FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE LAWS Presented by Susan Thorne & - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE LAWS Presented by Susan Thorne & - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Aug 26, 2023 590 likes •1.04k views

FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE LAWS Presented by Susan Thorne & Melinda Faber December 9, 2019 Employee Leave of Absence: Pop Quiz #1 Janet, a full time Occupational Therapist, is released from her maternity leave. She then requests to

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FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE LAWS

Presented by Susan Thorne & Melinda Faber December 9, 2019

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Employee Leave of Absence: Pop Quiz #1

  • Janet, a full time Occupational Therapist,

is released from her maternity leave.

  • She then requests to utilize her full

bonding leave entitlement.

  • Her employer says she can only take a

maximum of 4 weeks of bonding because she utilized 8 weeks of FMLA, and is only entitled to a combined 12 weeks. Do you: □ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Disagree □ Strongly Disagree

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Employee Leave of Absence: Pop Quiz #2

  • An eligible male Deaf and Hard of

Hearing Interpreter requests child bonding leave, but the district does not have a qualified substitute.

  • The district must grant the leave.

Do you: □ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Disagree □ Strongly Disagree

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Employee Leave of Absence

FMLA/CFRA

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What is FMLA and CFRA?

The Family and Medical Leave Act is a federal law, and the California Family Rights Act is a state law that allows employees to take leave for the following reasons:

  • Employee’s own serious health condition
  • Birth and care of a child; bonding (CFRA)
  • Placement of a child for adoption or

foster care

  • Care of a spouse, child or parent with a

serious health condition (29 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq.; Gov. Code, § 12945.2.)

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What additional leave does FMLA provide?

FMLA provides for additional leave entitlements including:

  • To attend to a qualifying exigency arising

from the fact an employee’s covered military family member is being deployed to a foreign country on covered active duty.

  • To care for a family member injured in the

line of duty in active military service (26 weeks in a 12 month period). (29 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq.; Gov. Code, § 12945.2.)

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Who must comply with FMLA/CFRA ?

  • Employers who employ at least 50

employees within 75 miles of that worksite. (29 C.F.R. § 825.110(a); Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 11087(d).)

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How does an employee qualify for FMLA/CFRA?

  • Must be employed for at least 12 months
  • Worked at least 1250 hours during the 12

month period immediately preceding the date leave is to begin (29 C.F.R. § 825.110(a); Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, § 11087(d).)

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What is a Serious Health Condition?

“Serious Health Condition”: An illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves:

  • Inpatient care (e.g., an overnight stay) or
  • Continuing treatment by a health care

provider

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Examples

  • f serious

health conditions include:

  • Heart attacks or heart conditions

requiring bypass surgery

  • Most cancers
  • Back conditions requiring extensive

therapy or surgery

  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Pneumonia

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What does FMLA/CFRA guarantee?

  • 12 workweeks of unpaid leave in a 12

month period.

  • Continued employer paid health coverage

as if the employee was actively working; any portion of employee paid premiums must continue to be paid by the employee.

  • Reinstatement to the same or an

equivalent position. (29 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq.; Gov. Code, § 12945.2.

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When should an employer be notified?

  • When leave is foreseeable, an employer

may require at least 30 days notice (e.g., planned medical treatment or birth of child).

  • Otherwise, notice must be given to the

employer “as soon as practicable.”

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FMLA/CFRA

  • Note: Employees need not expressly

request family medical leave in order to trigger the employer’s duty to provide written information regarding such leave; employees need only provide a qualifying reason for the requested leave.

  • Employers may require medical

certification of a serious health condition before granting an employee’s request for FMLA/CFRA leave.

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FMLA/CFRA

FMLA and CFRA leaves run concurrently except for:

  • Pregnancy-related disabilities
  • Care for registered domestic partner with

a serious health condition (CFRA only)

  • Qualifying exigency
  • Care for an injured service member

beyond 12 weeks

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Employee Leave Scenario #1

  • Sarah is taken off work 6 weeks

prior to the birth of her child, who she delivers by cesarean.

