FMLA Hits Employers in the Wrong Spot
June 10 , 2008
Millions of employees use FMLA each year, and the law provides them with many rights that can be asserted in a lawsuit. This puts employers in the hot seat, often without clear guidance to steer them through the FMLA maze.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an employer that recently sat in the hot spot defending a termination against an employee, who claimed she qualified for FMLA. She had worked only 374 hours in the past year, well below the threshold to qualify under FMLA. However, this employee argued that her post-termination hours while a union grievance was pending should count toward the FMLA calculation. She claimed she wanted to work but Goodyear unlawfully prevented her from doing so because it forced her resignation when she failed to report to work. The court of appeals determined she resigned without notice and was not unlawfully terminated. Therefore, she was not qualified for relief under FMLA.
In this case, Goodyear was clearly in the right. But the termination of employment occurred more than four years earlier, during which there were continuous union or court proceedings. This was truly a hollow victory for the employer.
FMLA is a confusing area of administration for employers. Proposed regulations were released this year, but employers are on the edge of their seats waiting for more concrete definitions to assist them in the FMLA fog. Just one disgruntled employee can put an employer into the courtroom’s hot seat.
FMLA allows employees to balance their work and family life by taking reasonable unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons. This law provides certain employees with up to 12 work weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave a year, and requires group health benefits to be maintained during the leave as if employees continued to work.
To be eligible for FMLA leave, an employee must work for a covered employer and:
- Have worked for that employer for at least 12 months
- Have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months prior to the start of the FMLA leave
- Worked at a location where at least 50 employees are employed or within 75 miles of the location.
A covered employer must grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 work weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for one or more of the following reasons:
- For the birth and care for a newborn child
- For the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care, and to care for the newly placed child
- To care for an immediate family member (spouse, child, or parent, but not a parent "in-law") with a serious health condition
- When the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition
- When there are certain situations involving active military duty
For a more complete analysis of the recent changes, please attend our webinar on Tuesday, June 17, 2008, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. ET for an FMLA update with What the New Law and Regulations Mean to Employers. Our webinar on Wednesday, August 6, 2008, will address ADA, FMLA and Workers’ Comp Best Practices, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. ET. For additional information on attending a webinar, visit http://www.infinisource.net/Seminars/seminarschedule.aspx.