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Leave

Is FMLA leave optional when employee has adequate sick leave to cover her absence?

07/24/2009

Q. We have an employee who is going on eight weeks’ leave for a qualifying serious health condition. She isn’t requesting to use FMLA leave because she has enough paid sick leave. Can employees choose not to use FMLA leave even though they qualify?

Help! I’m confused about comp time, flextime

07/24/2009

Q. Can you please clarify if and when we can offer comp time to our employees? What’s the difference between comp time and flextime?

Can an employee earn sick time while out on workers’ comp?

07/24/2009

Q. One of our employees is out on workers’ comp. Our contract says “no sick time will be lost or deducted” while employees are out on workers’ comp. But now he wants to know if he continues to accrue sick time and holiday pay while not working. Does he?

How can we legally combat tardiness?

07/24/2009

Q. Some of our admin assistants are good employees, but they’re constantly late. What can we do to get them to come to work on time?

ADA accommodation: Yes to time off, no to paid time off

07/20/2009

Employers have to reasonably accommodate disabilities, and those accommodations may include reduced hours or time off. However, employees aren’t entitled to paid time off.

A good deed punished: Voluntary FMLA leave can become a mandate

07/20/2009

Under the FMLA, only employers that have 50 or more employees within 75 miles of the company’s work site are required to provide FMLA leave to their employees. The requirement is commonly known as the “50/75 rule.” Can an employer that has fewer than 50 employees within 75 miles of the company’s work site willingly agree to provide its employees with FMLA rights and benefits? That situation recently occurred in Reaux v. Infohealth Management Corp.

You don’t have to provide vacation pay

07/17/2009

Are you considering ways to weather the current economic storm? Perhaps you can cut some benefits, at least for new hires and maybe for current employees, too. For example, nothing in California law (or federal law, for that matter) requires you to offer vacation time or pay.

Suspect FMLA mischief? Use certification before taking drastic action

07/17/2009

Some employees have learned how to play the FMLA game very well. For example, you may notice a suspicious Monday-Friday pattern of intermittent leave for an illness. If you really believe an employee is trying to pull a fast one, don’t play the termination card right away. Your first—and safest—option: request a medical certification stating the employee has a serious health condition.

Set clear, consistent response to employees’ ‘I’m sick’ calls

07/17/2009

Nothing will land you in FMLA trouble faster than ignoring an employee’s request for leave. You’d never do that, you say. But what about an untrained supervisor? Make sure all managers and supervisors know how to handle medical call-ins. Ignoring a leave request could amount to “interference” with the employee’s right to take FMLA leave.

Chronic fatigue syndrome or just too pooped to work?

07/17/2009

If you have an employee who seems constantly exhausted, take note: He or she may suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). And under the newly revised Americans with Disabilities Act, that person could be deemed “disabled” and entitled to reasonable work accommodations.