letters to employees?

AprilShowers

Do any of you send anything (your own letter, notice) to employees in addition to the federal form notifying employees when you have decided that their leave qualifies under the FMLA? What do you include in this letter and when do you send it? I am thinking about starting something like this, but not sure where to begin.

Thank you for any help you can provide as I am still pretty new to HR

April

LindaS

After an employee has turned in FMLA paperwork and it has been decided that it qualifies, the letter we send is done on company letterhead and informs the employee of the following:

1) That their leave has been approved, the start date and end date (if that has been determined in the application paperwork), if leave has been approved intermittently this is included as well.

2) They are informed that their state and federal leaves run concurrently and how much total time they have off for FMLA

3) They are informed about what happens at the end of their leave, reinstatemtn of their job, etc.

4) That they are responsible for their insurance premiums while they are off. They are also informed that they have a five (5) week grace period in which to make payments and if they are not made, their insurance is cancelled (with a 10 day notice).

Hope this helps.

AprilShowers

Yes, thank you. I am still not sure if this is something I want to start doing. Do you feel that it has helped your employees?

LindaS

It helps IMMENSELY!! The employee is aware, in very simple language, what they are being approved for and what the expectations of them are while they are off. I keep a copy in the employee's medical file with the rest of their FMLA paperwork (with a notation of the date the employee received it). It has come in handy on several occasions wherein I have heard "you didn't tell me that...". I can simply pull out the copy of the letter and that ends that discussion.

Rockie

You really do need to do this, because you are required by law to inform employees of certain information - when leave starts, the responsibility of the insurance premiums, their status if they do not return within the proscibed time. I believe you also are required to inform them of how the time is tracked, i.e., calendar year, rolling 12 month period, etc.

This is just another good way to cover yourself in the very litigious world of FMLA and the employee can't claim they didn't know these things. I just send this letter along with the FMLA form.

AprilShowers

I agree. thanks for the help!