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FMLA Question

tlnelsontlnelson 10 Posts
in FMLA/ADA/Workers’ Comp Vote Up0Vote Down
I have another FMLA question. I have an employee that has mismanaged his PTO and is now falling into DOCK time and receiving attendance points for his absences. This person has now inquired about having FMLA paperwork completed for 4 days he was out back in January of this year. I am not quite sure what his serious medical condition was, but I believe it is too late at this stage to go back and have FMLA paperwork filled out.....is that correct. Is the correct rule that an employer needs to be notified of FMLA in a 30 day time frame?

Again, any information is most helpful. Thanks!

Update: the paperwork lists his dates of incapacity for 1/7/12 and 1/8/12 (which was a Saturday and Sunday) and then again for 1/10/12 and 1/11/12 (Tuesday and Wednesday)....not sure why they did not write him out for Monday 1/9/12. (The Urgent Care doctor office state they do not usually fill out FMLA paperwork and they were just mirroring the Doctor's notes they provided the employee back at that time).
I did visit with the employee in February sometime as he came down to inquire about Paternity leave and I mentioned that I saw he was out for quite a few days in January, and I did ask him at that time whether he needed FMLA paperwork for that leave and at that time he stated that he did not. We have not had this request before in the past and we just want to be sure we handle this properly plus once we do this for one person the word will spread and then we may possibly have more employees trying to do this.
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Comments

  • 5 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • NaeNae55NaeNae55 3,243 Posts
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    Hmm. You are in a tricky spot. The employee is required to give you 30 days notice or tell you "as soon as is practicable" so they are out there. This may not help you, however. When an employee is out 3 consecutive days that should be enough notice for the employer to follow up and see if the leave is FMLA protected. Did you do so at the time?

    Do you require your employees to use regular leave time (sick, vacation, etc) while on FMLA? If so, will that alter the situation?

    There are rules about going back and designating leave as FMLA. I think you might consider treating this as extenuating circumstances (overlooking the 3 day rule) and treat the employee as if the time off in January had been covered under FMLA.
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  • mmadej7384mmadej7384 1 Post
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    An employee who has brought a 90 yrs old parent home for care is covered under FLMA with approaite FMLA forms/paperwork filled out, however; is that employee also covered under the ADA if disability is proven and they are the primary care-giver?
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  • NaeNae55NaeNae55 3,243 Posts
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    Welcome mmadej7384!

    Your post is unclear. Is it the employee or the parent who has the disability?

    ADA applies to your employee only, but fmla can apply when it is the family member who is disabled. Hope this helps.
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  • Sharon McKnight SPHRSharon McKnight SPHR 737 Posts
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    [quote=mmadej7384;724425]An employee who has brought a 90 yrs old parent home for care is covered under FLMA with approaite FMLA forms/paperwork filled out, however; is that employee also covered under the ADA if disability is proven and they are the primary care-giver?[/quote]


    Your first post! Welcome to the Forum. :welcome:

    Sharon
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  • NaeNae55NaeNae55 3,243 Posts
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    [QUOTE=tlnelson;724409]
    Update: the paperwork lists his dates of incapacity for 1/7/12 and 1/8/12 (which was a Saturday and Sunday) and then again for 1/10/12 and 1/11/12 (Tuesday and Wednesday)....not sure why they did not write him out for Monday 1/9/12. (The Urgent Care doctor office state they do not usually fill out FMLA paperwork and they were just mirroring the Doctor's notes they provided the employee back at that time).
    I did visit with the employee in February sometime as he came down to inquire about Paternity leave and I mentioned that I saw he was out for quite a few days in January, and I did ask him at that time whether he needed FMLA paperwork for that leave and at that time he stated that he did not. We have not had this request before in the past and we just want to be sure we handle this properly plus once we do this for one person the word will spread and then we may possibly have more employees trying to do this.[/QUOTE]

    You are fine as far as the 3 consecutive days part goes. Good. Does the employee normally work Saturday and Sunday? Either way I think you are ok with not calling this FMLA unless you knew, or should have known, that the employee had a serious health condition. Your position is stronger if the employee does not normally work weekends. Plus, if you have a record of asking him about the paperwork you should be covered.
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