WEBVTT

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Now that we've talked about four important
issues managers have struggled with,

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here are three actions you can
take to stay in compliance.

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Action one is to call your HR department
whenever employees are out for 4 or more days,

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or whenever potential FMLA issues arise.

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And for you to know when there is a potential issue,

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you need to acquire a basic knowledge of the
FMLA which you've already started today.

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At a minimum, you'll want to talk with your
organization's experts to make sure you understand

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who is eligible, the length of leave an employee
qualifies for, acceptable reasons for a leave,

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and the general obligations of
the employer and employee.

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And remember, it’s not your job to make the
call on FMLA leave. Leave that to the experts.

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Action two is to make absolutely sure that your employees
understand their rights and responsibilities under the law,

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by making sure they are in contact with HR.

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The better they understand the law
and your policy regarding the FMLA,

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the easier it’ll be for you to keep yourself
and your organization out of court.

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Remember, you can be sued personally,
so don’t just refer employees to HR.

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Follow up with them to make sure they
made contact. No news is not good news.

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Action three is to be fair and compassionate.

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“Fair” means that you don’t hold
someone’s FMLA leave against them

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by making or allowing harassing comments.

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You also can’t consider their leave in performance
appraisals, promotions, raises and other benefits.

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A good guideline is to “Treat them as if they never left.”

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Fairness also means no one should retaliate against them.

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Let me give you an example of a real case.

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An employee went out on leave for surgery.

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The human resources department, for no
reason at all then searched his computer,

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and found an e-mail he forwarded to a former
employee in violation of company policy.

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Three weeks later, he was fired for sending
the e-mail. He sued, claiming retaliation.

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Not only did he win, but the HR manager, plant manager
and CEO of the company were held personally liable!

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The opposite of retaliation is being
compassionate, which means to be empathetic.

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Remember, to you an employee’s
leave might be an annoyance,

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but to them it is probably a major life challenge.

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Whatever the legal or managerial decisions you
have to take, being kind and compassionate

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will go a long way toward making the employee feel
respected, and that alone can help prevent lawsuits.