Leave

Get workers back fast from FMLA leave: Run FMLA concurrently with other leave

01/07/2011

You can and should use the FMLA rules to encourage employees to return from FMLA leave as soon as possible. One of the most effective ways is to run their unpaid FMLA leave time concurrently with any paid leave they may have coming. That way, they can’t use up that paid time first and get another 12 unpaid weeks.

Snow day pay: Can we dock for tardiness, no shows?

12/23/2010

Q. We dock hourly employees who arrive late for work, but not our exempt employees. There’s quite a bit of resentment about this policy, especially since over time our exempt employees have been extending the time it takes them to get to work during inclement weather. We know we can’t dock exempt employees if they make it in during snow days, but can we discipline them?

PDA doesn’t guarantee leave for child care

12/21/2010

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act protects women against discrimination because they’re about to have a baby. But the PDA doesn’t grant any special, additional rights to time off for child care. Unless the mother has FMLA or other leave available, there’s no requirement for an employer to accommodate her child care needs.

Paid holiday trends for 2011 similar to 2010

12/14/2010

Even though the economic climate remains tenuous, most employers will continue to offer the same number of paid holidays to employees in 2011 as in past years, says a new Society for Human Resource Management survey.

7 tips for reducing your workers’ comp costs

12/14/2010

You can significantly reduce the cost of your organization’s workers’ compensation premiums by following a program of accident prevention, better claims management and prevention of fraud and abuse. Seven steps you should take:

What’s the Illinois law on voting leave?

12/09/2010

Q. Looking ahead to the next elections, what are an employer’s requirements to give voting leave to employees in Illinois?

Calls during FMLA leave lead to emotional-distress lawsuit

12/09/2010

Teach this simple lesson to supervisors who have employees out on FMLA leave: Leave them alone unless there’s a good reason to contact them. Calls and visits can lead to lawsuits claiming emotional distress.

Employee can be AWOL even if he phones in

12/06/2010

Many public employees assume rules against being absent without leave protect them from termination as long as they call in. But the Ohio Civil Service Act makes it clear: “[U]nexcused failure to appear for duty as scheduled” may be considered job abandonment if it lasts for 10 days. Calling in doesn’t matter.

Can we deduct pay from an exempt worker who takes FMLA leave? If so, how should we calculate it?

12/01/2010

Q. An exempt employee recently requested intermittent leave under the FMLA … FMLA leave at our company is unpaid. Can we deduct from the employee’s salary for absences of less than a day and still classify her as exempt? If so, how do we calculate how much FMLA time the employee is using?

Do you work for a state agency? Know FMLA’s limitations on leave for self-care

11/30/2010

Because of a bedrock Constitutional principle, a court has ruled that the FMLA does not cover state government employees who want to take time off due to their own illness. Based on this decision, state employees can only use FMLA leave to care for others.