FMLA expired/long-term employee

Paige

We have a long-term employee (17 years) who has been out on FMLA and it expires on 9/7. I've gone over and over with the CEO and her manager as to what we want to do. We want to be very careful as to not set precedent for other employees.

Is it possible to grant extended leaves based on seniority?

LindaS

Yes it is. I know of one employer who gives one month of medical LOA, in addition to FMLA, for every year of service up to a total of 12 months (including FMLA at this point).

stilldazed

Unless there is something at the state level where you are, you can design anything that works for your organization that goes above and beyond the FMLA baseline and keeps you in line with employee benefits requirements (if you're insured). The caveat is to ensure that whatever you design is applied consistently accross the organization based on the criteria and consequent treatment your policy or practice outlines.

Most definitely there are situations that involve extenuating circumstances, and thus require exceptional resolutions. Just make sure that the resolutions are based on criteria that can be uniformly applied.

Wildsporty

We have a personal leave of absence policy that applies to those that are not eligible for FMLA or do not qualify. In this instance I would use the personal leave of absence policy .

Shirley

mwild31

First, why do you want to extend this person's leave?

Second, I wouldn't blend apples & oranges here - doesn't make for a great fruit salad. If this person has run out of FML, then the ee has used up their entitlement their FML has ended.

Now, even though I don't know the details, it sounds like your company wants to do something to help the employee with her health insurance. What you can do is offer her a severance package & hopefully the employee can use this money towards her cobra premiums. Now, she may not, but this is one way to help.

Finally, your company should look into long-term disability insurance. Most policies kick into effect after 90 days (approximately the same amount of time of fml). This will help if this issue comes up again.

Let us know what you decide to do.

x:-)

Paige

Well, after consulting with our attorney and getting her feedback, we have decided to keep it simple and term her as of 9/7. She's welcome to reapply when she's available to work, but she would lose her seniority.

This is all so tough--trying to see the human side of things while wading through regulations and having to be cautious of what you're setting yourself up for.

Thanks for everyone's input.

NaeNae55

What about a policy that re-establishes seniority for rehires if they come back within a certain time period? We have one that allows a rehire to come back as if they never left if they return within 6 months. We adjust their original hire date for the time they were gone and go from there.

This way you don't have to punish a good employee just because you don't want to set a precedent. After all, you don't have to rehire everyone who applies.

Good luck!

Nae