Certificate and 2nd opinion
WO
130 Posts
I have an unusual one to share.
Rarely, we will have an employee (new father) choose to take his FMLA leave months after the birth to coordinate with his wife's leave. Although we do not typically allow for intermittent leave unless medically necessary in this case (in the spirit)of FMLA, we agreed to an employee taking 1 week at birth and 11 weeks at a later date. Birth was healthy and happy and 1 week of leave was used.
The later date is now approaching and the employee is preparing for 11 weeks of leave. He was quite shocked and angry when he found he could not use sick leave for this 11 weeks of bonding. Our sick leave policy allows for care of dependent for health condition not well baby. He is now seeking a certificate from the health care provider which will allow him to use sick leave.
I dont know what he might come up with but I did tell him I would be asking for a 2nd opinion.
Anyone have any experience with getting a 2nd opinion on a family member rather than the employee? It seems a bit awkward to send the family member to our doctor?
This is really a sick leave issue, but fortunately under FMLA. Employees feel they are entitled to use sick leave as desired. Any suggestions?
Rarely, we will have an employee (new father) choose to take his FMLA leave months after the birth to coordinate with his wife's leave. Although we do not typically allow for intermittent leave unless medically necessary in this case (in the spirit)of FMLA, we agreed to an employee taking 1 week at birth and 11 weeks at a later date. Birth was healthy and happy and 1 week of leave was used.
The later date is now approaching and the employee is preparing for 11 weeks of leave. He was quite shocked and angry when he found he could not use sick leave for this 11 weeks of bonding. Our sick leave policy allows for care of dependent for health condition not well baby. He is now seeking a certificate from the health care provider which will allow him to use sick leave.
I dont know what he might come up with but I did tell him I would be asking for a 2nd opinion.
Anyone have any experience with getting a 2nd opinion on a family member rather than the employee? It seems a bit awkward to send the family member to our doctor?
This is really a sick leave issue, but fortunately under FMLA. Employees feel they are entitled to use sick leave as desired. Any suggestions?
Comments
It sounds as though your sick leave policy follows the Family Care Act (Washington State). In which case, the company is correct, it's set up for a sick child, spouse, etc. and not for a "well baby". Short of him finding a doctor that will say he's sick or the baby's sick, I don't think you'll have to worry about getting a second opinion. If he does manage to find a doctor to lie for him, then don't hesitate & send him for a second opinion.
PS - Double check your FML policy and make sure it doesn't say that the company WILL take time from sick/vacation or PTO balances for those that go out on FML - in that case, you might want to let him use up his sick time - the good news is that he won't be able to use it later (meaning - when he's supposed to be back at work)...
It was a matter of applying policies consistently to either gender.
Our employees are 90% female. Through a bit of research, I found that we consistently allowed females to utilize sick leave during FML. A portion of this might have been related to caring for a sick child, but the vast majority was for the "well baby" bonding period.
I reasoned that if we allowed women to utilize sick leave for the bonding period, I could not prohibit a male from using it for the same purpose.
I have proposed amending the plan, but so far, the idea has fizzled, so in the meantime, one male has done this.
I will request that 2nd opinion if it should come to that. Unfortunately we have such large sick leave banks (up to 6 mos) our employees try to use it whenever possible.