The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave

40 | the essential guide to family and medical leave
or where work is assigned to the employee is that employee’s worksite for
FMLA purposes. This is true even if the reporting worksite is temporary and
the company’s headquarters are many miles away.
Example: You are the Human Resources Manager for Nice Catch, a company that
owns several fishing vessels operating out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Nice Catch is
headquartered in Anacortes, Washington. Nice Catch employs more than 75 workers
on its boats in Dutch Harbor and assigns crews from its small dockside office there.
In the Anacortes headquarters, Nice Catch employs 22 people. Nice Catch has never
employed more than 25 employees in the Anacortes office at one time.
Maria works on a fishing boat out of Dutch Harbor and has requested leave to care
for a baby that she and her partner are adopting. Richie is an accountant in the Anacortes
office and has to have shoulder surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff, which has
interfered with his ability to work. Assuming they meet the other eligibility requirements,
are Maria and Richie entitled to FMLA leave?
Yes and no, respectively. Because the boat crews are assigned work out of the Dutch
Harbor office, that’s their worksite for purposes of calculating FMLA eligibility—even
if their fishing boats operate hundreds of miles apart. So Maria works at a site with
more than 75 employees, and she is entitled to leave. There are only 22 employees at
Richie’s worksite, however, so he isn’t an eligible employee under the FMLA.
Step 2: Has the Employee Worked for the Company
for 12 Months?
To be eligible for FMLA leave, an employee must have worked for your
company for at least 12 months. These months need not be consecutive.
An employee who has put in a total of 12 months meets this eligibility
requirement, regardless of when the work took place.
Example: Horacio works on one of your company’s construction crews. He worked
eight months for your company last year, from the beginning of April through the
end of November, before he was laid off because of lack of work during the winter.
The company rehired Horacio on April 1. On August 1, Horacio has a heart attack
and takes several weeks off work for treatment and recovery. Has Horacio met the
12-month requirement for FMLA eligibility?