Family Member Sickness

Rockie

I know that one part of the FMLA states leave may be taken to care for the spouse, child, parent of the employee if such has a serious health condition. This seems to be a gray area with many supervisors. One question they have is: If the "parent" in question is hospitalized and they aren't actually caring for the parent but are simply there for moral support or if there is a situation where the family is called in simply because of a "death watch" (for lack of a better term) I say all this would be covered under the terms of the FMLA if they otherwise qualify. As soon as the death occurs, I would say they would go on bereavement leave. Does this sound reasonable? Also, do any of you have problems with getting paperwork in this instance?

Thanks for your help!

Margaret Morford

I agree with you. I cannot think of a single doctor that would not certify this moral support and presence as necessary for the care of a dying parent. Let the doctor make the call as to whether it's certifiable. You do not want to be in the position of telling an employee, whose doctor says their presence at the hospital is necessary for the care of a dying parent, that he/she cannot go. You'll pay in employee relations and morale problems big time and the maximum the employee can get is 12 weeks. Your Mother and Father only pass away once, so you shouldn't have a rash of these.

Once the parent dies, FMLA no longer applies and you do revert to Bereavement leave.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]

Down_the_Middle

This is exactly how we handle this situation in our healthcare industry.

dhnyct

I understand the question to be in two parts: 1) The parent is in the hospital for a reason other than life threatening; 2) The parent is near death.

If so, the first part is not so easy to define. Is the parent local or out of town? Are there other family members available to share the patient's need for moral support?