Reducing Hours worked while on FMLA

HRgal

Help! I need some advice. We have an employee on intermittent FMLA to take care of her critically ill father. Due to funding, we are considering reducing her hours from 37.5 per week to 30 hours per week. She is a salaried, exempt staff person. Can we do this if it is based on funding??

Don D

FMLA doesn't prohibit the employer from taking any action that would have been taken otherwise, in the absence of the FMLA event. For example, several years ago, we were in the process of an internal investigation with one manager who it was assumed would be terminated should the investigation prove as it did. He got wind of the investigation and scheduled elective surgery (actually on the advice of his wife who worked in HR) assuming FMLA would save his bacon. It did not. He went out on approved FMLA and was subsequently terminated (while on FMLA) due to the outcome of the investigation. Same holds true if you would have laid off a person, restructured the job, transferred the position or reduced its hours. FMLA entering the picture doesn't preclude the action as long as FMLA isn't the reason FOR the action. Back to the wife in HR who advised him to protect his job with FMLA: She was wrong in her assertion that FMLA was interjected into the picture we could not proceed with our investigation and it's normal outcome and consequences. Yes, we did have the advice of counsel.