Extent Leave In The Workplace: A Case Study

In closing, the FMLA is a right and a privilege guaranteed to employees by the United States government. But it is not something to be taken lightly. It has very precise rules and responsibilities for both parties involved in order for it to work as it should. Therefore, both parties must know and understand what it is and how it applies to you, how it works, who is eligible, when you are eligible and what your responsibilities (and consequences) are under the Act.

Some of the disadvantages that the employer faces are not being able to predict when employees will be taking FMLA leave, causing them to make last minute changes to work schedules and the understanding of what is considered to be a serious illness. A recent survey reported by Ioma, a leading business management organization, states that the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 68% of organizations have experienced challenges in administering medical leave under the FMLA. These challenges include:

Kalamazoo County Road Commission (2015), the plaintiff Terry Tilly alleged that the Kalamazoo County Road Commission violated his right to take medical leave provided by the Family and Medical Leave Act. The KCRC’s personnel manual, which definitively advises that the manual serves “a basic guide to basic benefits, working conditions and policies” in part states that, “Employees covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act are full-time employees who have worked for the Road Commission and accumulated 1,250 work hours in the previous 12 months.” There are several statutes that specify a minimum employer size in term of the number of employees in the roster (Walsh, 2013, p. 10). Under section 2611 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, an employee who works for a company that does not meet the FMLA 50/75-Employee Threshold is not eligible for FMLA (2010). The trial court, therefore, ruled in favor of the Kalamazoo County Road Commission, dismissing Mr. Tilley’s FMLA claim. However, the Court of Appeals would later overturn the dismissal of the case. Although the employer did not meet the FMLA 50/75-Employee Threshold, making Mr. Tilley an ineligible employee under the FMLA, the company’s employee handbook misrepresented his eligibility to apply for FMLA benefits. The manual failed to mention the FMLA 50/75-Employee Threshold, so Mr. Tilley was in fact protected under the FMLA

Employers are limited to what they are allowed to ask and employees are allotted time off before being required to provide medical documentation supporting their request for leave. These gaps in detail in the documentation of the Family Medical Leave Act are giving dishonest employees an opportunity to obtain time off without any due explanation. Sue Sumler from the Manufacturers' Alliance/MAPI explains the problems caused by a vague definition of serious health condition. "Because the definition of a 'Serious Health Condition' is vague, almost any¬one can find a physician to certify that they have a chronic condition that meets the definition. Many of this company's intermittent leaves are for migraine headaches. The physician certifies that migraines may occur at any time. Some employees approved for leave for migraine headaches miss four-five days a month and more. For some, it appears that FMLA has given them an extra 60 days off work."

Some history on the case, Francis started working with Elsevier in 1991. The role of his employment was that of a production assistant. After a while, he was rehired after a company restructuring in which his new position was that of an associate database publishing editor. The main problem of the case concerns his wife's condition, amytrophic lateral sclerosis. Due to her condition he considered his potential rights under the Family Leave Act with a human resources representative from the company. A boss change led to him being interviewed with a new supervisor where he discussed his wife's condition. Shortly after he was dismissed. "Randall Francin had worked at Mosby, Inc., for twelve years before his wife was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (LouGehrig's disease). "(Cross & Miller, 540) I believe if Francin's wife's condition was not discussed his performance would not have come into question. From the evidence presented especially after the appeal, I believe he was unlawfully terminated considering the close timing of his dismissal after it was known of his wife's condition.

For this article, we were asked to research a subject related to our academic studies. Since I am attending in hopes of getting a degree in Human Relations, I chose Family Medical Leave Act, FMLA, as my subject. I currently work in Human Resources and handle FMLA cases as part of my responsibilities; however, there is so much involved I struggle with always knowing the proper steps to take with each case. Therefore, for this assignment, I thought I would take advantage of this opportunity and choose a subject that would not only complete the assignment, but also help me in my work life.

