Give her an out?
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An employee gave several weeks notice of needing off Monday to be at the hospital for her adult daughter's surgery. Friday before the surgery she told the manager she was going to take a few extra days. Manager said, "NO, we're too short handed." She said OK.
Monday just before closing she called the asst manager and said she would be off the rest of the week to stay with her daughter but could come in Friday & Saturday if we really needed her.
She hasn't requested FMLA and it probably wouldn't apply since daughter was in the hospital. Should I be nice guy and ask her to verify it was FMLA or just write her up for unexcused absence?
Your wisdom is appreciated.
Monday just before closing she called the asst manager and said she would be off the rest of the week to stay with her daughter but could come in Friday & Saturday if we really needed her.
She hasn't requested FMLA and it probably wouldn't apply since daughter was in the hospital. Should I be nice guy and ask her to verify it was FMLA or just write her up for unexcused absence?
Your wisdom is appreciated.
Comments
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman
From the DOL Compoliance Guide: They have to be "incapable of self care" because of a mental or physical disability that limits one or more of the major life activities as defined under the ADA.
Basically I thought the adult child already had to be incapable of self care and then if they had a serious health condition, the parent could take a leave under FMLA. Maybe I've been interpreting this wrong also. We've never had this situation, surprisingly. Is there an FMLA expert who can clarify?
I don't know why FMLA wouldn't qualify for adult children. It covers parents and spouses, and they are adults. If a wife has to work and the husband has surgery and needs care and help with small children, why couldn't a parent take off work to help? What about in the case of a debilitating disease like Lou Gehrig's disease? Patients with Lou Gehrig's disease often need 24 hour care and families will set up shifts of family and friends to come in and help. It's too much for one person. My family went through that last year with my mother and I took time off every week to give dad a break.
And I'm sure the doctor in your case would say the daughter needs the mother, and the mother will say she didn't foresee that the daughter would need her so much.
James Sokolowski
HRhero.com
This employee took FMLA to care for her mother after surgery last November and is aware of the request form. Since she hasn't mentioned FMLA but just took days off, I'm leaning toward giving the warning. If she comes back and says, "But it was FMLA.", we can request the documentation and (if it pans out) remove the warning.
Ain't it fun? It's a constant balancing act.