Leave

Want to offer additional leave for disability? Be sure policy is drafted in your favor

07/05/2013

By now, you no doubt know that instantly firing someone who isn’t ready to return from FMLA leave may land you in legal trouble. Some employers have addressed this situation by crafting a policy that provides some additional leave. If you decide to do that, make sure you get legal help creating the actual policy.

When terminating or laying off employees, be sure to pay out accrued leave

06/27/2013

California wage-and-hour law requires employers that provide vacation benefits to pay out unused vacation immediately upon termination. However, there’s an exception for union workplaces if the employer and union clearly and unmistakably agree to waive that payment.

Can we legally give extra vacation time to certain workers; and must we pay for unused days?

06/17/2013

Q. Our company policy states that we give one week of paid vacation after one year of employment and two weeks of vacation after two years. But some employees when hired have been given two weeks of paid vacation right away. Is this legal and proper? Also, are we required to pay for unused vacation time upon termination or resignation?

If exempt employee fields calls or emails on a sick day, is it still a sick day?

05/28/2013

Q. If a salaried manager is contacted via phone or email while out on a sick day and she responds, would that constitute work performed? Would that still be considered a sick day?

Should we track exempts’ sick time?

05/28/2013

Q. Our company gives eight hours of sick leave per month to nonexempt employees. We’ve been told that, under the FLSA, exempt employees are to be paid whenever they are sick. So our exempt employees have virtually an unlimited sick-leave balance. Is this a correct way to interpret the FLSA? Should we have some type of sick-leave accrual and tracking for our exempts?

Uncle Sam wants you! … to properly handle summer military duty

05/21/2013

Employees in the National Guard and Reserve usually serve their two weeks during the summer, but others may be away longer. Here’s what Payroll needs to know to properly handle summer military duty.

Disabled employee always calling in sick?

05/01/2013

Disabled employees may be entitled to some time off as an accommodation, but there are limits. If an employee is constantly absent when his disability makes it impossible to work, you may be able to discharge him. That’s because attendance can be an essential function of a job—and constantly missing work may show that the employee can’t perform that essential function.

From workers’ comp to part time: Can we reduce employee’s leave benefits?

04/25/2013

Q. We have an employee who was out on workers’ comp and has recently returned to work part time. (She is still collecting partial workers’ comp benefits.) Can we adjust her vacation and personal leave time to reflect the limited hours she’s working, or is she entitled to the full amount of days?

Unmarried employee couple is expecting: Can both take FMLA leave?

04/23/2013

Q. A while ago two of our employees developed a romantic relationship. They are now expecting a baby and both workers put in a request for family leave to bond with their newborn. Are we required to give both workers leave for the birth of their child—even if they are not married?

The case against perfect-attendance awards

04/12/2013

Many employers use perfect-attendance awards as a tool to cure their absenteeism problems. But for both legal and non-legal reasons, these may not be the right carrots. Here’s why: