The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

chapter 1 | an overview of Family and medical leave | 5
Caution
Special rules apply to public employers and schools. The FMLA imposes
slightly different obligations on government employers and schools; we
don’t cover these rules in this book. Similarly, in unionized workplaces, the
collective bargaining agreement—the contract between the company and
the union—might impose different family and medical leave obligations.
Because every collective bargaining agreement is different, we can’t cover
them here.
Your Obligations as a Manager
The moment an employee comes to your office and says, “My wife is having
a baby,” “My mother has to have surgery,” or “I’ve been diagnosed with
cancer,” you’ll have to figure out whether the FMLA applies, provide notices
and meet other paperwork requirements, manage the employee’s time off,
and reinstate the employee according to strict rules and guidelines.
Ten Steps to FMLA Compliance
Whenever you’re faced with a leave situation that might be covered by the
FMLA, you should ask yourself the questions listed below. This checklist will
help you make sure that you meet all your legal obligations and don’t forget
anything important. Each of these topics is covered in detail in this book.
Step 1: Is your company covered by the FMLA? It is if it has had at least 50
employees for at least 20 weeks in this or the previous year. If your company
is covered, it has to post a notice and perhaps adopt a written FMLA policy,
even before an employee requests leave. Company coverage is explained in
Chapter 2.
Step 2: Is the employee covered by the FMLA? An employee who has
worked for at least a year, and at least 1,250 hours during the prior year, at
a company facility that has at least 75 employees within a 50-mile radius, is
covered. Chapter 3 explains how to make these calculations.