Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): A Compliance Guide

Introduction

This paper provides a summary and review of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a foundational piece of United States employment law. The discussion covers a summary of the relevant law, an overview that includes the rationale behind it, who is affected by it, and other pertinent information. It also proposes a method for ensuring compliance, explains applicable benchmarking and best practices procedures, and concludes with recommended strategies for healthcare leaders seeking to monitor organizational compliance. While employees taking FMLA leave can present operational challenges for a business, allowing people to handle important life situations in this manner is the right thing to do — for the employee and for society.

Overview of the Family and Medical Leave Act

The primary legal authority for this discussion is the law itself. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was passed as a freestanding and self-sufficient law in 1993. In its original form, the law actively excluded individuals who were not legally married under state law, which meant that same-sex couples were excluded even when they were legally married in their state of residence. Beyond that amendment, the law has remained largely intact from its original 1993 form.

The law allows an eligible employee to take up to twelve workweeks of unpaid leave over a twelve-month period for the following qualifying reasons:

• The birth of a child — this leave may be taken within one year of the child's birth.
• The placement of a child with the employee for adoption — as with a biological birth, leave may be taken within one year of the child's placement.
• The need to care for a spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition.
• A serious medical condition experienced by the employee that requires attention.
• Any qualifying exigency arising from a family member's active military duty (DOL, 2016).

It is important to note that not all employers or employees are subject to the FMLA. The law applies only to employers who have fifty or more employees within a seventy-five-mile radius. If either threshold is not met, the employer is not legally required to extend the leave, though they may choose to do so. If an employer voluntarily offers such leave, it must be offered equally and consistently across all comparable situations — just as if the employer were legally subject to the law. When an employee returns from FMLA leave, the employer must restore them to their prior position or to one that is equivalent in terms of pay and responsibilities (DOL, 2016).

The rationale for the law is that employees will encounter life situations and events that make it impossible to simultaneously manage both the event and their job responsibilities. In other cases, an employee may simply need time away — a need that is especially common following the arrival of a new child, whether adopted or biological. The employee benefits because he or she is entitled to take leave, albeit unpaid. The employer is affected in that it must cover the temporary absence and must offer the employee their same job — or a comparable one — upon return (Meyer, 2016).

Compliance Assurance

Compliance with the FMLA is not overly complex and ultimately comes down to two core determinations. The first is whether the employer is subject to the law at all. As long as there are fifty or more employees within a seventy-five-mile radius, the law applies. When an employee requests FMLA leave, the employer must determine whether the stated reason qualifies under the law and whether the employee is eligible to take leave at the time of the request. If all necessary conditions are satisfied, the employee must be permitted to take the leave, and all relevant documentation should be completed and maintained. Upon the employee's return, they must be reinstated to their prior position or an equivalent one. Each step of this process should be monitored and verified to ensure full compliance (SHRM, 2012).

Conclusion

While some advocate for expanding the amount of unpaid leave available to workers or for converting it to paid leave, the FMLA framework is sound in that it allows employees to address important life events without losing their jobs. At the same time, the employer is not required to compensate an employee who is not working or contributing productively to the organization. There are certainly situations in which taking unpaid leave is not a financially viable option for an employee, and yet there are equally compelling situations where leave is genuinely necessary. The best solution to that tension has not yet been fully resolved, but the FMLA represents a meaningful and important starting point.

References

BLR. (2016). Leave of absence (FMLA) laws & HR compliance analysis. Blr.com. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.blr.com/HR-Employment/Benefits-Leave/Leave-of-Absence-FMLA

DOL. (2016). Employment law guide — family and medical leave. Webapps.dol.gov. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/elg/fmla.htm

DOL. (2016). Family and Medical Leave Act — Wage and Hour Division (WHD) — U.S. Department of Labor. Dol.gov. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from

DOL. (2016). FMLA — United States Department of Labor. Dol.gov. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.dol.gov/general/topic/benefits-leave/fmla

Meyer, E. (2015). FMLA basics: Which employees are eligible to take leave? And are there any exceptions? The Employer Handbook Blog. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.theemployerhandbook.com/2015/09/fmla-basics-which-employees-are-eligible-to-take-leave.html

SHRM. (2016). 12 tips to comply with FMLA. Shrm.org. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from