The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

chapter 9 | managing an employee’s leave | 187
No matter which option(s) you choose, you’ll probably have to undo any
changes when the employee returns to work, because you are required to
reinstate the employee when his or her leave is over. (Chapter 12 explains
these requirements in detail.) This is why it’s important that you explain to
the people who will do the employee’s job, whether they are the employee’s
coworkers or outside temps or contractors, that the situation is temporary.
You don’t want replacements believing they’ve received a promotion or
landed a permanent position with your company.
Talk to the Employee
Before you decide how to handle an employee’s workload during leave, you
should talk to the employee about it, if possible. Of course, if the employee
takes leave for a medical emergency, you may not get this opportunity. You’ll
have to patch something together quickly until you get a chance to speak
with employee and figure out how long he or she will be gone.
The employee is your best source of information about exactly what he
or she does every day, which job duties are top priorities, which coworkers
might be able to step in and handle certain tasks, and so on. The employee
also has a vested interest in making sure his or her work is handled properly
during leave. After all, nobody wants to return from leave to find a pile of
unfinished work, strained relationships with customers or clients, missed
deadlines, and other problems. Employees who take pride in their work and
value their place in the company will be eager to collaborate with you on a
strategy for a smooth transition from work to leave and back again.
But you also have to proceed with caution when talking to an employee
about handling his or her work. The FMLA prohibits you from interfering
with an employee’s right to take leave, and that includes discouraging the
employee from using the FMLA. If you pressure the employee not to take
leave, imply that the employee’s opportunities to advance might suffer if the
employee takes leave, or require the employee to work when he or she is on
leave, for example, you could run into legal trouble.