Key Employee

Leslie

For FMLA purposes, can an hourly employee be classified as a key employee? I have a dispatcher requesting up to 8 weeks FMLA for a viral inner ear infection (?!?!?). Haven't received the physician's certification yet, but if he qualifies it, there's no way we can be without this position for two months.

HR in CA

A "key" employee is a salaried "eligible" employee who is among the highest paid ten percent of employees within 75 miles of the work site.

I pulled this information for the DOL. Does your employee qualify as key?

marc

Also, if you read the rest of the key EE regs, you will see that complying with the replacement provisions is very tough. The hoops you must jump through to do so are very high, with tiny little openings. Very difficult to comply with.

You might just have to hire a temp under contract for that time period and hope that:

1. You can find one, and
2. They don't burn, rape and pillage with respect to the pay you must come up with.

Good dispatchers can be very rare - cross training might make some sense if you can work it in your organization, but I am sure you have already thought of that, so as Gilda Radner used to say -----never mind.

Leslie

Thanks Marc...I knew as much but was hoping we'd find a loophole to slip through. We're going out to hire, and if (when) he comes back, well, then we'll cross that bridge. Do a 90-day performance shoot out...who knows.