FMLA Leave Calculation

Mystate

I have an employee on FMLA leave and I need to know how to calculate how much time he has to take. When EE went out on FMLA he was working 30 hours a week. He is now working a reduced schedule of 20 hours per week. Does he just get 12 weeks (regardless of hours), 12 weeks at 30 hours per week (or 360 hours), or 12 weeks at the normal 40 hours (480 hours). The problem I am having is that the employee feels that since we have allowed him to get partial holiday pay, and use his vacation and sick leave concurrently with FMLA, that those hours aren't in addition to FMLA. In other words, if he has 8 hours of sick leave to use, he will reduce his FMLA time to 2 hours for that week.

NaeNae55

Mystate

Your holiday question confuses me. Are you saying you pay him for 8 hours even though he is only entitled to 6 hours due to 30 hour/week schedule? (Either way, holiday pay does not count towards FMLA time as the employee would not be working then anyway.)

Is your employee working 20 hours now with 10 hours FMLA, or did he change his schedule so that he is only working 20 hours and then taking additional time off for FMLA?

As you can see, I am really confused. However, an employee scheduled 30 hours per week (and who meets other criteria) will be eligible for 360 hours of FMLA leave per year. An employee scheduled for 20 hours per week (assuming they meet other eligibility requirements) will have 240 hours of FMLA available per year. Your policy determines if this leave runs concurrently with other leaves (ADA, Work Comp, vacation, etc) or not. It sounds like you run them concurrently, but again, holiday hours should not come into it. If you don't have this written down in a policy somewhere, you better do it pronto. Nothing says discrimination or retaliation suit like not having and adhering to a written policy.

Nae

Mystate

The EE was working 30 hours a week when he requested FMLA. He requested reduced work schedule for 20 hours a week. We still calculate his holiday pay at 6 hours. Our policy states that he can use accrued vacation and sick leave during FMLA, but that this paid time counts toward the FMLA. He stated on his application for FMLA that his return date was TBD but NLT 480 hours of FMLA recorded on timesheet. We approved his application, but on his form WH-381 we completed the form that "you expect leave to continue until on or about TBD". When leave began I informed the EE that his timesheet should reflect 20 hours and 10 hours FMLA. He feels that 1: He should get 480 hours since that is 12 weeks, was on his application and we signed it, and 2: that he is recording on his timesheet, for example, a week when he uses 8 hours sick leave only 2 hours FMLA leave. This will drag his FMLA out over a whole year.

Sorry if this is still confusing. This is our first time using FMLA.

NaeNae55

12 weeks at his rate is 360 hours. Did you say 12 weeks or 480 hours on his form? If you stated 480 hours, you need to give the employee a correction in writing. If you said 12 weeks, then that is 360 hours at his rate. End of story.

If he is off for an FMLA event that time counts towards his FMLA allowance even if he is also using sick time as long as this is your policy. If this is your first FMLA event and it hasn't happened to your company before (you have been very lucky if so), then how do you handle other leaves? Is it possible there was an FMLA event before you came to work there? If so, you need to track it down and find out how it was handled. If you are handling things differently now, you may want to rethink things, especially if this employee is in a protected class or likely to claim FMLA retaliation.

It is usually a good idea to put how FMLA works in writing and give it to the employee with the certifcation paperwork. Also a good idea to have it in your published policies. If you don't have it done yet, you should get it done as soon as possible. In the meantime, look on the dol site for an explanation of how FMLA works. Actualy, I am certain someone posted a good link just recently. (Try the thread FMLA QUESTION by CCH1400. I believe someone posted a link there.)


Sorry if this is not helpful enough. I don't know what you meant by TBD and NLT so I am partly guessing at your question.

Good luck!

Nae