  • Her doctor releases her 10 weeks

post birth. She then elects to utilize her full bonding entitlement.

  • How much leave is her employer
  • bligated to grant her?

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Questions?

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Employee Leave

  • f Absence

Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) California Pregnancy Disability Leave CFRA

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Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL)

  • PDL, also known as maternity leave, is for

a period of up to 4 months (usually 6 to 8 weeks).

  • Continued health coverage depends on

whether the employer maintains coverage during other disability leaves.

  • Pregnancy disability must be treated the

same as all other disabilities.

  • Guarantees reinstatement to the same or

comparable position (Gov. Code, § 12945, subd. (b)(2); Ed. Code, §§ 45965 and 45193.)

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California Pregnancy Disability Leave:

  • Leave runs concurrently with FMLA (3

months/12 weeks), but not CFRA

  • Total FMLA/PDL = up to 4 months
  • Employees are entitled to use sick leave

for pregnancy-related disabilities (Gov. Code, § 12945, subd. (b)(2); Ed. Code, §§ 45965 and 45193.)

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CFRA:

CFRA – Leave for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child:

  • CFRA provides an additional 12 weeks of

leave for purposes of bonding:

  • Runs consecutively with FMLA after PDL
  • (See exceptions on slide 14)

(Gov. Code, § 12945.2.)

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Employee Leave

  • f Absence

FMLA Leave Tracking

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FMLA Leave Tracking:

  • SDCOE utilizes the eFMLA program to

track FMLA leave and generate FMLA correspondences.

  • eFMLA document capabilities include:

cover letter, eligibility notices, return to work/fitness for duty, designation notice and health condition forms.

  • Tracking capabilities: running count of

weeks utilized coupled with individual event tracking.

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Employee Leave

  • f Absence

Leave Compensation

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Charter School Specifics:

  • Please consult legal counsel on applicable

Ed Code provisions and CA labor law.

  • Some provisions may not be applicable to

Charter Schools e.g. (The California Charter Schools Act) Education Code Other Regulations Section 45965 29 U.S.C. § 2601 Section 45193

  • Gov. Code, § 12945.2

Section 44983 29 C.F.R. § 825.110(a) Section 45196

  • Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, §

11087(d) Section 44984 Gov. Code, § 12945, subd. (b)(2) Section 45192

24 Slides represent SDCOE practices. Please consult legal for your specific conditions.

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Full Paid Sick Leave:

  • Employees are entitled to use their full

paid sick leave.

  • Employees may begin using this leave

immediately.

25 Slides represent SDCOE practices. Please consult legal for your specific conditions.

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Reduced Pay:

  • Employees may also use differential leave

(at least 50% pay), of which they are provided 100 days (up to 5 months) per school year.

  • Certificated employees may use the

balance of their differential in a subsequent school year (after the exhaustion of their new bank of full paid sick leave) if the school year ends before the 5 month period.

  • Classified employees are entitled to

receive a new 100 day entitlement for use (after the exhaustion of their new bank of full paid sick leave) in the new school year. Certificated: Ed. Code Section 44983 Classified: Ed. Code Section 45196

26 Slides represent SDCOE practices. Please consult legal for your specific conditions.

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Employee Leave of Absence: Pop Quiz #3

  • Paul is injured at work and files a

workers’ compensation claim.

  • The doctor takes him off work for 4

weeks to recover.

  • The claim is ultimately accepted by

the carrier.

  • His employer requires him to use

his sick leave during his recovery. Do you: □ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Disagree □ Strongly Disagree

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Industrial Accident and Illness Leave:

  • Employees receive 60 days of industrial

accident leave per accepted claim.

  • This leave does not accumulate and

begins on the first day of absence.

  • When an industrial accident or illness

leave overlaps into the next fiscal year, the employee shall be entitled to only the amount of unused 60-day leave entitlement due him/her for the same illness or injury. This applies to both certificated and classified employees. Certificated: Ed. Code Section 44984 Classified: Ed. Code Section 45192

28 Slides represent SDCOE practices. Please consult legal for your specific conditions.

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Paid Family Leave (PFL):

What is PFL and which employees qualify?

