my ability to do my job so used the FMALA, then soon found out that since my co,'s Life Insurance found out, I was dropped from that insurance like a fly, as well as my job. Now on disability but there's absolutely NO life insurance co. that will insure me now, even the VA's life insurance denied me....talk about needing reform? Just tell them as advised in another reply that you need to work 4 day weeks for a period of time for personal reasons and if they ask, well, it's personal by definition. The only thin you have to be careful of is once one drops below full-time by numerical hours, you *could* lose your insurance benefits and before hand, you may look through your co.'s bylaws to avoid that unpleasant surprise. That also varies from State to State, with some State's def. of full-time being 35.5 and others 37.5.....the very reason they will hire people .5 hrs under the full time level without having to pay ANY medical benefits. Peace. Lastly, you also may ask for 4-10 hr days, or working a Saturday instead of some other day of week, especially as some businesses have deadlines on Fridays and also Monday's meetings, it may behove you to offer to take a day off that does not inconv. the employer. Sorry I ranted, but this area I am quite familiar with.

i work in a clinic, so weekends is not an option, no, i cant work 10 hr days, iam ok with less $, and no i dont lose bennies unless i drop to less than .8.

you're employer cannot fire you for being in chronic pain or for taking prescribed medications. don't hide your pain, embrace it, for it is exactly that which is causing these needs. tell them that, for medical reasons you cannot work more than 4 days, and support it w/ a note from your doc, which does not have to contain specific reasons for the time off, it just has to state that you cannot work more than a certain amount of hours a week. if they try to fire you, or you think they are being retaliatory against you, file a complaint w/ the ACLU, that should save yer ass in the event that they are prejudiced against you or your disability.

what are the guidlines as to what you can take and work on? is there any? I take only vic at work, then perc at night.I DO work in a clinic, but only drawing blood,nothing too brain needing!

I don't really think there are any guidelines on what you can or cannot take at work--the issue is whether it impedes your job performance. As far as an employer not being able to fire one for being on a certain medication or health condition, as wrongly advised in a prior post, check with your State's laws. Ohio has a law still on the books that my employer used that states they can fire you for any reason, giving them legal leeway, as had they stated it was because I was HIV+ with an initial AIDS diagnosis, sure, *maybe* the ACLU would get involved, but they used the all-purpose general law to boot my ass as I had excellent benefits, and when one month's supply of 30 tablets of antiretrovirals cost over $1800., costing more than my salary a year....sure, they will find a way to boot you.
However, since you work in a clinic,, I would think this would probably be a non-issue and may be a good idea to talk to HR only because in case you do have to have a random drug test, better for them know ahead of time than to have to go through the hassle of proving you're RX'd those meds.
Good luck!

I wouldn't tell the employer. They will fire you because your "performance is slipping" or "lack of work" and not because of chronic pain. These are great all purpose excuses, truth be damned! I would NOT tell them in advance that you take Vicodin. IF you are drug tested, I would show proof to the tester at that time. Why start a controversy? We all know how biased people are against these medications. The testing lab will not tell your employer that you are taking prescribed medications. They will only tell them if you have unprescribed meds in your system. Sometimes less is more when talking to employers. Keep your kimono closed. If you want to go to 4 days, just tell them that and see what their reaction is. If it's super hostile, get a generic doctor's note. On the other hand, it may not be a problem at all. Just ask and take it from there.