FMLA confusion
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If an employee voluntarily quits and in the process lets you know he is going to take care of his sick father, are you required to offer FMLA?
Comments
We go a step further though and make sure the EE understands the Act in situations where they would otherwise qualify. We don't want to lose our trained staff if we can avoid it.
We / YOU don't know enough to accuse needahero of being negligent.
Those that live in glass houses should not throw stones.
I too can envision a variety of scenarios where an employee might be forced to choose caring for a seriously ill parent over their employment -- but I didn’t get that from the post. What I read was that the ER was learning of the man’s dilemma in the process of his voluntary quit. If the exiting employee’s story was legit (and you are right about assuming too much) then I’m left wondering if he fully understood his FMLA rights in the first place. We all know that the ER cannot force the EE to accept FMLA over unemployment. But if an HR manager asks me whether or not we are obligated to offer FMLA to a departing employee with a qualifying event, I’m left questioning the job we did of informing him of his FMLA rights in the first place – an obligation, that in my humble opinion, the regulations put on the employer.
I have had employees in the past indicate they were quitting for similar reasons, one involving a child and one, a parent. Posters and multiple-paged procedural statements were posted in conspicuous places, the FMLA had been covered numerous times in employee meetings and it was well covered in their handbook. However, the employee in each case did not even think about FMLA. In both cases, we reminded the ee about his protections under the Act and went that route and in each case, the employee returned after an approved absence.
First- FMLA is presented extensively in the manual of which this EE signed acknowledgement of, and yes we have the poster up in plain view.
We are dealing with 600+ hourly restaurant EEs spread across multiple locations in different cities. Only a small percentage of our EEs even qualify. This EE did not indicate anything about his dad's illness until management asked him why he was quitting and he said to move home and that his dad was sick and he wanted to help take care of him and be near him.
I completely agree with the ethical side of offering it, my concern is more what the risk is if one of our restaurant managers unbeknownst to me in HR doesn't offer it. Is it enough to have it in the handbook and on the poster?