• 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

Replaceable or not: You still have to grant them FMLA leave

Christian Schappel
by Christian Schappel
September 5, 2014
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

This employer was shoved between a rock and a hard place. But management chose to handle the situation … um … poorly. 
Tondalaya Evans put her employer, book seller Books-A-Million (BAM), in a position no employer wants to be in: She was an irreplaceable employee who’d just requested leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to give birth and care for her newborn.
Evans was a payroll manager who requested to take leave smack in the middle of the installation of BAM’s new payroll system — an installation that Evans was a vital part of.

She ‘really needed’ to work

So vital, in fact, that a supervisor told Evans she “really needed” to keep working on the payroll system despite her leave request.
Evans said in a lawsuit that soon followed: After the discussion with her supervisor, Evans felt she had no choice but to work full time from home following the birth of her child.
So Evans, like a good soldier, kept plugging away with the payroll system installation.
But while juggling her work and parental duties, BAM felt her performance started to slip and she wasn’t doing an adequate job implementing the new system.
As a result, when she returned to the office, BAM denied her a performance bonus and reassigned her to a lesser position.
Evans then sued for FMLA interference.
BAM tried to get her suit thrown out by saying she suffered no “legal damages” because she never stopped being paid.
But, as anyone who knows the FMLA could’ve guessed, the court failed to bite on BAM’s argument. It said damages can extend far beyond pay, and a jury should hear Evans’ case.
Bottom line: If an employee qualifies for FMLA leave (as Evans did), the person must be allowed to take it without being asked to do more than a minimal amount of work and without negative employment repercussions — no matter how irreplaceable he or she is.
BAM now faces a significant, and potentially very expensive, uphill battle in court.

How much work is too much work?

BAM’s biggest mistake was obviously making Evans do a substantial amount of work while out on FMLA leave.
How much is too much to ask employees in Evans’ position to do?
A U.S. district court recently answered that question in a similar FMLA lawsuit involving Regency Hospital in Toledo, OH.
In the case, Regency was sued by a former employee who claimed the hospital interfered with her FMLA rights by asking her to work while on leave.
In its ruling, which didn’t favor Regency, the court outlined what employers can ask workers out on FMLA leave to do.
The list included:

  • passing along institutional knowledge to new staff
  • providing computer passwords
  • seeking closure on completed assignments, and
  • identifying employees to fill voids.

Asking anything else of workers on FMLA leave puts employers at significant legal risk.
Cite: Evans v. Books-A-Million

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