Forum Surveys

LivindonSouth

I just followed a link to a recent survey run by M Lee Smith. It's about FMLA. The survey question asked participants to check which type of FMLA is the most difficult to administer. It had about six or so areas, which pretty much encompass every type of FMLA we deal with. Fourteen percent of participants checked either 'other' or 'not sure'. I'm curious about that. The survey listed every type of FMLA. How could someone check 'other'? And how could so many check that they did not know what type of leave situations they find the most difficult to administer? If you're in this 14%, could you clarify?




Disclaimer: This message is not intended to offend or attack. It is posted as personal opinion. If you find yourself offended or uncomfortable, email me and let me know why.

LarryC

I voted "not sure", because, quite frankly, I don't find any aspect of FMLA particularly difficult to administer. I think there is way too much attention paid to it and a whole lot of gnashing of teeth over nothing. There are alot of worthless seminars out there that are ready and willing to take our money under the guise of helping us poor clueless HR folk cope with this monster act. The FMLA hype is about as bad as the yearly killer flu hype that promises to wipe out the vulnerable population every year.

System

I find 'intermitent' leave the most difficult. I didn't take the survey, but that is not one of the choices.

System

The question originally read "Which type of FMLA leave has the biggest impact on your organization?" After 18 votes, the results reported about 50% of the responses in Other or Not Sure. My eyebrows raised at that, too. I couldn't think of any more possible answers, so I changed the wording of the question to be less vague.

That said, the results are starting to even out now that over 450 people have answered.

If anyone wants to answer the poll question, it's here:
[url]www.hrhero.com#poll[/url]

And always feel free to send feedback to us about poll questions ... if you think we've missed a possible answer or for any other reason. Often the feedback we get via e-mail (or forum posts) is better than a canned question and answer and we can share the feedback in some other format.

HRLASS

I checked "Other" as for us, the problem is also tracking intermittent leave. For many that may be considered "chronic", but those two terms are considered separately when we discuss difficulty in tracking leave. The best way to describe it would be to say we consider intermittent to also be irregular and chronic to be techinically intermittent, but regular and not as difficult to track.

LivindonSouth

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 07-09-05 AT 11:55PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Smoll and HRlass: Chronic was meant to relate to intermittent leave. Or at least that is my assumption, since that's what it is. This reminds me of the surveys Bill O'reily runs where he says so many people go to the trouble of logging into his website, finding the survey, and finally clicking on 'don't know' for the answer to the survey. He wonders why people would bother to go to all that trouble to only state they have no opinion.





Disclaimer: This message is not intended to offend or attack. It is posted as personal opinion. If you find yourself offended or uncomfortable, email me and let me know why.

System

Oooooo-kay. Got us on that one: chronic is intermittent, but so is preventive treatments. I've never responded 'don't know,' 'not sure,' or 'don't care' to any survey. x:-)

LivindonSouth

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 07-10-05 AT 09:31AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Belaboring this point a bit further, I assumed the survey meant chronic/intermittent interchangeably and the thought was that it's perhaps difficult and frustrating to deal with instances of almost unannounced or questionable absences that occur sporadically and that you cannot have recertification for. And, we sometimes think the ee is viewing these days off simply as an entitlement. It's maybe not so much difficult as it is often frustrating, maddening, irritating and doubtful.

Maybe the question should have been 'which one sometimes drives you up the wall more than others'. Or, 'which facet of FMLA gives you nightmares; understanding certification, approval process, knowing when to recertify, tracking the time, defining the 12 month period, considering accomodation upon return or wading through the regulations.' Still, I reckon some would check 'other', and others might defer to a Harry Chapin song. x:-)




Disclaimer: This message is not intended to offend or attack. It is posted as personal opinion. If you find yourself offended or uncomfortable, email me and let me know why.

System

Taking 'belaboring' one step further to 'beating a near-dead horse' and having already agreed to using 'chronic' and 'intermittent' interchangeably, I would add that the word 'difficult' is adequately used for the purposes of this survey, IMHO. Difficult can range from any of those gerund verbs you offer or from each industry's internal processes that make it so. Those make it difficult.

Got me again on the Harry Chapin song. Which one?

HRLASS

I refer you back to my previous response and the way our office differentiates, but in your own words, it's the intermittent -
"instances of almost unannounced or questionable absences that occur sporadically and that you cannot have recertification for...'which... sometimes drives you up the wall more than others'."

atrimble

I believe I replied "Preventive," but I seriously considered "Other" in that I've regularly run across situations that qualify for FMLA protection under more than one category.

Imagine an employee who has a seizure 5 months into a pregnancy(Cat.3). She has to go to the emergency room and they admit her overnight for observation after treatment (Cat.1). She then is sent home for four days of bed rest while meds kick in and they run tests (Cat.2). She finally returns to work full time but has recurring visits to the hematologist to make sure the meds are at the right level (Cat 6). Well, after she finally delivers the baby, she's diagnosed with cancer and has to receive periodic chemotherapy (Cat.5 or 6). Through the whole process, she has qualified under most of the Categories! I know, it doesn't generally really matter WHAT type of leave as long as it qualifies for protection. But the category does become important when it comes to recertification, etc.

I would have chosen "Other" as a catch-all for "All of the Above" or "Some of the Above."

LivindonSouth

You left out the possibility that she lost the baby and they decided to adopt immediately. And there's always the chance that instead of delivering, she wound up taking her sister's sick child in and had raised this child most of its life.




Disclaimer: This message is not intended to offend or attack. It is posted as personal opinion. If you find yourself offended or uncomfortable, email me and let me know why.

atrimble

#-o

x:D