• FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR

  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

HR Morning

  • FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • Performance Management
  • HR Technology
  • More
    • Leadership & Strategy
    • Compensation
    • Staff Administration
    • Policy & Procedures
    • Wellness
    • Staff Departure
    • Employee Services
    • Work Location
    • HR Career & Self-Care
    • Health Care
    • Retirement Plans

Better training to help managers enforce attendance rules (and stay FMLA compliant)

Lynn Cavanaugh
by Lynn Cavanaugh
May 28, 2019
5 minute read
  • SHARE ON

US businesses are struggling to keep track of employee absences, and it’s costing them big in productivity, revenue and legal fees. And it’s only getting worse.

Recent stats from The Standard’s Absence and Disability Readiness Index show a growing need for HR and training managers to get out front and develop programs and policies that employees understand and can follow.

Only 1 in 4 HR pros report having successful absence management programs, according to the survey. Many HR pros will tell you that managing absence is one of their biggest headaches. And a lot of it has to do with the federal laws that regulate employee absence – the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Unexplained or excessive absences

In fact, one employer is now in court because it fired an employee for missing two weeks of work ­­– an absence that it approved as FMLA leave until its FMLA coordinator realized the employee wasn’t eligible for FMLA coverage because she hadn’t worked 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months.

In Byrd v. City of Houston, The Houston Emergency Center fired 911 operator Iyhana Byrd and she is now suing for violation of her FMLA rights.

Worplace Virtual Summit

That’s why it would be important for HR to choose an FMLA point person or persons to know how much FMLA leave each employee has used, including dates and reasons.

Another company, Alcon Laboratories, fired an employee on FMLA leave, but was justified in its firing, said a court ruling.

In Shoemaker v. Alcon Laboratories, a female employee experienced back pain, headaches and dizziness, but she never told her employer that these symptoms prevented her from doing her job.

On one occasion, she passed out at work and was sent home. She returned with a doctor’s note recommending that she work in a different job until further evaluation, but she’d already been removed from that job.

A few weeks later, she called to say she would not be at work but provided no excuse for her absence. She’d exhausted her paid time off, so she was issued a final warning. She was subsequently fired for, among other things, her unexplained absence.

The employee sued, alleging that the company interfered with her rights to receive FMLA leave and retaliated against her. The court, however, disagreed.

The employee must “provide sufficient information for an employer to reasonably determine whether FMLA may apply to the leave request,” and she failed to do so, the court said.

Employers aren’t required to read the minds of their employees or guess the reasons behind absences.

An employee needs to mention a medical condition or even something as vague as “I need time off.” This would trigger the interactive process.

Growing trend

Each of these cases points to a growing trend of employers’ inability to manage their attendance policies. These rulings highlight the need for employers to maintain written attendance policies that detail disciplinary action.

 “Employers are in a much better position to defeat FMLA interference and retaliation claims with meticulous tracking of time off and communication with the employee regarding unexcused absences,” says employment attorney Tasos Paindiris, Jackson Lewis in disabilityleavelaw.com.

To keep up with employee absence regs and DOL guidelines, employers need to put in place a robust management program – to define, measure and benchmark absence – to help avoid a lawsuit. Here’s how:

Enforce policies. If your policy requires employees to call in if they’re going to be late or absent, you can discipline employees on leave for not complying with it. However, call-in policies must be applied consistently for all forms of absences. Another best practice: Requiring employees to use specific absence forms to make sure they stay compliant with your policies.

Dealing with chronically absent employees can be tricky, especially when those employees are disabled. But there’s good news: Courts are confirming that regular attendance is an essential function for many jobs under the ADA.

Get help from vendors. Work with outsource providers that have ADA and FMLA compliance built into their offerings.

Share absence management. Get your entire HR team involved in compliance and absence management. For example, assign one employee FMLA absences, while another concentrates on ADA absences.

Provide training. Employers might offer training to their managers on how to best manage absences, as well as the basics of employment law. The Society for Human Resource Management offers onsite training or an online learning platform like Degreed can offer company-specific courses to managers to be able to identify conditions, communicate with employees, implement  accommodations and track absences.

Establish procedures. Give employees a set of guidelines to follow when reporting they’ll be absent or late for work, including:

  • a method for tracking attendance (this might include time clock attendance software that tracks PTO, FMLA, etc.)
  • a list of approved absences (and required documentation)
  • when disciplinary action is taken, and
  • a procedure for requesting time off.

Track every accommodation request. In an ADA case, Vitti v. Macy’s Inc., an employee claimed the company didn’t accommodate her illness, then fired her because of her condition after she returned from medical leave. But the employer said the worker had chronic attendance issues even before her medical leave. She also never submitted the proper paperwork for an accommodation. The court said the worker couldn’t be denied an accommodation she didn’t ask for.

That’s why employers need to make it clear to employees how to ask for accommodations and then track all those requests.  

Lynn Cavanaugh
Lynn Cavanaugh
Lynn, a member of the HRMorning staff, is an award-winning editor who writes about HR, benefits and compensation topics. Previously, she was editor-in-chief of Woman’s Own and American Woman magazines.

Primary Sidebar

Get the latest from HRMorning in your inbox PLUS immediately access 10 FREE HR guides.

I WANT MY FREE GUIDES

Keep Up To Date with the Latest HR News

With HRMorning arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on labor laws, benefits, retention and onboarding strategies.

Sign up for a free HRMorning membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
HR Morning Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linked In
  • ABOUT HRMORNING
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • HR Technology
  • Performance Management
  • Leadership & Strategy
  • Compensation & Payroll
  • Policy & Culture
  • Staff Administration
  • Wellness & Safety
  • Staff Departure
  • Employee Services
  • Work Location
  • HR Career & Self-Care

HRMorning, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest HR and employment law news for HR professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, HRMorning delivers actionable insights, helping HR execs understand what HR trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

During your free trial, you can cancel at any time with a single click on your “Account” page.  It’s that easy.

Why do we need your credit card for a free trial?

We ask for your credit card to allow your subscription to continue should you decide to keep your membership beyond the free trial period.  This prevents any interruption of content access.

Your card will not be charged at any point during your 21 day free trial
and you may cancel at any time during your free trial.

preloader