FMLA & Raises

lrenoll

Ok ... her's the question ... We had a woman who came back last year from FMLA and short-term diability leave after being off for 4 months. She came back in the fall to her same position and pay. We did not give raises at the end of the year as we normally do for economic reasons. We are now just giving rasises effective April 1 for last year. Becasue she missed a portion of work last year, the manager did not feel she is entitled to an increase and did not give her one. Can we do this???? I am unclear about this.

PAhr

It is my understanding that you can delay a raise but only for the amount of time which the employee was off. If all the other raises are effective on 4/01/03 her raise should be effective on 8/01/03. At my company the hire dates or dates of transfer to a new departmant are the days raises are due which makes it easier to track when employees are due for raises. You are going to need to remember that this employee will be due for a raise four months after the rest of the employees and every year there after.

LindaS

My understanding is that you cannot withhold any benefits an employee would normally have received if they had not been in FMLA leave so withholding a raise based on the fact that an ee was out on leave is not something that should be done.

sonny

My understanding would be the same as Linda's. Is there a definitive answer out there from the gurus?

PAhr

Q: Does an employer have to pay bonuses to employees who have been on FMLA leave?

The FMLA requires that employees be restored to the same or an equivalent position. If an employee was eligible for a bonus before taking FMLA leave, the employee would be eligible for the bonus upon returning to work. The FMLA leave may not be counted against the employee. For example, if an employer offers a perfect attendance bonus, and the employee has not missed any time prior to taking FMLA leave, the employee would still be eligible for the bonus upon returning from FMLA leave.

On the other hand, FMLA does not require that employees on FMLA leave be allowed to accrue benefits or seniority. For example, an employee on FMLA leave might not have sufficient sales to qualify for a bonus. The employer is not required to make any special accommodation for this employee because of FMLA. The employer must, of course, treat an employee who has used FMLA leave at least as well as other employees on paid and unpaid leave (as appropriate) are treated.

This was taken off of the DOL web site. The second paragraph deals with accrued benefits, which a raise would be. Although it may appear that you are penalizing the employee for taking FMLA, you aren't.