The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

chapter 6 | how much leave can an employee tAke? | 117
Common Mistakes Regarding Leave Duration—
And How to Avoid Them
Mistake 1: Using inconsistent methods to measure the “leave year.”
Avoid This Mistake By:
• Making sure everyone in your company uses the same leave year method
for all employees seeking FMLA leave.
• If your company changes leave year methods, providing 60 days’ notice to
all employees before implementing the change. You must allow employees
who already started or requested leave prior to your announcement to use
whichever method of calculating the leave year is most beneficial to them.
• Applying the new method to all employees as soon as the 60-day notice
period passes.
Mistake 2: Failing to accurately count employee leave time taken.
Avoid This Mistake By:
• Calculating available FMLA leave time at the beginning of leave.
• Tracking all leave time the employee takes—not including time the
employee actually spends working, additional time off the employee
takes for your company’s convenience, and weeks during which your
company is shut down.
• Subtracting all leave time taken from the employee’s available FMLA
leave time.
Mistake 3: Failing to accurately calculate available leave time for employees
who need intermittent or reduced-schedule leave.
Avoid This Mistake By:
• Calculating available leave time based on the employee’s usual workweek.
Employees who work part time or work overtime hours are entitled to a
prorated amount of leave based on their usual hours worked.
• Keeping good records of employee work hours, including hours worked
by exempt employees.