Giants Beat Patriots in the Super Bowl! Can I take FMLA Leave Today?

Posted by Jeff Nowak on February 06, 2012

Monday, February 6, 2012 is a bittersweet day for employers across New York and elsewhere.  Just hours earlier, their employees watched the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.  For these employers, however, many of their employees won't be at work Monday morning.  The reason?  In a 2008 survey conducted by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated, 1.5 million people will call in sick to work and an additional 4.4 million will call in late.  Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas has put worker lost productivity from the Super Bowl at more than $820 million. 

“There will be lots of workers partying all night,” John Challenger told Bloomberg BNA (subscription required), “either celebrating the team's win or crying in their beer—not ready for work on Monday morning.”

Employers in and out of New York and New England will have to be prepared for the apparent onslaught of call offs the day after the Super Bowl.  Many of these employees certainly will use the FMLA as an excuse to recover from the night before.  So, what can an employer do to obtain more information from the employee in these situations to avoid FMLA abuse?  I remind employers of the same suggestions I offered in this post one year ago:

1.  Determine first whether the employee is seeking leave that might be covered by the FMLA. Your first order of business is to determine whether the employee has even notified you of the possible need for FMLA leave. If it's an absence that clearly does not trigger the FMLA (e.g., "I'm sick," or "My daughter has the flu"), you simply can subject this absence to your usual attendance policies and take action as necessary.

Unfortunately, it's not always that easy. Employees typically are not required to cite specifically to the "FMLA" as a reason for their absence; rather, the FMLA puts the responsibility on employers to decide whether FMLA is in play. As you process the request, consider whether the information from the employee indicates that he or she: a) will likely be absent for more than three consecutive days, during which time he/she cannot perform any work; b) is suffering from a chronic condition that manifests itself intermittently throughout the year; c) is caring for a family member with a possible serious health condition; d) is suffering from complications due to pregnancy, or morning sickness. Of course, this list is not exhaustive but is a key starting point to determine what your obligations as employer are under the FMLA.

2.  Prepare a list of probative questions you ask of all employees when they call in to report an absence. The employer has the right to know why the employee cannot report to work. During the call with the employee (or when you call them back after they've left you a voicemail reporting their absence) you should inquire about:

  • The specific reason for the absence
  • What duties of the job they cannot perform
  • Whether they will see a doctor for the injury/illness
  • Whether they have suffered from this condition before and previously taken leave for it. If so, when?
  • When they first learned they would need to be absent
  • The expected return date (or time, if less than a day)

3.  If this is a medical condition for which they have taken FMLA leave on a prior occasion, determine whether recertification is an option.  Does the absence seem to be part of a pattern of absences that tend to occur on Mondays and Fridays?  Is the absence inconsistent with the information previously provided on the medical certification form?  Has medical certification expired?  If your answer is “yes” to any of these questions, seek recertification immediately.  Moreover, if you are concerned about Monday/Friday absences, the FMLA regulations (29 C.F.R. 825.308(e)) allow you to provide the pattern of absences to the employee’s health care provider and inquire whether this pattern is consistent with the employee’s need for leave.

For more thoughts on combating suspected FMLA abuse, click here.

For the rest of us (who are Chicago Bear fans, of course), better luck (and a lot of it!) next year. 

FMLA FAQ: How Many Intermittent FMLA Leave Hours is an FLSA-Exempt Employee Entitled To?

Posted by Jeff Nowak on September 19, 2011

wrong-addition.jpgQ. We employ an FLSA-exempt employee who has been certified for intermittent FMLA leave for migraine headaches.  He averages two to three intermittent absences per month.  Normally, I would calculate the employee's total FMLA allotment as 480 FMLA hours (12 weeks x 40 hrs/wk), but he claims he should be entitled to 600 FMLA hours because he averages 50 hours worked per week.  Is he correct?  Help!?! 

