Leave

Should we track exempts’ sick time?

05/28/2013

Q. Our company gives eight hours of sick leave per month to nonexempt employees. We’ve been told that, under the FLSA, exempt employees are to be paid whenever they are sick. So our exempt employees have virtually an unlimited sick-leave balance. Is this a correct way to interpret the FLSA? Should we have some type of sick-leave accrual and tracking for our exempts?

Uncle Sam wants you! … to properly handle summer military duty

05/21/2013

Employees in the National Guard and Reserve usually serve their two weeks during the summer, but others may be away longer. Here’s what Payroll needs to know to properly handle summer military duty.

Disabled employee always calling in sick?

05/01/2013

Disabled employees may be entitled to some time off as an accommodation, but there are limits. If an employee is constantly absent when his disability makes it impossible to work, you may be able to discharge him. That’s because attendance can be an essential function of a job—and constantly missing work may show that the employee can’t perform that essential function.

From workers’ comp to part time: Can we reduce employee’s leave benefits?

04/25/2013

Q. We have an employee who was out on workers’ comp and has recently returned to work part time. (She is still collecting partial workers’ comp benefits.) Can we adjust her vacation and personal leave time to reflect the limited hours she’s working, or is she entitled to the full amount of days?

Unmarried employee couple is expecting: Can both take FMLA leave?

04/23/2013

Q. A while ago two of our employees developed a romantic relationship. They are now expecting a baby and both workers put in a request for family leave to bond with their newborn. Are we required to give both workers leave for the birth of their child—even if they are not married?

The case against perfect-attendance awards

04/12/2013

Many employers use perfect-attendance awards as a tool to cure their absenteeism problems. But for both legal and non-legal reasons, these may not be the right carrots. Here’s why:

Any downsides to a no-fault attendance policy?

04/11/2013

Q. We are thinking about implementing a no-fault attendance policy. We hope it will provide clearer absenteeism rules and make it easier for managers to enforce. Are there any downsides?

Expedia pays employees to take their vacations

04/05/2013

The irony wasn’t lost on execs at online travel giant Expedia when they learned that most of its employees weren’t taking all of their vacation time. So the Bellevue, Wash.-based organization started paying them to go.

Must unused ‘floating holidays’ be paid?

03/29/2013

Q. We gave eligible employees a “floating holiday” in lieu of having Dec. 31 as a paid holiday. We generally pay employees for all unused vacation, sick and personal time upon termination, but we have no policy regarding an unused floating holiday. Do we have to pay workers for any unused floating holidays upon termination?

Pregnancy problems? PDLL is minimum leave

03/20/2013

If an employee is experiencing pregnancy complications, it may not be enough to provide four months of leave under California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave Law. For practical purposes, four months is the minimum leave employers are required to provide. You may owe more time off under the California FEHA, as long as it doesn’t create an undue hardship on your business operations.