Does employee's use of intermittant FMLA disqualify end of year attendance bonus?

Glenda

Last year ee's child was diagnosed with serious health condition. EE exhausted FMLA allotment for 2002, intermittantly as needed. As of March 1, 2003 a new attendance bonus has been implemented. Each employee completing the remainder of the year with "perfect attendance" under the policy guidelines will receive an amount equal to four days pay at the end of December 2003. Perfect attendance under the new policy allows exclusions for military duty, jury duty, bereavement, etc.

The purpose of the bonus is to reward employees with perfect attendance. While her situation is regretable it is hard to justify paying a perfect attendance bonus to someone who was absent approximately 60 days during the year.

Am I intrepreting the FMLA regs correctly --- that the use of FMLA (absence of 60 days) cannot preclude her from receiving an attendance bonus?

Gillian

That's the reason perfect attendance awards are out of favor. The employee is entitled to the leave and cannot be discriminated against because she needed it.

POPEYE

Gillian is right on. You may not deny any benefit that the EE would have been entitled to if working every day.

LindaS

I agree with both. We currently provide a perfect attendace award and it was a hard pill for employees to swallow that several individuals who missed time under FMLA still got the award.

Don D

Before we were able to seize an opportunity to terminate him, our favorite comp abuser was getting the perfect attendance bonus every year while missing work with regularity. That's why I've recommended discontinuing the bonus. I do wish there were a way to loudly recognize the real perfect attenders though.