FMLA for ex-spouse?

durasupreme

Employee is divorced from spouse, but they live together as husband and wife. Ex-spouse just had bypass surgery and ee is asking about FMLA to care for him. I initially responded that because there is no legal relationship, she is not eligible for FMLA. What would you/have you done in similar circumstances? She has 80+ hours vacation available. I don't feel comfortable granting an unpaid personal LOA until she uses up the vacation, or at least a portion of it. Thoughts?

Whatever

Ex-spouses are not covered under FMLA. If you want to grant a unpaid leave of absence and/or allowing ee use her vacation time, you should follow company policy. If there is none or if this has never happened in the past, do you want to set a precedence?

Don D

I think Whatever is exactly right.

System

Yep, I'd want him to use his paid leave before going to unpaid, but that depends on your policy.

Since they're living together, she could be his common-law wife, which has some of the same legal ramifications as a went-to-the-preacher wife. Someone told me FMLA applies to common-law spouses, but you can check for sure in the Subscribers Area of HRhero.com if you're an Employment Law Letter subscriber:
[url]http://www.HRhero.com/lc/[/url]

James Sokolowski
HRhero.com