The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

110 | the essential guide to family and medical leave
Lessons from the
Real World
An employee who cannot perform the job’s
essential functions is not entitled to intermittent
leave or reinstatement.
Minnie Hatchett worked as a business manager for Philander Smith College.
A skylight fell on her head, injuring her to such a degree that she couldn’t
perform certain essential functions of her job. She asked permission to
continue working part time, but the college refused the request and told her
she had to go on full-time leave. At the end of her FMLA leave, Hatchett still
could not perform all the essential functions of her job, so the college offered
her some alternative positions. She rejected them, so the college terminated
her employment. Hatchett sued the college for violating the FMLA.
The court sided with the college, finding that an employee who cannot
perform the essential functions of her job is not entitled to reduced leave
schedule or reinstatement under the FMLA.
Hatchett v. Philander Smith Coll., 251 F.3d 670 (8 th Cir. 2001).
Applying the 1,250-Hour Eligibility Requirement
An employee on intermittent or reduced scheduled leave doesn’t become
ineligible for FMLA leave if, because of the FMLA-protected schedule, his or
her hours drop below the 1,250-hour requirement. As long as the employee
worked 1,250 hours in 12 months at the time of initially requesting the
intermittent or reduced-schedule leave, the employee’s leave is protected for
absences relating to the original condition requiring intermittent leave.
However, the employee must meet the 1,250-hour test at the start of
each FMLA leave year. Once the employee has used up the 12-week leave
entitlement, you will need to recalculate the employee’s leave eligibility as
of the next request for leave. When making this calculation, the employee’s
leave time does not count as hours worked.