WEBVTT

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One of the things you hear more
and more about these days

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is balance.

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You know, balancing your work
and the rest of your life.

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And a law with the purpose of
helping employees balance

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their work and life is the Family
and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

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Private sector employers with
50 or more employees,

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and all schools and government
employers are covered by the FMLA.

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It's a complicated law, so we get
calls about it all the time about it.

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Sometimes it's hard to know what
should be reported as FMLA leave.

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I just had an employee text me

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that they're having severe
migraine headaches

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and that they can't come
in for their shift today.

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They wanted to use FMLA
for missing work.

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I'm just not sure about this.

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Wouldn't that just be a sick day?

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To answer your question,
we need to go back a few steps.

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We have to determine whether
this employee is "eligible" for FMLA.

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Employees are "eligible" for FMLA
leave if they work at a worksite

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that has 50 or more employees

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within a 75-mile radius of it,

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they have worked for
the company for at least 1 year,

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and they have worked at least 1,250
hours in the preceding 12-month period.

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Employees who work remotely,
or regularly change worksites,

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use the worksite they report
to for this last consideration.

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If an employee meets all three
of these "eligibility" criteria,

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then they may request FMLA time off.

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So... the next question is whether
the reason for the leave  -

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a migraine headache  -

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"qualifies" for FMLA.

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That's right!

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Leave taken by eligible employees
for the birth, adoption,

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or foster care placement of
a child qualifies for FMLA.

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This type of leave is taken for purely
"family" reasons, not "medical" reasons.

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An eligible employee's
own serious health condition -

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like being hospitalized
overnight, prenatal care,

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treatment for cancer,
or having migraine headaches-

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can also qualify for FMLA leave.

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This type of leave is taken
for purely "medical" reasons.

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So the migraine headaches of the employee
in our scenario might qualify for FMLA,

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but HR would need to determine that based
on the FMLA Medical Certification

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completed by their
health care provider.

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FMLA can be used for the employee to take
time off to care for their parent, child,

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or a spouse who has
a serious health condition.

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This type of leave is taken for
"family" and "medical" reasons,

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so it also requires an FMLA
Medical Certification.

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FMLA can even be used
for the employee's time off

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for nine specified
qualified exigencies

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related to active-duty military service
of the employee's spouse,

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parent, or child.

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This type of leave is taken
for "family" reasons,

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and HR can require certification
of the reasons for this leave.

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But...

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you should note

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that the FMLA does not provide time off
for the employee's own military service.

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That's provided under
a different law  -

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the Uniformed Employment
and Reemployment Rights Act.

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So, remember,

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the FMLA provides time off
for specified activities

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related to the employee's spouse, parent,
or child being called to active duty,

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but not for the employee
being called to active duty.

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And finally, FMLA can be used to
care for a spouse, parent, or child

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who is undergoing medical treatment
for an illness or injury they incurred

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in the line of covered military duty.

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This type of leave is taken for
"family" and "medical" reasons,

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so it also requires
an FMLA Medical Certification.

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Okay, but how much FMLA
time off can an employee get?

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That's a great question!

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The FMLA provides protected leave for up
to 12 weeks in a 12-month period

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for eligible employees who miss work
for a qualifying FMLA reason.

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FMLA can be used in a block of time.

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It can be used to cover time missed when
working a reduced work schedule.

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And it can be used intermittently  -
or off-and-on  - as needed.

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For me, time off and scheduling
is a big issue.

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I mean, I've got almost a hundred
people in my department.

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Who's on vacation, who's sick,
who's car died in the driveway,

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who's on maternity leave...

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this is something I deal
with every single day.

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And now

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with this FMLA thing -

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I need to know what the guidelines
are so, if I need to, I can

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schedule people, spread out the
workload, that kind of thing.

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The FMLA leave does not require employers
to pay employees on FMLA leave.

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However,

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an employee can use sick leave
or vacation during an FMLA leave,

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or the employer can require use
of sick leave and vacation,

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to continue their pay during
all or part of the FMLA leave.

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In other words,

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unpaid FMLA leave

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runs concurrently or parallel with
the organization's paid leaves.

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A lot of employees and managers, alike,
misunderstand this, and they think

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only one kind of leave applies
to an absence.

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You'll be fine if you remember that

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FMLA leave provides protection
for the time off,

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while sick leave, vacation,
PTO provides the pay for it.

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How the use of paid leave and
FMLA leave will be handled is

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in the FMLA policy, as required.

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Oh... one thing to keep
in mind is that

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when an employee returns to work
before they exhaust their 12-week

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FMLA entitlement,

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they are entitled to return
to the same position -

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or a substantially similar one.

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So... the employee can't lose any status
as a result of taking a FMLA leave.

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Right!

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Correct!

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Also, it's very important that FMLA
covered absences are excused.

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FMLA leave time cannot be counted against
the employee in an attendance program.

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It also cannot be considered
when evaluating performance

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or making decisions about job
changes or disciplinary actions.

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Also, it's the employer's
duty to notify the employee

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of their FMLA rights and responsibilities
whenever the FMLA

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might cover an absence  -

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at least the first time.

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After FMLA has been approved,

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it's the employee's duty to tell
the employer that an absence

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is being taken for
that approved reason.

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Finally, it's the employer's
duty to track and account

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for the employee's use of FMLA time.

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We can rely on HR
to do the heavy lifting

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when it comes to providing FMLA
notices and other paperwork,

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and tracking absences coded as FMLA.

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But HR can not carry
the whole load.

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HR doesn't know when an employee
will be gone or why.

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Employees usually report their
absences to their managers

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or their supervisors - not HR.

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Be sure to notify HR whenever
an employee misses work

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for anything that might fall into any
of the five FMLA-qualifying reasons,

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or when the employee says they will be
gone under previously approved FMLA.

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HR will take it from there.

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You'll be told what you need to know
for staffing and scheduling.

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Furthermore, you can ask employees
the reasons for their absences.

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If you don't, you won't know whether
FMLA might apply to it-

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and it's the employer's
duty to find that out.

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Don't accept a mere "I'm sick"
or "my kid is sick."

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You need to know more to determine
whether FMLA might be in the picture.

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If you are uncomfortable
asking those questions

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let HR know so they can step in
to get what we need.

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The FMLA prohibits employers

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from interfering with
the employee's FMLA rights.

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For instance,

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a manager should never
discourage an employee

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from requesting or using
FMLA for an absence.

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It also prohibits discrimination and
retaliation against employees

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because of their FMLA
requests and use.

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There's a lot to
FMLA, isn't there?!

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Yeah. My head is spinning!

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We get a lot of calls
about the FMLA. But...

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I'd rather get those
calls so I can help,

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than not get them and
risk FMLA violations.

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So, don't hesitate to get
in touch with me,

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with HR or legal whenever you
have questions about FMLA

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or a possible FMLA situation.

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That makes sense!