Tracking FMLA leave properly: Feds clear up 2 tricky issues

November 24, 2009 by Christian Schappel

Posted in: Employment law, FMLA, Pay and benefits, Special Report - Benefits, policies

FMLA

The Department of Labor has issued final regs clarifying when time off does — and doesn’t — qualify under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Tracking leave is especially important now as employees are bound to take time off for many reasons around the holidays — it could lead to trouble if they feel their time off wasn’t calculated properly and they were given less FMLA than they deserve.

Here are two areas of great concern and what’s allowed:

Leave around holidays

Whether you can count holidays toward someone’s FMLA entitlement depends on the type of leave the person takes.

Example: The hours the employee doesn’t work on the holiday will count against the leave entitlement — if he or she would normally be scheduled to work that day.

But the hours the employee didn’t work on the holiday can’t be counted against his or her leave requirement if the person wouldn’t have otherwise been required to work on that day.

Intermittent leave and OT

If an employee would’ve been required to work OT — if it weren’t for taking FMLA — then the hours the person would’ve worked (but didn’t) may be counted against his or her FMLA entitlement.

Example: Say an employee has a serious health condition that limits his normal 48-hour workweek to 40. He’d have to take 10 hours of FMLA-protected time off for the week.

Tags: department of labor, Family Medical Leave Act, FMLA, FMLA leave, ot

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5 Responses to “Tracking FMLA leave properly: Feds clear up 2 tricky issues”

Barb B Says:
November 25th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
This is a neat summary of the whole government approach to everything!!!! Set a rule, no exceptions. Just think – they’re at work, or they’re not. Taxes – seta flat tax, no exemptions. Take that 2000 page health bill and reduce it to 250… Of course then we’d have how many millions of overpaid government workers on unemployment?
Harry Says:
November 25th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Barb,

You have got to be kidding! If everything was that simple, what would the lawyers, the bean counters, the courts, and the people in court do for a living? What would keep the publishers do? What would we as HR people do?

You know, Barb makes a lot of sense. Just think if we could get the Demo cRATS, and the Rape licians (my spelling is a bit weird) to work together and take care of our country a lot of things would work cheaper, more efficent, and would spend more of our time doing productive things in this world.

But we always have these people who just want to be self serving. Could we outsource the Demo cRats and the Rape licians out to China. What a thought?

On this Thanksgiving eve, how about we all go back to the principles of our founding fathers of the government of the country that is supposed to be the cournerstone of freedom.

It is time in this country that we all work together, stop fighting with each other, put the words GOD, FREEDOM and TRUST back into our lives.

May all of you have a great Thanksgiving. We all have alot to be thankful for in this life. I hope each of you find it in your heart to give someone something that will just make the smile for one blessed moment.

HTB…GOD BLESS AMERICA
KP Says:
November 27th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Harry, how can you talk about God in the same posting as the one where you call our elected leaders such derogatory names?
Josh Says:
November 28th, 2009 at 11:21 am
This is only for intermittent leave. For a full week entitlement: “For purposes of determining the amount of leave used by an employee, the fact that a holiday may occur within the week taken as FMLA leave has no effect; the week is counted as a week of FMLA leave. However, if an employee is using FMLA leave in increments of less than one week, the holiday will not count against the employee’s FMLA entitlement unless the employee was otherwise scheduled and expected to work during the holiday.”
SUe Says:
July 2nd, 2010 at 2:46 pm
I normally work a different separate job at night for the same company as my fulltime job. If I am on FMLA the first week of a two week pay period , can I still work my second (extra) nighttime job the second week of that pay period or does the FMLA rule emcompass the whole pay period. I am confused, I can understand why I can’t work when I’m on FMLA the 1st week, but I have been told I can’t work the extra job the second week of the pay period also, even though that week I’m not on FMLA. Please explain, I don’t understand, it this true??

Thanks