FML and late call-ins

clarkbar

I have searched the forum for an answer to this and think I found what I was looking for but just want to make sure. We have an employee who is on intermittent FML. Our attendance policy states that employees must call in 15 minutes prior to the start of their shift or they will be given a half attendance point. This employee before going on FML and after going on FML, has always called in later than the policy states: sometimes as late as a half hour after the beginning of her shift. She was told several times that she must call in 15 minutes prior to the start of her shift but she just doesn't seem to understand. I told her again today for about the fourth time. Are we OK in awarding her these attendance points for calling in late? We do not give her any points for using FML of course. This employee is very close to the limit of being terminated because of her point total. I was under the impression that we are correct in awarding these points for her not following our attendance policy.

Margaret Morford

Maybe you ought to issue her corrective action for not following call-in instructions instead of giving her the half attendance point. It's a lot cleaner and keeps her from saying she was really being punished for exercising her FMLA rights.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

LindaS

I have to disagree with Margaret - approval for FMLA does not grant an employee "carte blanche" to come and go as they please. Employees are still expected to follow the established policies of the company so an employee failing to call-in within the guidelines of the policy would face the same "punishment" as any other employee. We have terminated employees who have failed to call-in within the guidelines of our policy whose absence was FMLA covered because there wasn't a "reasonable" explanation for their failing to call in. There was a case in the 7th Circuit (Lewis v. Holsum of Fort Wayne Inc.) where an employee out on FMLA failed to notify their employer of their absence within the guidelines of their policy, EE was terminated and sued. It was decided that the employer did NOT violate the FMLA and that DOL regulations provide that employers may require employees to comply with "usual and customary notice and procedural requirements for requesting leave".

Hope this helps.

njjel

I'm confused as to why you require the employee to call in when you know via the certification of health certificate that they will be out for a certain period of time? You may of course require "periodic" updates, but I'm not sure that daily call-outs would apply.

LindaS

Njjel - the original post states that the leave approval was for intermittent leave. I assumed this to mean that the employer does NOT know ahead of time whether the employee will be gone or not (for example, migraines) so they need to notify the employer in accordance with the attendant policy.

njjel

Yup, missed that! Thanks for pointing it out. Now does she get points for not calling in on time? Yup again.