Date Published 2000
Format: Executive Briefing
Length: 147 pgs
Price: $50.00 US
This Executive Briefing aims to help you disentangle the web of confusion that may be caused by overlapping leave laws. If you want to know about what your obligations are concerning the federal and state leave laws and you want to follow these laws with a "minimum of time investment and a maximum of legal protection", it may be a good idea to take a look at Employee Leave Laws: Your rights and responsibilities.
This report will answer questions such as:
Can a worker take extra time off after a death to clean up family affairs?
Can employees just walk off the job to start leave or do they have to give notice?
Does chicken pox qualify an employee for medical leave?
Can you force employees to use their paid leave before starting their unpaid leave?
Target Audience:
This report is compiled for busy Executives or Compensation and Benefits professional who must ensure compliance with both state and federal leave laws.
Content and Summary:
There is a lot of information covered in this section. Some of the key points made include the fact that:
- an employee can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a number of different reasons.
- the employer cannot retaliate against and employee for exercising FMLA rights.
Other issues covered in this section include information related to how a 12-month period is defined, provides FMLA definitions, definition of serious health condition, and employer rights/employee responsibilities. You will learn the two "other" types of leave referred to as intermittent or reduced leave schedule. Briefly, intermittent leave is taken in separate blocks of time as needed, while a reduced leave schedule involves reducing the usual number of hours worked per week or day.
Some of the topics addressed in this section concern eligibility, calculating leave time, substituting paid leave, benefits during leave, and documentation.
This section examines differences between ADA and Worker´s Comp. It also discusses issue of WC fraud and how you can identify and avoid such fraud. You will find guidance on how to deal with Disability Leave and Reduction-in-force (RIFs).
The reader learns that there is a lot of overlap between the PDA and the FMLA. This section explains how the two Acts interact. Specifically, the PDA requires you to "treat pregnant employees in the same manner that you would treat any other temporarily disabled employees".
Some of the other issues addressed in this chapter include: fetal protection policy, reinstatement after maternity leave and terminating a pregnant employee.
This section also includes a variety of checklists such as: policy audit, pre-maternity leave audit checklist, post-maternity leave audit checklist and pregnancy leave compliance strategies checklist.
Here the reader gets help in identifying her responsibilities for a voluntary straight sick leave policy. You are also reminded that a sick leave program offered in a benefits agreement - as an oral promise, or as an established practice - may be considered a binding contract by some courts.
This section covers issues relating to military leave and jury duty leave; particularly Acts such as the Veterans´ Reemployment Rights Act (VRRA) and Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.
The point to remember is that employees who take leave of absence to fulfill military obligations must be reinstated to their original job or positions with similar status, seniority, and pay as their original job. For the Compensation Specialist, it would be helpful to know that employees who take military leave are entitled to accrue seniority and any rights or benefits based seniority that would have been attained had they remained continuously employed.
The Military Leave Q&A and Military Leave Policy Protection provide answers to any particular questions you may have.
If you are looking for guidance in establishing leave benefit policies that are not required by law - such as vacation, bereavement leave or Sabbaticals - you will find it in this section. Specifically, you will find sample policies, advice and case examples on these topics.
Many organizations are implementing PTO programs in response to problems like having to keep extensive record about the various days an employee can take off or having employees that take time off (at the end of the year) only because of a "use it or lose it policy". Through PTO, days traditionally set aside for various reasons - like vacation or sick leave - are combined in a single "bank" that employees can draw from.
Section sub-titles like Nuts and Bolts to consider; PTO and Short-term disability; PTO and leave law; and Other legal concerns indicate that in this chapter you will find the basic information needed for setting up legally sound PTO programs.
Special Features of the Report:
Figures:
I. Pregnancy Leave Compliance Audits
II. PTO Audit
You will also find the rule to remember sections to be quite helpful as they highlight the key points that emerge from the court case decisions that are important to keep in mind.
HR.COMmentary
As a Benefits and Compensation Professional, you need to make sure that your leave laws comply with the various laws so that they can stand up to the scrutiny of the courts and you can avoid legal liability.
I found this report to be clearly written. In particular, it highlights three easy steps for understanding how to ´decipher" ambiguous leave laws - Step one: learn the laws, Step two: see the laws in action, and Step three: apply the results.
If you are looking to become the "leave implementation expert" of your company, you should get your hands on Employee Leave Laws: Your rights and responsibilities. You will find a lot of valuable information in this report that can be used to create a legally defensible leave program.
About the Company:
Alexander Hamilton Publishing publishes newsletters, booklets, and loose leaf manuals targeted to top management, Human Resource directors, Personnel managers, front-line managers, and supervisors at small-to-medium sized firms.
The publications deal with all aspects of employment law and are written in a practical and easy-to-read style. You can see this at: http://www.legalworkplace.com/