FMLA Requirements

Are You Keeping Pace with Developments in Leave Management?

admin — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 20:38:49 +0000

Are You Keeping Pace with Developments in Leave Management?

Mon, 02/17/2020 - 14:30

admin Tue, 10/17/2017 - 15:38

Let’s face it. Managing employee leave isn’t the most glamorous aspect of HR or workforce management. But it’s certainly among the most challenging. The legal and regulatory backdrop to leave management is complex, and it varies based on factors that range from where you do business to the size of your company. You feel as if the rules are ever-changing. It’s like doing business in an amusement park fun house; it’s a challenge to keep your footing, hard to know if what you’re seeing is real, and difficult to get a firm hold on the rail to help lead you through the maze.

But you need to stay up to date with recent developments in leave management and have a system in place to act on those changes if you want to reduce the risk of mistakes and lower the potential for penalties, fines, and litigation.

Here, for example, are the top 10 developments and trends in employee leave identified earlier this year by the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC).

1. Proliferation of State and Local Paid Sick Leave Laws
The patchwork of state laws that require employers to offer paid sick leave continues to grow; Arizona was added this year and Washington will be added to the list in 2018. In addition, at least 33 counties and cities also require employers doing business within their boundaries to offer paid sick leave, or do so by the end of 2017.

2. New Paid Sick Leave Requirements for Federal Contractors
Effective Jan. 1, 2017, employers were required to offer paid sick leave to employees working on certain federal contracts. Determining which employees are covered, how to track sick leave accruals, and how to reconcile the rule with state and local paid sick leave laws will be a challenge for many federal contractors.

3. Continuing Efforts to Implement Paid Parental Leave
The State of New York last year said that in 2018, certain employers must offer up to 12 weeks of paid time annually for an employee to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill family member, or address military family needs. San Francisco later became the first municipality with a similar ordinance. Three states, meanwhile provide workers with partial pay during parental leave.

4. EEOC’s Enforcement Focus on Inflexible Leave Policies
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s five-year Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) for 2017–2021 reaffirmed the agency’s enforcement priority on compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Almost one-third of EEOC’s lawsuits in 2016 included claims for disability discrimination, resulting in multimillion-dollar settlements in some cases, according to the ACC.

5. Litigation Trap Created by Intersection of FMLA and ADA
Much ADA litigation centers on the alleged failure of employers to consider leave as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. According to the ACC, “employee handbooks that lack policies describing the accommodation process or that limit available medical leave to that afforded by the FMLA can raise red flags.”

6. EEOC’s Enforcement Focus on Accommodating Pregnant Employees
Federal agencies are more aggressively acting against employers they claim require pregnant employees to take leave when other accommodations might allow them to continue working. The ACC notes that the EEOC and Justice Department have particularly targeted policies that offer light-duty assignments to temporarily disabled employees but not to pregnant employees.

7. Rise of ADA Interference Litigation
The EEOC’s August 2016 Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues suggested the agency would more aggressively pursue claims for interference with ADA rights. Apparently, conduct that would not be “materially adverse” for retaliation purposes may still be actionable as interference; non-disabled individuals can invoke protection under the statute’s non-interference provision.

8. Efforts to Control FMLA Abuse
The ACC says a growing body of case law supports an employer’s right to discipline employees based on the employer’s “honest belief” after a “reasonable investigation” that an employee engaged in FMLA abuse or fraud. Questions remain around precisely what constitutes a reasonable investigation or what is a legitimate reason for FMLA leave.

9. Heightened Importance of Regular Policy Review
Considering trends 1 through 8 above, employers need to review their leave policies and procedures every year. In addition to achieving legal compliance, annual reviews should ensure consistency among policies governing leave, accommodation, paid time off, attendance, and disability.

10. Leave as Accommodation to Care for Disabled Family Members
In 2016, a California court ruled that an employer who denied a non-disabled employee’s request for leave to care for a disabled family member may have violated California law. The California Supreme Court refused to review the case, so the decision was binding. The ACC commented, “Importantly, a similar ADA provision prohibits discrimination based on an employee’s association with a disabled person.”

An automated, cloud-based leave management solution is the only way to keep up with trends and developments affecting employee leave and any employer’s responsibilities. LeaveXpert^® from Optis makes it easier than ever to find the right leave management system for your organization’s needs.

With three editions, LeaveXpert and its built-in FMLA software can help your company get a handle on leave management. Learn how with just a couple of clicks, you can have efficient absence management at your fingertips. Start managing your people data in the cloud today. Contact Optis now.

