Indefinite FML for Sick Parent Care?
Caroliso
352 Posts
"Gemma's" father had a debilitating stroke in 2005, and the good news is that after a period of hospitalization and rehab he has returned to the home he shares with Gemma. However, he needs 24/7 coverage as he is partially bedridden and unable to move without assistance.
Gemma had in-home care in place (various family members) but a few weeks ago it fell apart. Gemma has cobbled together a new schedule of care but needs one day off a week until she can land something more dependable in the form of hired nursing care. I have granted FMLA leave for the one-day a week.
We will easily get the certification that Dad requires in-home care, but I find myself wondering if we have any business getting into the decision about Gemma providing the one day versus her finding another way to cover so that she can return to her job, and if there is any additional certification people get on the coverage issue. I'm less worried about short term, but what's to prevent Gemma from deciding she will provide the one day of care indefinitely, for whatever reason (cheaper, wants to be there, etc.)? We are on a calendar year system, so she can easily get 52 weeks of one-day-a week each year, which if I understand the law allows her to do this in perpetuity.
Am I missing something? Why we care has to do with benefits accrual at full time on part-time pay, as well as already existing performance issues which will become more difficult to manage with Gemma out one day a week.
Thanks.
Gemma had in-home care in place (various family members) but a few weeks ago it fell apart. Gemma has cobbled together a new schedule of care but needs one day off a week until she can land something more dependable in the form of hired nursing care. I have granted FMLA leave for the one-day a week.
We will easily get the certification that Dad requires in-home care, but I find myself wondering if we have any business getting into the decision about Gemma providing the one day versus her finding another way to cover so that she can return to her job, and if there is any additional certification people get on the coverage issue. I'm less worried about short term, but what's to prevent Gemma from deciding she will provide the one day of care indefinitely, for whatever reason (cheaper, wants to be there, etc.)? We are on a calendar year system, so she can easily get 52 weeks of one-day-a week each year, which if I understand the law allows her to do this in perpetuity.
Am I missing something? Why we care has to do with benefits accrual at full time on part-time pay, as well as already existing performance issues which will become more difficult to manage with Gemma out one day a week.
Thanks.
Comments
Do you have an EAP? Ours would be very helpful in a situation like this. For one thing, they could help hook Gemma up with local organizations that deal with this type of situation.
For another, the EAP may help Gemma deal with the mental and physical grief this may be causing her (and ultimately causing problems on the job).
Either way, you are not in a happy position. All you can do is keep track and document, document, document.
Good luck!
Nae
But you've raised an excellent point, I will have our benefits manager coach her about using the EAP because I think she's doing this on her own.
Of course now the time tracking fun starts. She already has asked for an hour next week to take her dad to a doctor's appointment.
Thanks for your comments.
However, her performance issues that you mentioned -- have they been documented? I would remind her at some point that even though she will be off on FMLA once a week, her performance still has to improve. Make sure she knows what is expected of her, what needs to be improved by when, etc. Even if she is on FMLA, if you have the documentation of her performance issues and these are not resolved you can still terminate her at some point.
Also, I would suggest that your company change their FMLA period to a "rolling-year" method. This method does not allow someone to use up 12 weeks at the end of one year, then another 12 weeks at the beginning of the next.
Good luck!
One of the essential functions of a job is to be there and am assuming that is no different for Gemma. Would give her a timeframe that you're able to accomodate her then ask for a meeting to discuss future plans making it clear that the accomodation currently being made is only temporary.
Agree with another poster to move this to switch to a rolling calendar for FMLA tracking purposes.
I wasn't sure about all this so I checked with Anne Williams, our FMLA expert, and she said I'm right (hey, it happens sometimes!).
James Sokolowski
HRhero.com
Thanks. Yes, Jmcaa, performance issues are well documented but as you can imagine discussing them is difficult when she's dealing with this issue. We are clear it has to be done, however.
I am thinking seriously about switching to the rolling year method, although as I understand it it would not change anything in Gemma's example, she'd still be entitled to the 12 weeks intermittently one year going forward from the request which at one day off were week would result in the same "perpetual" approved time off.