  • The California Paid Family Leave (PFL)

program allows qualifying employees to be paid a portion of their salary while on another leave, such as FMLA or CFRA, which would result in a loss of pay. Qualifying employees must pay into State Disability Insurance (SDI). School district and County Office employees do not qualify for PFL because they do not pay into SDI.

  • Please consult your legal team to

determine if your employees qualify for PFL.

29 Slides represent SDCOE practices. Please consult legal for your specific conditions.

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Employee Leave Scenario #2

  • Joel has been off work for 4 weeks

due to a work injury.

  • The claim has been accepted by

the carrier, and his physician has cleared him to return to work. However, his clearance includes restrictions that cannot be accommodated.

  • How should his eligible leave be

applied?

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Questions?

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Contact Information

Susan Thorne (Employee Benefits Technician) sgthorne@sdcoe.net Melinda Faber (HR Technician I) melinda.faber@sdcoe.net

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Pop Quiz & Leave Scenario Answers

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Employee Leave of Absence: Pop Quiz #1

  • Janet, a full time Occupational Therapist,

is released from her maternity leave.

  • She then requests to utilize her full

bonding leave entitlement.

  • Her employer says she can only take a

maximum of 4 weeks of bonding because she utilized 8 weeks of FMLA, and is only entitled to a combined 12 weeks. Do you: □ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Disagree □ Strongly Disagree

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Pop Quiz #1 Answer

STRONGLY DISAGREE

  • Janet would be entitled to utilize

her full 12 week entitlement AFTER she is released from her maternity leave by her doctor. FMLA and CFRA do not run concurrent involving a pregnancy- related disability.

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Employee Leave of Absence: Pop Quiz #2

  • An eligible male Deaf and Hard of

Hearing Interpreter requests child bonding leave, but the district does not have a qualified substitute.

  • The district must grant the leave.

Do you: □ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Disagree □ Strongly Disagree

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Pop Quiz #2 Answer

STRONGLY AGREE

  • An employer MAY NOT deny a

request for family leave because it is inconvenient or will be disruptive to operations. This includes requests for intermittent leave or for a part-time work schedule.

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Employee Leave of Absence: Pop Quiz #3

  • Paul is injured at work and files a

workers’ compensation claim.

  • The doctor takes him off work for 4

weeks to recover.

  • The claim is ultimately accepted by

the carrier.

  • His employer requires him to use

his sick leave during his recovery. Do you: □ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Disagree □ Strongly Disagree

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Pop Quiz #3 Answer

STRONGLY DISAGREE

  • SDCOE employees are required to

utilize their sick leave only until a determination has been made on their workers’ compensation

  • claim. Once the claim is accepted,

any sick leave used due to the work injury will be credited back to the employee leave bank. Industrial accident leave will then be utilized.

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Employee Leave Scenario #1

  • Sarah is taken off work six (6)

weeks prior to the birth of her child, who she delivers by cesarean.

  • Her doctor releases her ten (10)

weeks post birth. She then elects to utilize her full bonding entitlement.

  • How much leave is her employer
  • bligated to grant her?

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Leave Scenario #1 Answer

Sarah is entitled to a total of twenty eight (28) weeks of protected leave.

  • She will first utilize her maximum

sixteen (16) weeks (four (4) months) of Pregnancy Disability Leave.

  • She will then utilize her full twelve

(12) week bonding leave entitlement.

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Employee Leave Scenario #2

  • Joel has been off work for four (4)

weeks due to a work injury.

  • The claim has been accepted by

the carrier, and his physician has cleared him to return to work. However, his clearance includes restrictions that cannot be accommodated.

  • How should his eligible leave be

applied?

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Leave Scenario #2 Answer

Assuming Joel is continuously not cleared to return to work, the following leaves will exhaust:

  • 60 days of Industrial Accident leave
  • His entire full paid sick leave balance
  • 100 instances of half paid sick leave
  • He may then apply for an unpaid

personal leave of absence

  • If he continues to be unable to return

to work after the exhaustion of all available paid and unpaid leave, he will be placed on a 39 month re- employment list.

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