Curbing Intermittent Leave Abuse to Reduce Costly Oversights

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 16:42:35 +0000

Curbing Intermittent Leave Abuse to Reduce Costly Oversights

Mon, 01/18/2021 - 11:00

admin Wed, 01/18/2017 - 10:42

Sick days happen. And when they do, employees need to be able to have the time they need to care for their health. It is, of course, in your best interest and theirs to allow employees adequate time. You want to ensure that your employees are healthy, happy, and operating at full capacity for the benefit of your company. But you also need to comply with FMLA requirements.

However, when employees take leave in small chunks, these sick days can take a toll on your company. While leave is important and required by the FMLA, you need to be sure that your efficiency and bottom line don’t suffer.

Does your company have the right systems and policies in place to minimize the cost of intermittent leave? The Society for Human Resource Management suggests several ways to curb leave abuse and reduce costly oversight. But implementing these best practices is a lot easier and more likely to be successful when you have an online leave management system to help you. Here are five ways leave management software can help you reduce leave policy abuse:

Tracking intermittent leave

By accurately tracking your employees’ leave — logging the type of leave, reason, specific times, doctor’s notes, etc. — you can discover any patterns or suspicious behavior. For example, tracking might allow you to realize that a certain employee often takes leave on Fridays, leading you to speak with the employee and figure out why this is happening and if their reasons are legitimate. With an online leave management system, all requests will be automatically logged and available for easy access, so you can quickly review and compare.
Having written requests and responses

While FMLA guidelines allow for verbal leave requests, the best way to minimize confusion, miscommunication, and dishonesty is to ask employees to submit written requests and obtain written approvals. An automated system with an employee self-service portal makes it easy to complete written leave requests and responses online, capturing and storing all the details you need to make sure your employees and managers are on the same page.
Requiring and collecting medical certifications

One of the best ways to curb leave abuse is to require medical certifications. By asking doctors for detailed instructions for the employee’s duties and stop and start times, you will be able to determine eligibility and accurately plan for the employee’s time away. Rather than trying to organize all these medical certifications on your own, a leave management software system will effortlessly track and store the certification requirements and receipts in one place for your easy review.
Helping employees return to work successfully

The last thing you want is an employee returning to work before they’re ready, causing low productivity or extended leave time. The ability to track their return-to-work details with leave management software will allow you to set requirements for fitness-for-duty exams and manage accommodation requests. You’ll be able to know with confidence exactly when and in what capacity your employees will be returning to work.
Combining FMLA and short-term disability forms

Sometimes FMLA leave and short-term disability payments overlap, and when they do, combining the two forms can save time and money for you and your employee. Rather than having the physician fill out two forms and charge fees for both, provide a single form to increase efficiency. The right leave management system will also be able to integrate with short-term disability claims and keep all needed information relating to leave management readily available.

Disorganized, time-consuming leave management can be a liability for your company and a burden for you, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s time to consider an online leave management system to reduce leave abuse and minimize costs. Optis’ cloud-based leave management system, LeaveXpert®, will help you strengthen your leave management processes, so you can monitor employee leave with accuracy and efficiency.

It’s easier than ever to get a handle on leave management. In addition to the tips above, Optis LeaveXpert and its built-in FMLA software provide the ability to do custom reporting, manage workflow tasks, track employee demographic data, and more. With three different editions, LeaveXpert works to help organizations of all sizes see bottom-line business results through effective leave and absence management. Start your free 30-day trial today!

Want to Meet Up?

admin — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 21:50:41 +0000

Want to Meet Up?

Fri, 09/21/2012 - 21:45

admin Mon, 09/24/2012 - 16:50

OCI has an exciting fall ahead of us with a lot of HR events on our calendar. We'll be traveling to several states to discuss leave management, FMLA tracking, RTW practices, and absence reporting with HR professionals across the U.S.! Please stop by our booth at one of the conferences below and ask about LeaveXpert - the essential leave management system. [NAPEO](http://www.napeo.org/pem12/index.cfm) October 1-3, 2012 Scottdale, AZ **Booth #92** [HR Tech](http://www.hrtechnologyconference.com/) October 7-9, 2012 Chicago, IL **Booth #100** [MI SHRM State Conference](http://www.mishrm.org/template.php?pid=53http://) October 10-12, 2012 Novi, MI [HR Southwest](http://www.hrsouthwest.com/) Fort Worth, TX October 14-16, 2012 **Booth #400** [Sign up today](/contact) to schedule a meeting or LeaveXpert demo!