Parent in hospital not at home

szemcumo

I have an ee whose mother is most likely dying and is hospitalized. Her sup is wanting to place her on FMLA however I don't think it would apply as the parent in being care for in the hospital. Have you run across this. My thoughts are ee needs to use per/vac time and if parent comes home and needs care then FMLA could be certified. Is this how you would handle? Thanks to any and all responses.

juju

There have been several posts about this lately. I would give the ee the FMLA paperwork and have the mother's doctor complete it. If the dr says the ee is needed for the mother's psychological comfort, that is an FMLA qualifying event. Just because the dependent is in the hospital does not automatically rule out FMLA for an ee.

szemcumo

juju
Thanks so much, I do remember seeing that type of certification posted before!

POPEYE

JuJu is absolutely correct. This is not a total disclaimer and definitely not aimed at you. From some of the posts concerning FMLA, there are far too many getting totally stressed out over, do I or don't I, does this qualify or not.........

The REGS are guidelines of rules that specifically spell out some do's and don'ts and some have to's. However, you, me nor Billy Jim Bob from Madison Mississippi will get into hot water if we are more lenient than the REGS and are consistent with all EEs.

As I have posted before and have also sent "private" e-mails to several, an attorney at a seminar I attended made two statements that have stuck with me and influenced my thinking tremendously.

1. The ER has the option of making FMLA unpaid leave and the sooner the clock starts the sooner the leave entitlement will be exhausted and then you won't have to worry about that EE for several months or maybe never.

2. If it meets or even comes close to meeting the criteria outlined in the REGS and if you were in the EE's shoes and would want to have it approved for yourself, then approve it. Again as long as you are consistent.

If everyone would adapt even a little bit of this mentality, there would be far fewer stressed-out individuals.

Betty I_O

Great response, Popeye--consistency IS the name of the FMLA game! If the paperwork is completed and submitted with the requisite medical certification, we put the employee on FMLA. We don't want to play MD and try to second-guess the certification. Obviously, if there is a glaring inconsistency (and we haven't seen any yet), we have the right to request a second opinion. We haven't had to do that since becoming subject to FMLA.