FMLA- Death of a parent

LOtt

Hello,

I have an employee who just went out on FMLA a week ago to care for a parent. The parent has passed away and her supervisor wants to know if we can require her to come back to work. I can't seem to find the answer to this anywhere. We do require that employees check in with their supervisor every 30 days. My thought was that when she checks in at her 30 days we could require her to come back then but I'm not sure this is correct.

Please let me know your thoughts or if anyone else has dealt with this in the past.

Thanks!

Sharon McKnight SPHR

Hello,

I have an employee who just went out on FMLA a week ago to care for a parent. The parent has passed away and her supervisor wants to know if we can require her to come back to work. I can't seem to find the answer to this anywhere. We do require that employees check in with their supervisor every 30 days. My thought was that when she checks in at her 30 days we could require her to come back then but I'm not sure this is correct.

Please let me know your thoughts or if anyone else has dealt with this in the past.

Thanks!

Your first post! Welcome to the forum. :welcome:

Re your question, I think that FMLA leave no longer applies but bereavement leave and/or a personal leave of absence could easily apply. A short phone call to express condolences and inquire about the employee's needs during this difficult time could help you know how to proceed.

Sharon

cnghr

We have had this occur a couple of times. Once the parent has passed away, FMLA no longer applies and you would offer bereavement leave (if you allow for that) or some other kind of personal leave. We offer 3 days bereavement leave and we let our employees know that while FMLA no longer applied, they could use their bereavement days and then, if they required further time off, they could use available vacation time or any other paid personal time they may have.

sonny

Same as above

NaeNae55

FMLA ended when the parent passed. However, there is a possibility your employee could apply for FMLA again, this time for psychological reasons (depression). Remote, but possible. For now you can terminate the FMLA and require the employee to return.

The loss of a parent can be devastating, as well as time consuming, as you wrap up their financial and legal issues. I hope your company offers bereavement leave, as well as understanding the employee might need time off here and there to handle things. Forcing your employee to return might not be in the company's best interests long term.