FMLA 12 month period measured forward

njjel · February 2003

I posted this on the FMLA Forum but didn't received any responses so I'm giving it a go here.

Example - We use the 12 month period measured forward calculation method for FMLA leave. The employee takes FMLA leave from 9/30/02 through 12/30/02, does she need to wait until 9/30/02 before she is eligible for FMLA leave again? Also, the unions are claiming that the choice of how we measure the leave period is a bargaining matter. I don't think it is. Is it?

Balloonman · February 2003

I am not sure if it is a bargaining issue, I do know it is up to the company to decide this. I prefer the rolling 12 month calendar that starts when leave is first taken. This prevents abuse of the system. What does your FMLA policy say? If nothing is mentioned you need to select what method you wish to use and inform the union.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

njjel · February 2003

I gather that you use the rolling 12 month period measured backward from the date of the leave? The 12 month period measured forward also prevents abuse of the system. Do you have any input to the first part of my question?

SMace · February 2003

They way I understand your calculation is that they would only have to only wait 9 months for more FML. We count back a year from the date of request. In your situation, if counting back from date of request, they would not be eligible for more FML until 12/31/03.

carolathey · March 2003

We also use the rolling forward measuring period for FMLA. It is my understanding that in the situation you pose, you would count as follows:

You begin counting the 12-month period on 9/30/2002. The EE has 12 weeks of leave available between 9/30/2002 and 9/29/2003. The EE must have worked at least 1250 hours in the immediately preceding 12 months. If the EE takes the full 12 weeks beginning on 9/30/2002, then the EE can't take any additional FMLA leave until after 9/29/2003. Assuming he had worked sufficient hours in the preceding 12 months, the EE could begin a new FMLA leave period on 9/30/2003, at which point the 12-month forward measuring period starts again. Don't you just love the Federal government?

We aren't a union shop so can't address the union question.

SMace · March 2003

Carol,

Unless I'm confused, which is likely when it comes to FMLA, you aren't getting your full 12 months when you roll forward from the date they take the leave. In the situation you described, the ee could start their leave on Sept. 30 2002 and be out through Dec. 30 2002. Then they would only have to wait 9 more months to get more FML. Either you need to roll forward from the END of their leave or roll back 12 months from the date of their request. That will give you the full 12 months.

Don D · March 2003

First, this is typically not a bargaining issue. The company has the sole discretion of setting this policy up. I can't imagine that your contract would share this sort of decision with the bargaining unit. In the event the company does not make a choice, the period of time to be enforced is the one in the best interest of the ee, which generally is the dreaded 'calendar year' basis. The rolling forward method is the one we use. I can't understand the gymnastics some seem to go through trying to analyze this when it's quite simple. Their very first day of FMLA leave sounds the gun and a 12 month period begins then, disregarding entirely the end or start of a calendar year. No matter when the 12 weeks ends, after having taken those weeks, the employee is not then entitled to another day of FMLA leave until the day before the anniversary of that first day taken 12 months ago. There's nothing magic about a calendar year numerical change in the middle of your FMLA formula. Disregard that. The 12 month period measuring backwards is the one that baffles me when the one we use is so simple.

BarbG · March 2003

Thanks, Don, for your 3-10-03 post. That's the FIRST time I really understood how to count FMLA. I use the rolling forward method also, but was still somewhat confused because we have not had many FMLA events. Mine don't usually take the full 12 weeks at a time, therefore, the intermittant events that occur weeks or months apart come into play. I have stopped worrying about 'weeks'and 'days' to count, I concentrate on hours. They have 480 hours, no matter how they take them. They take time off for physical therapy, doctor visits, and one guy has a reduced schedule. The hard part is getting them to tell you about the 'time away' they spend related to their FMLA event. I have made up 'time away' sheets to track this time, and relieve their 480 hour allowance each time it's FML related. I hope I'm doing this right. Set me straight if I'm not.

Leslie · March 2003

BarbG, I count it as sixty days. And no matter how intermittantly they take it, eligibility always starts at the end of the rolling 12 months. I had a lady who finished up her sixty days exactly one week before she was eligible again, and then we started all over.

ray a · March 2003

I agree with Don. The 12 month rolling forward method is quite simple. I still do not understand the rolling backward method. Ironically, we were using the rolling forward method until my boss changed it at the beginning of this year. Now we use the calendar method. I think it is retrograde, but he is the boss.

Don D · March 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 03-11-03 AT 01:57PM (CST)[/font][p]As I'm often told here, Ray, He may not always be right, but he's always the boss. In your case, he's made a very unwise decision. That decision could very well put a person on 24 straight weeks of FMLA! Yes, BarbG; I think you're right on with the way you do it. We have also started using the hourly method since so many of the intermittents are hourly users. It is easy to track weeks while they are out for weeks at a time, then it seems easier to track hours. Otherwise, we're going to be giving away hours till we're nit-picked to death with absences by the hour. Whatever works best for you is the best way to track it. It's my impression that this is the only instance in which the FLSA will let you 'charge' absences by the hour for exempts in the private sector.

FMLA 12 month period measured forward

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