But they raised me...
vmckinney
6 Posts
I have an employee who wants to know if she can have FMLA for a grandparent that “raised” her. In her message she states that her parents divorced when she was very young (not sure of the employee’s age at that time) and custody was awarded to her father. She lived with her father and his parents until he (the father) moved. She continued to stay with his parents and now her grandparents are having health problems. She is saying that her grandparents are her parents because they raised her. I have read the law and I was wondering three things. (1) Does this qualify as persons who stood “in loco parentis”? (2)What documentation will the employee need as proof of guardianship? (3)Does this even constitute FMLA? Thanks in advance for your help.
Comments
As to whether or not the grandparents medical condition would otherwise qualify as an FML event would be up to the medical provider to document. You have not provided enough information about the condition(s) for us to make a judgement call.
Linda Emser
I'm thinking if it is really important to her...she'll want to be there, even if it's not FMLA Leave.
If I had reason to believe that the employee is being truthful to me about the relationship with the grandparents, I would be inclined to grant the leave.
"He is the best postman, we even give him cookies for Christmas and two bags of canned goods when the food drive comes around. He is so special, he even puts rubber bands around our junk mail - a service he performs for no other mailbox. And he has picked up our mail everyday, rain or sleet or shine. You don't get that type of service from just any mail carrier."
It's also worthwhile to take good ee's and want to make reasonable accomodations. If this is an ee that you really want/need to keep...you may wish to find a way to make this work. Clearly, the grandparent relationship is important to her...Her dad probably did claim her as a dependant...but that doesn't make him the parent that raised her.
day responsibilities to care for and financially support a child or, in
the case of an employee, who had such responsibility for the employee
when the employee was a child. A biological or legal relationship is not
necessary.
(d) For purposes of confirmation of family relationship, the
employer may require the employee giving notice of the need for leave to
provide reasonable documentation or statement of family relationship.
This documentation may take the form of a simple statement from the
employee, or a child's birth certificate, a court document, etc. The
employer is entitled to examine documentation such as a birth
certificate, etc., but the employee is entitled to the return of the
official document submitted for this purpose.
Here's the link
[url]http://www.dol.gov/dol/allcfr/ESA/Title_29/Part_825/29CFR825.113.htm[/url]
James Sokolowski
HRhero.com