FMLA / Benefit delima

fondy21

I have a scenario I would like anyone to weigh in on please. Let me know if you have ever encountered this situation and what you would render as a decision.

Problem:
Currently our facility utilizes a typical PTO benefit plan that encompasses sick/holiday/vaction time off. We have someone using intermittent FMLA leave, and has utlized 14 out of 30 PTO days due to the FMLA as well as 1 vacation already taken (6 of 14 days). The FMLA is for daughter. Our facility is unionized however the employee is non-union and is a "key-employee".

WIthin our union plan, employees can contribute "sick days" to other union employees who run out of sick leave for use during an approved leave and also can re-distribute (upon a voluntary termination/retirement) banked sick leave to other union employees.

There is now a non-union employee who wishes to donate some of their PTO time to the forementioned employee who has used roughly half of their PTO time up already. In other words, the non-union employee wants to apply the union "sick leave" procedure to transfre PTO time. Currenmtly there is no "non-union policy that allows for PTO transfer.

This is my thought, I would deny the request for a few reasons.
1. The PTO benefit plan is set up for individual employees as a personal benefit-not one to share.
2. Since there are key employees involved, time away from work is potentially more detrimental to the organization.
3. If you would mirror some kind of a transferring plan similar to the union plan, we have not yet met the same parameters, nor is their a policy for the transfer.

1.Has anyonehave an opinion on these types of plans where employees can re-distribute banked PTO or sick leave?
2. Do you favor this type of benefit for your employees / would you have a policy like this in your organization?
3. Would you deny the request?

Thanks!

Gillian3

I like sick leave donation plans. Having said that, I think that they should be put in place after first thoroughly thinking through the pros and cons. There is a lot to think about with such a plan, and it is always best to put a policy in place because it is good for the company and it's employees and with employee communication when the plan is rolled out. Doing something when the reason for doing so is to benefit one individual is generally not a good idea. Is extension of the policy to the non-union group something that you wanted to do anyway? Would it have been a consideration if this incident was not there? If the answer is "no", then I think it would be a mistake to rush something through. You may have already given up the "key employee" idea. If this persons qualifies as a "key employee" the company can deny FMLA leave and by extending it you may have changed the employee to "the same as everyone else" category.

fondy21

Good points, thanks~