Who gets the FMLA, if anyone?

Whatever

The following letter was received by our NJ plant manager from an employee requesting an extension of a leave due to the death of the mother "...After that I have been in charge of my family preparing the funeral and taking care of my family and my father. My father is not in a stable condition due to my mother's death...."
The following letter was received by our NY plant manager from an employee requesting an extension of a leave due to the death of the mother "...After that I have been in charge of my family preparing the funeral and taking care of my family and my father. My father is not in a stable condition due to my mother's death...."
The notes from the father's doctor are also extremely similar in language (matter of fact both forms state that the ee is so much closer to their parent than the other siblings, that if they were not there, the parent's emotional state would deteriorate)
Finally, the two employees are sisters.
So is either one or neither one or both employees entitled to an FMLA?

Don D

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 01-26-05 AT 06:25PM (CST)[/font][br][br]I thought at first there was an echo, then I noticed the slight difference in NJ and NY. Although you are obligated to let medical certifications speak for themselves, you have a right to question either or both of them and to call the physician's office to ask how it can be that each is more important than the other and to verify their authenticity. I've heard lots of limericks and puzzles about sibblings, but how can it be that of two sisters, each of them is closer to the parent than the other. Impossible. I would require further detail. This is one time you should not automatically let FMLA jack you around.

You are at liberty to deny them both and then see what they come back with. You must state a reason for your denial. I would say, "The two requests for leave and the accompanying medical certifications are unclear and vague and contain either the same or similar language, and, as such, the validity of each is brought into question. Upon receipt of additional information, the request will be reconsidered." The Act allows you to ask, and your form probably states, "State what care you will provide or what service you will render the family member."

Am I to assume that sister A wants 12 weeks, to be followed by 12 weeks with sister B?

Whatever

Actually, they want the same 12 weeks. If they wanted different 12 weeks, it would make a little more sense.

Down_the_Middle

Other than the obvious grief associated with the loss of a spouse, is there a serious health condition that is being aggravated by this death?? Before I'd get too excited about which sister and for how long, I'd want to have all the facts on the Father's condition to determine if FMLA is applicable, or approving some time off for the sisters to help their Father will suffice.

Don D

Based on your new comment, I would deny them both. Two employees, same employer, duplicate language, each wanting the same time off to perform the same FMLA-qualifying function at the same identical time. Looking at it totally unemotionally, I would deny both requests as they stand now. As an alternative, I might suggest to them both that a better alternative for all parties might be sister A two weeks, followed by sister B, two weeks. And see if they will bite at that.