Furthermore, the FMLA excludes employees in most workplaces having fewer than 50 employees and excludes employees who do not have sufficient tenure (Armenia, Gerstel, Wing, 2014). According to surveys, most worksites are not covered by the FMLA because they're too small even though more than half of employees are eligible for the protections of the FMLA (Kelly, 2010). Only 1 in 6 worksites reports that it is covered by FMLA with about 30 % of worksites reporting that they are unsure if they are covered (Kelly, 2010). These uncovered and unsure worksites tend to be small and covered worksites tend to be larger (Hayes et. al, 2012). Then, only 59 % of American workers and less than 20 % of all new mothers are eligible for the FMLA (Sholar,

According to the United States Department of Labor (DOL), The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 mandates that employers who have 50 or more employees living within 75 miles of the worksite, must provide a minimum of 12 weeks of unpaid job protected leave. The employee must have worked for the organization for a minimum of 12 months and must have clocked a minimum of 1,250 working hours within that 12-month period. Congress passed this law in 1993 under President Bill Clinton, and it “is designed to help employees balance their work and family responsibilities by

With regards to the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), Company X is in full compliance. The FMLA clearly states that if an employee of a company that has been with a company for more than 12 months, they are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave every 12 months for qualifying events. Qualifying events would be considered as, but not limited to, child birth, serious medical injury or the placement of a child into adoption or foster care. There is a secondary provision in place that would allow you to take 26 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave for the care of a covered service member for serious injury or illness.

In this case of Toronto Transit Commission v. A.T.U., the union grieved foreman, Mr. Vito Stina’s harassment as it provides an unhealthy work environment. Union sought his removal, however, employer did not accuse the foreman with any harassments. The arbitrator was noted that foreman has harassed griever with criticisms and public humiliation, that crossed the boundary. The harassments continued on a regular basis, which showed ignorance and disrespect. At the end of the day, foreman has ripped apart griever’s dignity. Griever had filed a hand to the employer explaining the harassments he has been experiencing, however, not much was done. When the arbitrator was informed about this issue, arbitrator had to conclude that the negative influence and the impact on the griever was too big to ignore. Therefore, it provided griever $25 000 for the hardships. Then, arbitrator stated new rules surrounding this problem in order to minimize the may arise: (1) the employer now has to ensure the griever had a harassment free workplace, (2) employer was to not work the the griever in the same area, and (3)

President Obama on September 7, 2015 executive order was to established paid sick leave and that federal contractors are required to provided up to fifty six hours and seven days of paid sick leave to their employees per year and with this new contract after January 1, 2017. The anticipation made by the white house is that this order of paid sick leave will provide approximation of 300,000 people currently working on federal contracts who do not received this benefits. For employee that are under this order working on the following type of contracts which begins in 2017 some requirement that need to be fulfill is to obtain contract for service of construction, the contracts- like instruments for services must be covered by the Service Contract Act, contract has to allow certain privilege, and last of all the contract has to be in connection with federal property or lands.

As for a union, they don’t exactly have remedies as it is stated that the employer can pursue arbitration over the union violation of the agreement and the court will issue a suit for damages pending arbitration (Cihon & Castagnera,

This paper will outline a complaint process and illustrate the civil litigation that could follow if the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, through mediation and arbitration cannot resolve a charge. The complaint is based on a scenario of an employee, named John. John works for a private sector business and he wishes to lodge a complaint of discrimination against the company he works for. This paper will explain the steps that are taken, from the beginning with the (EEOC), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The paper will continue explaining the process by illustrating the civil litigation steps from the state level to the highest level of the United States Supreme Courts.

This unit has me thinking a lot about how things have been where I work. My director left her husband shortly after Christmas 2015. Prior to her leaving, the library was a huge part of her life. I now get why. She was in a miserable marriage and the only thing she felt good at was her job. Since she has left him, her priorities have changed dramatically. All of her programs have suffered, our patrons no longer ask for her assistance – since she is hardly there, she snaps at her staff for making decisions without her – again she isn’t there much to ask her prior, she now finds ways to take no responsibility for her part in the decisions she has made. Initially, we made excuses for her, such as "She is finding herself," or "She just needs time to adjust" or "Once things settle down, things will be back to normal around here." Needless to say, we are still waiting and it has been almost 10 months. Her leadership style has completely changed. She used to fight for the library, now it’s someone else’s problem or worse, it’s someone else’s fault. When discussing the programs dropping in attendance she said,

After extending their paid parental leave, the U.S. office of Thomson Reuters decided to focus on a friendly family policy that would benefit a broad range of employees, Paid Family Leave. To argue the importance of focusing on this policy over other ones, they presented the following points. First, the HR team argued that regardless of worker’s age, they will eventually face a circumstance that will require them to take off to provide care to a close relative. Secondly, the company wants to remain competitive to attract and retain the best talent. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 13% of U.S. employers provide this benefit (March 2016). With such little support from companies, Thomson Reuters wants to take the initiative and lead on this HR practice. Additionally, the HR team wants to emphasis and