A.  One of the (many) headaches of managing intermittent FMLA leave is keeping track of leave in increments smaller than one work week.  For non-exempt employees, employers often calculate leave entitlement as 480 hours per FMLA year (i.e., 12 weeks x 40 hrs/wk).  However, the FMLA regulations urge caution when making these calculations.  

When dealing with a reduced schedule or intermittent leave under the FMLA, an employer first should calculate how many hours of leave an employee is entitled to.  You make this calculation according to the employee's regular workweek.  For example, an employee who regularly works a five-day work week and eight hours a day, is entitled to 480 hours of leave: 12 weeks x 40 hrs/wk.  Similarly, an employee who works a four-day week and eight hours each day is entitled to 384 hours of leave: 12 weeks x 32 hrs/wk.

Fluctuating work week: If an employee's schedule varies from week to week that an employer cannot determine with any certainty how many hours the employee would otherwise have worked, the employer should average of the hours scheduled over the 12 months prior to the beginning of the leave period (including the hours for which the employee took any type of leave) to calculate the employee's leave entitlement.

However, for an FLSA-exempt employee, employers typically have not recorded any work hours for the employee.  Thus, determing the actual intermittent FMLA allotment is particularly difficult, since it is not unusual for exempt employees to work more than 40 hours in a work week.  In these instances, the burden is on the employer to disprove the employee's record of the number of hours he or she worked. 

Insights for Employers

How can an employer meet this burden?  For starters, we strongly recommend that employers utilize a standard leave of absence form that employees complete in conjunction with any absence.  On the form, employers should require their exempt employees to specify the number of hours they have worked over the preceding 12-month period. 

If you have concerns about the hours represented by the employee, discuss this with your employee.  Perhaps you can cite to attendance patterns or time records to show that their calculation is not accurate.  At a minimum, it encourages an open dialogue at the beginning of the FMLA leave so that it minimizes any surprises (or claims of unfair treatment) further down the line. 

One additional note:  If an employer has made a permanent or long-term change in the employee's schedule (for reasons other than FMLA leave and before the notice of need for FMLA leave), the employer can use the hours worked under the new schedule to make the leave entitlement calculation.

Play Ball! An FMLA Lineup That Keeps You in the Pennant Race

Posted by Jeff Nowak on April 04, 2011

Baseball batter.jpgIn this opening weekend of major league baseball, hope springs eternal for every baseball fan.  In honor of my beloved Chicago White Sox, I offer an FMLA lineup card below that from top to bottom will help employers stay atop the pennant race throughout the year. 

[First, feel free to play the National Anthem if you so desire...]

From the Leadoff Hitter to the end of the lineup, here are my FMLA All Stars: 

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Suffering from Super Bowl-Induced FMLA Leave?

Posted by Jeff Nowak on February 07, 2011

Super Bowl.jpegThis morning, the sound of the morning alarm was harsh reality for scores of employees throughout Wisconsin.  After celebrating a Packers Super Bowl victory late into the night (a bitter pill for this Bears fan to swallow!), they have no interest in dragging themselves out of bed and heading into work.  For employers, you need not be located in Wisconsin to suffer the effects of the Super Bowl.  Case in point -- I was talking with an HR professional (located outside of WI.) last week who was not looking forward to the day after Super Bowl Sunday, when she spends much of her day processing leave of absence requests -- nearly all of which come from employees who called off right before the Monday morning shift started.

Some of the employees have fairly legitimate reasons for their absences ("My son, Johnnie, ate Aunt Erma's chili last night and he can't keep anything down this morning); others phone in ambiguous reasons such as, "I am taking FMLA again today," or "Remember that thing I was dealing with three weeks ago ... well, it's acting up again."

For HR professionals, the employer response to these phone calls is one of the most difficult they face: Do I count this as an ordinary sick day? Do I ask for more information? Can I ask for more information? What precise "thing" is "acting up" again?  Does this information trigger FMLA leave?

What can an employer do to obtain more information from the employee in these situations?

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