FMLA is a Four-Letter Word
psrcello
260 Posts
I think this is about my fourth post on this topic, and I'm still looking for the "silver bullet". We have about 25% of our workforce that have certified chronic serious health conditions (i.e., asthma, chronic sinusitis, migraines, back problems, etc.) that may result in intermittent incapacity. Under FMLA, intermittent leaves for chronic conditions don't require that the person actually be treated by a health care provider during the intermittent incapacity. Our attendance policy requires a doctor's release to return to work once three days are missed due to illness, but an employee can miss one or two days and return without a doctor's note.
Managers and supervisors are about to string me up by my thumbnails over the production problems intermittent leave is causing - even though they've all been through FMLA training and understand what the law requires. Last night, we had to shut down two out of five machines in one department because five people called in on intermittent FMLA. A couple of weeks ago, we turned down a leave of absence request in another department because of production needs - the employee turned around and took FMLA leave instead!
Does ANYONE have a fool-proof solution to intermittent leave and its "carte blanche" affect on unplanned absences? xpray
Managers and supervisors are about to string me up by my thumbnails over the production problems intermittent leave is causing - even though they've all been through FMLA training and understand what the law requires. Last night, we had to shut down two out of five machines in one department because five people called in on intermittent FMLA. A couple of weeks ago, we turned down a leave of absence request in another department because of production needs - the employee turned around and took FMLA leave instead!
Does ANYONE have a fool-proof solution to intermittent leave and its "carte blanche" affect on unplanned absences? xpray
Comments
I feel your pain. Unfortunately, as said above, all you can hope for is they run out of days and it's see ya, bye.
We have 16,000 employees and 1,000 of them went on leave last year. (Mainly pregnancy, but plenty of the leave types you cite)
If you are on intermittent leave, and there is ANY question that it might not be a true serious health condition, we call a Nurse to start an investigation.
Here is how it works:
1. You can't call the ee's doctor, only a medical professional can. We have a nurse that is not on our payroll and gets paid per case. She calls the Doctor and presses him for evidence that the associate really needs leave.
2. If the doctor won't budge, you can get a 2nd opinion from a Dr of your choosing. If the employee disagrees with the second opinion, you have to get a 3rd using a doctor you both agree on. Both the 2nd and 3rd opinion is on the company's dime.
We have yet to use option 2. What we have found is that most Doctors will fill out the paperwork any way the ee wants them to, but when the nurse gets involved, boom they change their story real quick.
The nurse we use is inexpensive and saves us a ton in $$, lost production, etc.