The Federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

ONO is a large auto-supply company that does a large volume of business with only eleven employees. Absenteeism seems to have increased over the last two years and has had a significant effect on ONO. The information in the text shows that ONO had lost 539 employee labor-hours or 67.375 days to employee absenteeism last year. Because there are only eleven employees, this equals out to 6.125 missed days per employee. This is actually less than the United States average of seven missed days per year. Is absenteeism at ONO a serious problem? Whether or not a serious problem, the data from ONO, Inc. suggests there is enough to warrant an investigation and a new strategy to minimize absenteeism. As

You get the phone call in the middle of the night. Your son or daughter has been in a serious accident and is hospitalized in critical condition. After several day’s they come home from the hospital with several broken bones and require your around the clock attention for the next eight to twelve weeks. You just got over a serious medical condition yourself which you acquired while on vacation and do not have any vacation time or sick time to take off. Do you have to quit your job? Can your employer terminate you for taking time off to be with your child? What options do you have? What can your employer do for you? Well, the answer lies in the Family and Medical Leave Act.

For example, legislating paid sick days opens the door to abuse by employees. Some employees may use these days as vacation without notifying their employer or a specific reason for their absence. This will often leave employers scrambling to find replacements for absent workers, which can put some small businesses in trouble. Abuse of these paid sick days translates into loss of money for businesses and higher costs for consumers.

Employees with legitimate reasons have the right to take leave without any restraint from his or her employer. This means that an employer cannot interfere or deny an employee of family and medical leave if that person meets the criteria. The act grants people several rights. Upon return, these workers should have either the same job position or one that is equivalent to their previous job. The job security aspect of this act is a huge benefit. Workers returning from leave do not have to worry about being replaced or fired for taking the necessary leave. Family and medical leave can be used once each year if necessary. Group health benefits are protected and maintained while on leave as well. If a person has a complaint or wants to file a private lawsuit under the act, he or she can take it up with the local Wage and Hour Division office and does not have to worry about being fired. These matters are handled privately and the Wage and Hour Division Office will work on getting the issue resolved or correcting the violation and mending the damage (Solis).

An employee took time off due to his wife giving birth prematurely. His requested time off was approved by his original manager as the employee qualified for FMLA since he has been with the company for two years and was for the care of his spouse. Under (1)”FMLA rules certain employees can be provided up to 12 weeks unpaid, job-protected leave per year. The employee must work for the company at least 12 months, have at least 1250 hours during the 12 months and the where the employee work, the company must employ at least 50 employees within 75 miles”.

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was enacted to offer relief and protection to those workers

The FMLA or The Family and Medical Leave Act allows eligible employees who work for companies that the Act applies to take unpaid, job-protected leave for family and or medical reasons. As stated on US Department of Labor’s website (2015), a covered employer must have 50 or more employees in 20 or more work weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, including a joint employer or successor in interest to a covered employer. It may also be a public agency which includes local, state or Federal agencies, regardless of the number of employees that it employs. Eligible employees work for a covered

What is Family and Medical leave Act (FMLA)? The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that was passed in 1993, is a national policy that grants workers up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave in four situations. These four situations are for pregnancy; to care for an infant, such as newborns, newly-placed foster children, and adoptions; to care for a relative with a serious health condition; or to allow an employee to recover and recuperate from a personal serious health condition. This paper will be discussing the impact of FMLA on employers and the protections provided by this law. (Vikesland, 2009)

There are many different types of qualified leave under the FMLA law. Employees can use family medical leave for the following reasons. The birth of a son or daughter, the placement of a fostered or adopted son or daughter with the employee. To care for a spouse, son, daughter or parent of the employee if they have a serious medical condition that requires doctors care. For the employee if they have a serious medical condition that prevents them from performing their position, and lastly if because of any qualifying exigency (as the Secretary shall, by regulation, determine) arising out of the fact that the spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on covered active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or order to covered active duty) in the Armed

What does FMLA abuse look like from the employers perspective? One study indicates there are five basic ways that employees are tempted to, and do abuse their FMLA leaves. Employees that are presumably on leave to take care of their own personal serious heath conditions are doing some or all of the following: working a second job, running errands/going shopping, engaging in recreational activities, taking short get-away trips, engaging in manual labor activities when limitations have been claimed. When FMLA is tied to the care of a family member with a serious illness or injury, the employee has opted not to take care of the family member during a certified period.

     The Family and Medical Leave Act was enacted by Congress on February 5, 1993, and it is public law 103-3. This law allows for a person to leave work in certain situations without losing his/her job. An eligible employees must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and at least completed 1250 hours of service. An employee is able to leave work for up to 12 weeks for any of the following reasons: the employee expects a baby in his/her immediate family, the employee expects an adopted child in his/her immediate family, the employee has to take care of an ill family member which includes spouse, parent or his/her own children, and/or the employee has a serious medical

The vast majorities of organisations have a written absence/attendance management policy, record their employee absence rate collect information on the causes of absence and provide one or more well-being benefits. Developing line managers’ capability to manage absence (2014: 56% of those that made changes; 2013: 33%)

Employers today come up against many obstacles regarding employee productivity. Some of those concerns include health related absenteeism and presenteeism.. Matke and others observed there is a shift in burden to employers due to Americas aging workforce that results in loss of productivity brought on by illness related absenteeism and presenteeism (Matke and others, 2013). A report by Berry, Mirabito, and Baun show that absenteeism and presenteeism account for lost productivity costs that are

As companies and managers around the world continue to tackle this ever growing issue many western companies have begun to implement strategies to combat the symptoms of lost productivity caused by absenteeism, however, even within western cultures, these tactics don’t work as planned. Many factors play a role; however, some companies are gaining success from various tactics used to combat absenteeism and tardiness. In a world full of different motivations and cultural differences, it can be difficult for companies to have a full success; however, with careful planning and cultural understanding companies can begin to battle against this costly crisis in the workplace.

In dealing with attendance issues one needs to realize that, attendance is not only an expectation, but employers have the right to receive good attendance. Absenteeism has an effect on a company’s bottom line. One of these effects is a decrease in productivity which causes employees to carrying an extra workload, supporting new or replacement staff, or be required to train and orientate new or replacement workers which affects staff morale and employee service. Another effect felt by a company is financial costs. These costs include: overtime or agency cost for replacement workers, the cost of self-insured income protection plans and premium costs may rise for insured plans. In addition, a company will incur administrative costs which include; staff time is required to secure replacement employees or to re-assign the remaining employees and staff time is required to maintain and control absenteeism. Each and every employee has a contractual responsibility to be present at work on a regular basis. “All levels of management must believe in, be committed to, and communicate their expectations of good attendance” (Benefits Interface, 2013). Employees will live up to the expectations that you set for them, and if a specific number of sick days are considered acceptable per employee, at best that will be the result. “Expectations must be clear to both management and employees in order for an attendance management program to get maximum results” (Benefits Interface, 2013).