Employee wants to go retro...

KP68

What if you just got documentation of a chronic condition that has caused an employee to miss 13 days in the past 10 months and the employee wants all of the time to be considered FMLA? The onset of the condition was 'years ago' according to the doctor...

Would you count it all as FMLA??
If not, when would you start counting this as FMLA?

marc

Does it have a material impact on anything with respect to progressive discipline or attendance awards? I like to look at overall impact before deciding, but as a rule of thumb, as an employer, I like to get the clock running.

jmcaa

Did this employee just miss a day here and there, or was there a time when they missed 3 days or more? Did they give you any indication that this would be a qualifying illness when they missed or did you have any information that would inform you of this at any time before now?

If all of a sudden they asked about FMLA for their condition but never gave you, as the employer, any reason to believe it was FMLA protected, then you would need to give them FMLA paperwork, certification, to be returned and notify them that the FMLA leave beginning today forward was dependent upon the return of the certification within 15 days and dependent upon whether the illness qualifies. If they return all of this and the illness qualifies, begin the FMLA on the date you gave them the paperwork.

There are rules on how far back you can make the leave retroactive. I'm thinking 2-3 days, but I'm not sure.

To me, it sounds more like the employee has been getting disciplined for missing the 13 days in 10 months and is now trying to cover his a@@.

KP68

That's my feeling too....trying to do a little "CYA".

Nobody was aware of a condition until late last month, and the absences were here and there, not for MORE than three calendar days in a row. I am going to proceed by granting it

thanks for the input!

mushroomHR

Just remember if you grant it retro in this case, you must do so for everyone in the future if this scenario comes up again.

KP68

Yes, and we have not done this in the past. The interesting thing is that if I make it effective the date the letter was written, October 25th, she had missed enough time before that to still be disciplined...are we okay to do so even though we have a form stating that she has had this chronic condition for years?
I think I'm overanalyzing at this point....