The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

116 | the essential guide to family and medical leave
• Required overtime versus voluntary overtime. If an employee on intermittent
or reduced-schedule leave is unable to work mandatory overtime,
the unworked overtime hours count as FMLA leave time and reduce the
employee’s 12-week total FMLA leave entitlement by the overtime hours
not worked. However, voluntary overtime hours don’t count.
EXAMPLE: Your company requires Manny to work eight hours of overtime each
week, so his FMLA workweek is 48 hours. If Manny requests a reduced schedule of 40
hours per week, he is taking 1/6 of a workweek of FMLA leave each week.
• Special rules apply to teachers. See 29 C.F.R. § 825.601 for special rules
that apply to school employees seeking intermittent or reduced-leave
schedules.
Flexible Schedules Versus FMLA Leave
Sometimes, an employee who has a medical condition or caretaking
responsibilities might request a flexible schedule. In this situation, the
employee isn’t asking for time off work; instead, the employee wants to work
the same total number of hours, but on a different schedule than usual.
Because such an employee won’t be taking any time off, this does not count
as a request for FMLA leave.
EXAMPLE: Your employee Bud normally works a 9-to-5 workday. He has
recently requested a change in his work schedule to 11-to-7 because the
antidepressants he is taking make him groggy in the morning. Is this a request
for FMLA intermittent/reduced-schedule leave?
No, because Bud is not taking any time off and the schedule change is
not needed for medical treatment. However, keep in mind that, if Bud’s
depression is a disability, you may have to accommodate the schedule change
under the ADA. (For more information, see Chapter 11.)