FMLA Employee Checklist - Lincoln Financial Group

Employee Checklist for Family and
Medical Leave (FMLA)
Plan administered by: Lincoln Financial Group & Reed Group: 800-680-4652
You are responsible for managing your request for a leave under the Family & Medical
Leave Act (FMLA). This includes following up to make sure any required documentation is
provided to the Reed Group on time. It also means keeping your supervisor informed
about your absence and eventual return to work.
Request for FMLA Leave
Review the FMLA information posted on HRDirect to determine whether you are eligible
for FMLA and whether your situation might qualify as an FMLA leave.
Advise your immediate supervisor of your intent to take FMLA leave. If possible, notify
your supervisor 30 days prior to your intended leave. If 30-day advance notice isn’t
possible, notify your supervisor as soon you know you need FMLA leave.
Call 800-680-4652, 30 days prior to your intended leave, or as soon you know you need
FMLA leave. You will be connected to Reed Group, the administrator for Lincoln Financial
Group FMLA leaves.
Reed Group is responsible for administering your FMLA leave. If you have a concurrent
Short Term Disability (STD) claim, the Group Protection area of Lincoln Financial is
responsible for administering your STD claim. Reed Group and Lincoln Financial share
certain information as necessary to eliminate duplicate requests for information, thereby
streamlining the process for you. Reed Group will send you a packet outlining your rights
under FMLA. Reed Group will also notify your supervisor via email of your FMLA leave
request.
If you have a concurrent STD claim and FMLA leave, Group Protection will contact
you if additional information is required for your STD/FMLA claim. Reed Group will also
fax the STD forms to your physician.
If you do not have a concurrent STD claim, the Reed Group will mail FMLA forms to
you that your physician must complete.
Complete and return the required paperwork to the requestor (either Reed Group or
Group Protection) within 15 business days. Failure to return the forms within 15 business
days may result in your FMLA leave being denied in which case your absences may be
addressed under the company’s corrective action policy. Within five business days of
receipt of the required documentation, the Reed Group will send you a letter indicating
whether your leave was approved. A copy will be sent to your supervisor.
FMLA Approved
If your leave is approved, the letter will indicate your FMLA start and end dates, as well
as the return to work date.
For LFG internal use only.
1

Inform the Leaves Coordinator of your intent to apply any unearned Paid Time Off (PTO)
toward your leave time. The Leaves Coordinator will update HRDirect and Payroll during
an approved leave.
Note: Keep in mind that your earned, unused PTO must be used first and will be applied
toward your leave time. However, if your FMLA leave is for adoption or paternity, PTO will
be applied after your adoption or paternity leave time (up to three weeks at regular pay)
has been applied.
Call your supervisor to advise him or her that your FMLA leave has been approved.
FMLA Denied
If your FMLA leave is denied, contact your supervisor and HR Representative about
returning to work.
Extension of FMLA Leave
Contact Reed Group at 800-680-4652 as soon as you know you need more leave time.
At the same time, you must also notify your supervisor that you are applying for extension
of FMLA leave. Contact the Reed Group is not a substitute for notifying your supervisor.
Reed Group will notify you and your supervisor if the extension of FMLA is approved, and
a new expected return to work date will be given.
Intermittent FMLA Leave
If you are approved for intermittent leave, Reed Group will approve intermittent leave for a
specific period of time.
Inform Reed Group of each intermittent leave usage no later than 2 days after you have
taken the leave and specify the amount of leave time taken. Reed Group will send official
notice to your manager via e-mail of the leave time taken.
Separate and apart from your obligation to notify the Reed Group, if you have advanced
notice of an absence covered under your intermittent FMLA approval, you have an
obligation to provide your manager with as much advanced notice as possible. If you do
not have advanced notice of an absence, you must notify your manager prior to missing
any working time, unless you are physically unable to do so. (For example, you must
notify your manager prior to the start of your working hours if you will be absent from or
late to work and/or prior to leaving work if your condition requires you to leave work
early.) It is permissible under FMLA for your Manager to ask the reason for your FMLArelated
absence.
You must enter the FMLA leave time taken as PTO in the time system. If you have no
earned PTO remaining, contact the Leaves Coordinator (leavescoordinator@lfg.com) for
assistance with coding.
For LFG internal use only.
2

Return to Work
Notify your supervisor and Reed Group, 3 to 5 days before your FMLA end date, of your
intent to return to work on the specified date.
In order to begin regular pay following your return to work from FMLA, you must complete
the Return to Work form and send it to the Leaves Coordinator. If the form is received
after the payroll cutoff date, you may receive the appropriate pay on the following payday.
Failure to complete this form will cause your pay to be stopped at the end of the
certified FMLA period.
If you are returning to work earlier than your authorized return date, contact your
supervisor and the Reed Group of your early return date at 800-680-4652.
If you are on STD and return to work earlier than the authorized date, contact Group
Protection at 800-680-4652 to inform them of the date of release and ensure that they
receive the physician’s release slip with the new date of release date. If there is no
physician’s release slip, your supervisor may send you home and ask you to obtain a
work release from your physician.
For LFG internal use only.
3