Using Paid Sick Days During FMLA

Ed C

We require during FMLA leave that the employee use (at the same time) any vacation, personal or sick days available.

What do you re: sick days when the employee is released by the doctor to return to work after birth of a child but has requested additional FMLA weeks? Do you allow her to use any sick days accrued in her account, or must the employee/child be actually "sick" to be paid for those days? How do you determine if this is a genuine use of sick time?

NaeNae55

We have PTO, which helps us avoid any of these types of issues. When our leave was separate, employees were required to use all leave available before going into a leave without pay situation. When all is said and done, it really depends on how your policies are worded.

One of the reasons we chose to go to PTO was to avoid this type of situation. The employee is not sick when they are bonding with their child, and they are not sick if they need to take leave to take care of an ill parent. PTO solved these issues for us.

Good luck!

Nae

FunHRBanker

Check your state laws. In WI, people can use any paid time available during their state leave. After that, they have to abide by whatever the policy says.

Dutch2

What HRBanker said.
We too have two programs - one for sick leave and one for vacation. We require that sick leave be used only for illness. In the situation you mentioned if the mother or new born were not ill, the mom would be required to use any vacation hours she had remaining in order to be paid for the "bonding time" with the new baby.

ACU Frank

We would handle as Dutch does.