calculating time and fmla regulations
DESCRIPTION
FMLA regulations give companies great latitude in how they calculate time for FMLA eligibility. Once chosen, it must be equally applied to every situationTRANSCRIPT
Calculating time and FMLA regulations
Weekly and yearly calculations under FMLA guidelines
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Time Calculations are at the core of FMLA regulations
• FMLA leave is 12 weeks per year
• FMLA eligibility and time calculations– 12 months of service with the company in the
last 7 years– 1250 hours of service to the company(both paid
and unpaid) in the past 12 months
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FMLA RegulationsYearly Time Calculations
Fixed 12 months
• The calendar year for FMLA leave is measured as 365 days from the start of work/employee anniversary or defined date
• If the employee started work on 11-01-2009, one fixed 12 month year would be up on 11-01-2010
• The Federal government would count a year from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010
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FMLA RegulationsYearly Time Calculations
Calendar Year
• Calendar year for FMLA leave is measured as January 1 to December 31
• Most US companies use this as their fiscal calendar
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FMLA RegulationsYearly Time Calculations
“ Measured Forward”
• FMLA leave in “measured forward calculations” starts from the date an employee first uses FMLA leave.
• If an employee starts FMLA leave on 6-1-09, the company would see if the employee had worked for 1,250 hours and 12 months in the past 7 years prior to 6-1-09
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FMLA RegulationsYearly Time Calculations“ Measured Backward”
• Measures the FMLA eligibility year from the date the returns from FMLA leave
• Example: an employee comes back from FMLA leave on 6-1-09 and they used up their 12 weeks of leave, now they have to work up to 6-1-10 before they're entitled to another 12 weeks of FMLA leave.
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Be consistent and equal
• Employers can use any of the four methods
• Employers must use the same method for all employees and it must be applied uniformly and consistently
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What time counts and what doesn’t count in FMLA regulations
• Holidays are included in the yearly calculation• Long-term shut downs don’t count for the 1 year
eligibility calculation or for the 12 weeks of leave– A pool that shuts down from October 1 to April 1
would not have to count the 6 months closure towards the 1 year eligibility calculation
– The time between October 1 to April 1 would also not count towards the employee’s 12 weeks of FMLA leave
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How many hours in a week for each of the 12 weeks of FMLA leave?
• Determine the gross number of hours worked in the previous 12 months
• Divide the total number of hours by 52 weeks• The answer will give you the number of hours of
FMLA leave per week• Example: 2500 hours worked per year divided by
52 weeks equals 48 hours of FMLA leave per week
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How to count hours worked?
• Paid and unpaid hours worked count towards the 1,250 hours
• The hours have to be in the service of the company– Vacation and holiday hours counts– Military service counts under FMLA regulations– Discipline/Suspension time does not count– Unpaid time counts(i.e. show up 15 minutes early to
make coffee and open office four days per week equals 1 hour per week and 52 extra hours per year)
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