• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Leave

How do we handle FMLA leave when the time off is less than our usual minimum?

01/13/2009

Q. An employee has asked for paid FMLA leave for an increment of time that is less than the increment allowed under our company’s paid leave policy. Can the employee be required to take the larger paid leave increment to substitute any accrued paid leave for unpaid FMLA leave?

Must we reinstate health insurance that lapsed while employee was on FMLA leave?

01/13/2009

Q. Our company allowed an employee’s health insurance to lapse because he failed to pay his share of the premium while on FMLA leave. The employee is scheduled to return to work in two weeks. What is the company required to do about the employee’s health insurance coverage when he returns?

Require those on FMLA leave to call in sick, just like any other employee

01/13/2009

Good news from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals: If you have a system for employees to call in sick, you can require everyone to use it—even employees on approved intermittent FMLA leave. The trick is to make sure that the employee taking FMLA leave understands she still must call in.

You may have to agree to part-time schedule after employee returns from FMLA leave

01/13/2009

Employers may be in for a nasty shock if they assume that an employee who can’t return to work full time after taking FMLA leave doesn’t have the right to reinstatement. If they can perform the essential functions of their jobs on a part-time basis, then employers may have to agree to a reduced schedule.

Can we terminate now an employee who we know can’t return from FMLA leave?

01/13/2009

Q. We have an employee out on FMLA leave and have just learned that she will not be able to return to work when her FMLA entitlement expires. Should we go ahead and send her a termination notice now?

Don’t cave to telecommuting request if it won’t allow disabled employee to do job

01/09/2009

Sometimes, employees suggest telecommuting as an accommodation if they have temporary disabilities. Telecommuting may be possible for some kinds of jobs. But in other cases, the job itself may make telecommuting impossible.

Do we have to pay health insurance opt-out bonus during FMLA leave?

01/09/2009

Q. Our company offers a health insurance opt-out incentive, paying employees $400 a month if they use their spouses’ insurance plans. We now have an employee going out on FMLA maternity leave. Do we have to keep paying her $400 per month?

Can we deduct personal leave for exempt worker’s partial-day absence?

01/09/2009

Q. Some of our supervisors make their exempt employees take personal or sick leave for every minute they miss from work, even if they work a regular schedule the rest of the week. Can we safely do that?

6 ways to boost the ROI of your adoption benefits

01/06/2009

Like a mother who has just given birth, the parent who adopts a child needs time to bond and adjust to a household that’s been turned upside down by the arrival of a new family member. According to Hewitt Associates, that’s the consensus of the approximately 45% of U.S. companies that offer money or paid time off to adoptive parents. Here are six ways to make the most of an adoption benefit for your employees …

Deployed employees get full pay, benefits, monthly care packages

01/05/2009

The seven Shared Technologies employees who are serving in the military in Iraq or elsewhere get a monthly reminder that they’re still members of the team at the Texas company.