Another question...

srwmba

The same employee that is abusing FMLA (taking off every Monday and Friday for her daughter's asthma condition as well as many in between days) has the role of a "mentor". Meaning she has additional duties/repsonsiblities than other employees within her same job. She is also paid at a higher rate for taking on these additional responsibilites. Since she is not able to consistanctly perform all her duties as a mentor, due to her contant absences, can this not be counted as a performance issue because FMLA protects her?

Don D

No. Being unable temporarily to perform part of ones duties due to a medical condition is not a performance issue. You may be headed in the direction of a FMLA retaliation charge which is getting pretty common these days.

POPEYE

Don D is exactly right. You mentioned extra duties that no one else does. Do not make the mistake that some do and try to classify her as a "KEY" employee unless she meets the criteria. A neighboring company just got hit for several $K under this scenario.