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FMLA

Make sure employees understand your FMLA calendar

07/07/2008
FMLA regulations provide employers with four options for calculating how much leave employees are entitled to at any given time. But if you don’t select a method and let employees know, the DOL says you must use the one most beneficial to the employee. That may mean doing four calculations every time an employee wants FMLA leave …

Worried about leave abuse? You can require regular call-Off

07/07/2008
Employees who have chronic medical conditions that require intermittent FMLA leave sometimes take advantage of alleged flare-ups to go on vacation or otherwise miss work for personal reasons. Discourage that kind of abuse by requiring them to call in daily. If the employee ignores the requirement, you can terminate her for failing to follow company policy …

Returning worker, FMLA leave and consecutive employment

07/07/2008
We have an employee who has worked for us for more than 12 months, but not 12 consecutive months (he left, and then we rehired him). Now this employee is requesting FMLA leave. Must the months of employment required to be eligible for FMLA leave be consecutive? …

Balance ADA rights when worker returns from FMLA leave

07/01/2008
An employee who takes FMLA leave is entitled to return to her former job when she recovers. But what if she still needs more time to fully recover and can’t do her old job? Can you refuse to reinstate the employee? Before leaping from that litigation-prone ledge, consider whether the employee may be covered by the ADA …

Prepare now for Paid Family Leave Act, taking effect in 2009

07/01/2008
On May 2, 2008, Gov. Jon Corzine signed the Paid Family Leave Act (PFLA), making New Jersey the third state to provide workers with paid family-leave benefits. The PFLA takes effect on January 1, 2009, when employees will begin contributing to the fund …

Track intermittent leave meticulously when you offset FMLA time with paid leave

07/01/2008
Employers are allowed to substitute paid time off for unpaid FMLA leave. But employers have to let employees know that’s what they are doing. And that can get tricky if the employee is taking intermittent leave for a chronic condition, plus leave for other personal needs such as vacation or mild illness …

Unmarried co-Workers, childbirth and FMLA leave

07/01/2008
Q. Two of our employees (they aren’t married) are having a child together. I know that spouses who are employed by the same company have to share the 12 weeks of FMLA leave following the birth of a child. How does it work for unmarried parents in a workplace? …

FMLA leave when a military spouse returns from active duty

07/01/2008
Q. An employee reported that her husband, who is a soldier, is returning (safe and sound) from active duty. She wants to take off a month to be with him after being apart for so long. Is this FMLA leave? …

HR Specialist Editors Bring You the Best from SHRM Chicago

06/24/2008
For a week each year, the Society for Human Resource Management’s Annual Conference becomes the center of the HR world. HR Specialist editors have joined 13,000 of our peers in Chicago this week for four days of professional development covering HR’s hottest topics and presented by the profession’s  leading experts. Here’s some of the best from the world’s biggest HR conference.

Providing extra leave after FMLA? You can set the rules

06/17/2008
If your organization is generous about extending leave beyond the 12 weeks of unpaid time off the FMLA mandates, take heart. You can and should set whatever requirements you deem reasonable for taking that extra leave. The best part: According to a recent 11th Circuit decision, you don’t have to abide by the FMLA’s reinstatement rules if employees have already used up their protected FMLA leave …