Would this be notification?

LindaS

I have an employee who left work last Thursday due to illness. She called in on Friday, requested and was granted a vacation day due to her illness. The same thing happened Monday and yesterday. I only became aware of her illness because her supervisor was out of the plant and the receptionist called me wanting to know if she could take another vacation day since she was still sick. My questions are these:

1) Due to the fact she has been ill for 3+ days, and her reason for needing vacation is due to illness, would this be considered as being put on notice for a possible FMLA situation?

2) Since our attendance policy requires a dr.'s slip after an absence of three or more days, should I require this of her even though she is technically using vacation?

3) Since I am not the first person employees contact when they are ill, should I be requiring the supervisors and plant office personnel to notify me each time a person misses due to illness (I get Absence reports once per week but sometimes this may not be adequate)?

Thanks for any help.

Rockie

I assume you must be using a PTO system since the employee is using "vacation days" instead of "sick".

The over 3 days is still a good trigger point that this might qualify for FMLA. I would still require the employee to bring in a doctors' excuse since this is your policy. This would also help you ascertain if this is a qualifying event.

Not sure how large your organization is, but if it is fairly large, the supervisors have to take on the responsibility to let you know when one of their employees might qualify for FMLA. I have fought this battle of not being advised when someone has been out sick until they have been out a week. I simply tell the supervisor that because they failed to notify me that this can't be held against the employee's FMLA, nor can it be held against their attendance. Further, I advise them if they discipline the employee inappropriately for absences, they can be held personally liable by the employee for denying them their FMLA rights. (This last statement seemed to have more effect than my personal threats.)

If your organization is small, you can require the employee to talk directly to you about this, but keep in mind that this is one more responsibility that will be heaped on your shoulders, when it should actually be borne by the supervisor.

Theresa Gegen TX

1) Yes. Inform the employee of her FMLA possible right and give her the form for certification.

Good Luck!

njjel

I assume when you say give her the form for certification, you mean to place her on FMLA leave by mailing her all of the appropriate FMLA paperwork and the health certification form? I have a similar issue here but i don't the ee wasn't out all 5 days for what one would call a serious health condition. She was out 2 days for "a cold" then went to the doctor who now says she has a viral infection and gave her antibiotics (I don't think antibiotics help a viral infection, do they?) and also when she called in she said her doctor said her sugar wasn't under control (she's a diabetic). She expects to return to work Monday and will have been out 5 work days. My dilema is, do I mail the paperwork (which she won't get now until Monday when she will be back to work) or

Nat

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. If the employee misses 3 days, the supervisor should notify you.

Good luck.

System

When in doubt, I always inform the ee that he/she must bring a note from MD with clarification of reason out. I make my determination from that point. I also have trouble with supervisors/managers not following up with me. It is hard to back-track, but since FMLA can be given in increments, I usually send a notification letter anyway and advise ee of responsibility and cc a copy to the manager. You can go back as long as you document file of events and advise ee that, if the illness is a qualifying event, that time will indeed count toward the 12-week FMLA timeframe. The key is "documentation."

Don D

Don't forget that you CANNOT require a diagnosis from the doctor. I understood you to say you do require a reason, which I think relates to a diagnosis, does it not?

LindaS

Don -

In answer to your question, we do not require a reason for wanting vacation time but she was providing the information in the hopes that we would go outside the CBA and allow her more last minute vacation days than she was allowed. As for a dr's slip, we do not ask for a diagnosis but rather a slip stating that they were seen and that they are okay to return to work.