Where do I start?

HRCalico

Please accept my apologies for posting what may seem to be a dumb question, but I have only worked in HR for companies that were too small to fall under FMLA. Our organization has only recently zoomed past 50 EEs.

Here is the situation: husband works on our production floor, wife works in the office. Wife has been here less than one year; cut and dried ineligible. Not sure how we’ll handle her time off, since we try to be flexible, but that’s our problem.

Husband is FML eligible. He had a liver transplant two years ago, we probably were not covered under FMLA then, but we allowed him time off to recover (not sure how much, I wasn’t here then). Fast forward to now - he missed part of a day on 9/16 and has not been able to return to work since due to pneumonia and hospitalizations. He was in a local hospital and has since been transferred (I believe) to the transplant center hospital. Don’t know when he’ll be able to return.

I have no doubts that he qualifies for FML. Since it’s a MONTH later, what do I do now? I have tried to search the forum but most questions are situation-specific and you all are way ahead of me in FMLA knowledge. I have also tried to search the whole world wide web but again, info overload and mostly is on employee rights, not what employers should do procedure-wise.

Any assistance – even to point me in a direction online or tell me what to look for in the forum – is most appreciated. I poked around the DOL website but wasn't able to come up with what I need. Some stuff in the HRHero subscribers area leads me to believe that I can't go retroactive, and even possibly I can't count this at all towards FML since I didn't right away.

Thankfully I did get them going with a ST disability claim . . .

awilliams

Dear HRCalico-

A good place to start is with our two Special Reports on FMLA. As a subscriber you can dowload them for free from this website. Go to: [url]http://www.hrhero.com/special_reports/index.shtml[/url] and click on FMLA and FMLA, ADA & Workers Comp. These two reports should give you some of the background information you are seeking.

Definitely get your FMLA paperwork going for the husband. As for the spouse, follow your procedures in regard to available medical leave when the person does not qualify for FMLA. If you don't have any procedures, look back upon what was done in the past and be consistent.

Good luck!

Anne Williams
Attorney Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers, LLC

HRCalico

Thank you, Anne. I had already printed the FMLA special report, and just started looking through it - in fact, it was raising questions because of this part: According to the regulations, if you fail to provide the required notice to an employee, the leave does not count against his FMLA entitlement. (footnote 100)

So that means I designate "from this point forward"?

awilliams

Yes. I suggest that you "conditionally designate" the leave as FMLA until you receive all of the medical forms back from the doctor. That will start the FMLA clock ticking.

Anne Williams
Attorney Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers, LLC