Computing FMLA

Should I bee computing the 12 week entitlement under FMLA as calendar days or work days?

For example...I have an employee who's first day from work was...

Nov.20 - first day missed under FMLA
Jan.02 - first day return to work

My calculations are as follows:

12 week entitle x 7 days a week = 84days

Nov.20 to Jan. 02 is 6 weeks and 1 day...

6 weeks x 7 days a week = 42 days..
Plus one day= 43 days of FMLA used.

Therefore she has 84 days entitle - 43 days used= 41 calendard days remaining of FMLA.


Can someone check my calcuations and my using 7 days a week, should I be only using 5? and let me know if I am doing this correct. :-?

Comments

  • 11 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • We use 480 hours per rolling twelve weeks. That is 40*12. We take hours away based on missing scheduled work days for FML. If they are scheduled for 12 hours we take that amount. If they are scheduled for 8 hours we take that amount.
  • SMace..I don't why I didn't do that...#-o I know I have some people who don't even work 8 hour days so just taking that amount of hours would make more sense. Thanks...Anyone else want to share
  • You mentioned having EEs that do not work an 8 hour day. If that translates to less than a 40 hour week, their 480 hours should also be adjusted. If the EE only works a 30 hour week, then they would only get 360 hours of leave (12 x 30 = 360).

    Make sure you count holidays consistently. There seems to be a difference of opinion as to whether or not these days are part of the leave or not. Check your policy and be consistent with what you have done with other FML cases.
  • Marc,
    I understand your determination of hours, but if we are only giving some employees x amount of hours b/c that is what they normally work ...are we ignoring the 12 week entitlment state in the FMLA.

    I guess my question is ...Isn't everyone entitled to 12 weeks according to FMLA regardless of their normal hours worked.

    By the way..I am new to FMLA so thanks for your help and paitents. x:)
  • I don't want to put words in Marc's mouth but,
    here is how I would answer your question. An eligible EE has 12 weeks of entitlement and for one that works the normal 40 hour week that gives them 480 hours. If you have an EE that has been and is working a reduced schedule, you allow them X number of hours per week. Converesly if you have an EE that has averaged working 48 hours per week for the past 12 months, that EE would be eligible for 576 hours. I know there will be some that will disagree with this but I have personal experience with a DOL investigator.
  • Popeye,
    Thanks for the insight. Again, I understand the concept but I am still a little uneasy how employees would react to this....Does it work well with your company.

    Also...for salary employees we do not track how many hours they work a week does this mean we just give them the 480 hours eventhough some of them work 55 or do we just take their word for it and give them the hours they say that they normally work? Thanks x:)
  • We have 300+ employees and once we disseminated all the information concerning calculation we have not had any problems.
    To address your question on exempts, we figure straight weeks / days based on 12 weeks and do not get into hours. Fortunately (knock on wood), we have not had an exempt that has been remotely close to using all of their entitlement.
  • Mrs Bowden,
    Popeye answered, but if you are still uncertain, the EE still is getting 12 weeks, it is just 12 weeks of their normal schedule. So if normal schedule was 30 hours per week, the get 12 weeks of the 30 hour weeks, or 360 hours. Do not make the mistake of only giving them 9 weeks x 40 hours. Does that make sense? Likewise if you Popeye's example of the 48 hour per week person, it is still only 12 weeks. The difference comes in calculating daily hours if the leave does not happen in 12 concurrent weeks. A day here and a day there are still based on the EEs "normal" work day. Similarly (I always have a hard time saying that word), if the EE is taking partial days, the hours counted would be the difference between the EEs "normal" day and the hours worked. If the normal day is 10 hours and the EE only put in 4 hours, then 6 hours of FML would be used.


  • Marc,
    Thank you ...great explaination! I will proposed this type of FMLA tracking to my super!
    Thanks again!

    Anyother forms of FMLA tracking are still invited?!
  • Hi - nothing to add, except we count FMLA hours the same as the other posters. Great explanation marc!
  • Would anyone care to share their policy? I am trying to write a policy using hours for our handbook. POPEYE..again good explanation...I had to explain this to my boss 3 times...he never understood it until I read him your email.

    Thanks again all!
Sign In or Register to comment.