FLU?

mrsbowden

Do employees that have the flu, qualify for FMLA? Someone mentioned this to me yesterday...and I have never heard this before...any thoughts, opinions etc.?

cthr

The answer is it depends. If they become dehydrated and require IV fluids or hospitalization, yes.

mrsbowden

Thanks cthr...I was thinking I would get the DEPENDS answer x:)

Thanks again!

SDDCHR

What a question...especially during the current times of seasonal flu outbreak. Unfortunately, there is no hard-fast answer. A serious health condition is one that requires subsequent treatment or a period of incapacity for 3 or more days. In most cases, a physician is going to allow 5-7 days from work for the flu. But is this covered? Normally, unless complications arise from the common cold or flu, I do not put an employee on FMLA. If for some reason the conditions persist and the employee requires additional follow-up, then I would. Clear as mud! Good luck!

SMace

It's not 3 or more days. It's more than 3 days.

Don D

The regulations state that normally the common cold or flu are not covered. However, unless it's a 24 hour virus, the 'flu' is going to last long enough to meet the definitions given in the regulations. They've been to a physician, have a diagnoses, have a treatment regimen and course of treatment, typically have drugs prescribed and will more than three days of work and perhaps have a followup appointment, although one is not required. I would opt for FMLA. If nothing else, it starts their annual clock. It may also keep you from having to term someone due to attendance points. They do not have to be hospitalized or have a 'turn for the worse' to be considered FMLA. I would not want to be the HR Manager who went to court to defend the termination of an employee who had been medically diagnosed and put to bed with the flu. Think of the results of that.

Rockie

In an opinion by the DOL, an employee with a condition such as the flu or strep throat, who is incapacitated more than three consecutive calendar days could qualify for FMLA if they visit their doctor on one occasion and are treated with a prescription drug such as antibiotics. The DOL also states that an employee who simply calls a doctor to obtain a prescription is not covered. Further, an employee who visits a doctor and is simply advised to rest and take over the counter drugs will not qualify under the FMLA.

Since this is, as someone put it, as clear as mud, I generally would not fight anyone who is out with the "flu" more than three days. If their physician certified it, I would tend to count it as FMLA.

stilldazed

We stick with the DOL definition of serious health condition, whether it's the flu or not. To administer FMLA, all you need to know is that criteria were met. You don't need the diagnosis. In-patient confinement from Day 1, 2, or 3, or absence beyond 3 days with medical certification prompts FMLA in our organization. Basing your decision on a diagnosis may be interpreted down the road somewhere as preferential treatment--too much of a risk.

Whatever

Reality check - We currently have a flu spreading around the country of a strain that was not included in my flu shot. I have someone with the flu at work, I want them to go home. Furthermore, we are only talking about a few a days. Unless someone has a really bad attendance record, how many people are going to lose their job for getting the flu. In other words, this may be a none issue.

psrcello

We've been hit really hard with the flu here in Omaha - again, the strain that the flu shot didn't cover. I was short-staffed for two weeks - one when my payroll clerk was out with it, and the second when my HR admisistrator's four year old son was sick.

I agree - it's the criteria, not the condition, that governs whether an illness crosses the threshold of a "serious health condition". More than three days of incapacity, treatment by a health care provider, and a continuing regimen of treatment would qualify - every employee here who has missed work with the flu would be approved for FMLA if they met that criteria.