FMLA, Fair for Employees, Unfair for Companies Family Medical Leave Act has become a very important issue due to employees and Companies during the last decades. Is it fair or unfair for employees to have a job back after a serious medical situation? Or is it fair or unfair for Companies to grant this benefit to employees? It seems that the majority of people consider that is totally fair for employees to have their jobs back after this circumstance. On the other hand, companies or any job place consider that this affirmation can be denied because it affects them from a financial point of view. As a result, both cases will be properly explained and a conclusion will be made. To begin, we can define FMLA as a benefit for covered employees in a job place. What is a covered employee? These are workers that have been performing their job during a period of not less than 12 months in a work place that employs 50 or more people. According to U.S Department of Labor, FMLA involves giving a concession of up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12 month period to these employees if one of these circumstances appears performing a job: i) for the birth or care and care of a newborn child. ii) for placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption. iii) to take care of a direct family member (spouse, parent or child). iv) not able to perform the job because of a serious health condition. These workers must have their same position back or an equivalent having: the same benefits, salary, status and all the conditions previous to the leave. Also during the time the person is not working he/she i... ... middle of paper ... ...of view, both sides of the discussion can be seen as correct but I certainly believe that Companies are dependent on their employees and vice versa, therefore FMLA is a benefit that must have an important position in a job place. In other words, employees will always use this benefit because at any time of their lives, these people will need it. I consider FMLA totally fair for people in a serious health situation but I must mention that U.S Department of Labor require a complete study of different cases around the country to determine what changes need to be done in order to give the Companies their rights. As I mentioned above, if certain regulations and interpretations that are not well defined are corrected in the future, employees will know when to use FMLA and Companies will know when to grant this Benefit and the result will be having this dispute finished.
A parent is allowed leave for the birth of a child and care of a newborn. The entitlement to FMLA/DPL leave expires twelve months after the birth of the child. Intermittent/reduced schedule leave may not be taken for the birth of a child unless approved by the department head.
A back up plan such as cross training other employees will be beneficial. When an employee is out for 12 weeks, it can slow down productivity and causes profit losses for the company due to lack of replacement. Here is an example of a negative impact of FMLA. There are 3 nurses in the ER that are pregnant. From day-to-day, there is a shortage of staff that occurs on the unit. The nurses that are pregnant will be on maternity leave at least 2 months apart. The best thing that management and HR should do is to hire at least 3 per-diem nurses to fill in. What you do not want to happen is the rest of the staff to become overwhelm because of staffing issues. A situation as such does not help the morale of the staff, and customer satisfaction will be at a higher
In response to the increasing need for employees to balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of families, Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act. Without a policy like FMLA in place, many employees often would have had to choose between “the job they need and the family they love” (Hayes). The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is the first national law created to help Americans balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of the family. It successfully helps bridge the gap between family and work and secures the right for both men and women to get unpaid leave and assistance when dealing with family related circumstances.
Overall the Family and Medical Leave Act has raised many issues on whether leave should be encourage and/or paid for by the employers. As of today, no haven policy has been enacted to tackle the challenges surrounding this issue, but positive steps have been taken and one day there will be no question that hard working employees will get the rights they
The purpose of this paper is to analyze a specific, hypothetical employment situation encountered and to include the information regarding employment conflicts, questions, grievances, lawsuits, etc., in terms of how the situation was handled or resolved. Employment conflicts are a constant issue everyday in any organization; it is how you handle them both legally and professionally that counts.
The Fair Labor Standards Act The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was passed by Congress on June 25th, 1938. The main objective of the act was to eliminate “labor conditions detrimental to the maintenance of the minimum standards of living necessary for health, efficiency and well-being of workers,”[1] who engaged directly or indirectly in interstate commerce, including those involved in production of goods bound for such commerce. A major provision of the act established a maximum work week and minimum wage. Initially, the minimum wage was $0.25 per hour, along with a maximum workweek of 44 hours for the first year, 42 for the second year and 40 thereafter. Minimum wages of $0.25 per hour were established for the first year, $0.30 for the second year, and $0.40 over a period of the next six years.
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave and job protection for childbirth, adoption or foster care; to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, or parent; or for an employee’s own serious illness (Cañas & Sondak, 2011). It also requires that their group health benefits remain intact during the unpaid leave of absence. The employee must have worked for the employer for at least a year and must have earned 1,250 hours of service during the previous 12 months ((Cañas & Sondak, 2011, pg. 70).
The FMLA was passed to help families in the time of a crisis so that the individuals would not have to choose between work and personal responsibilities. The eligible employees are permitted to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. The leave can last up to twelve workweeks in any twelve-month period. Reasons for leave include: pregnancy, prenatal complications, adoption/ fostering of a child, hospitalization, care of an immediate family member, or a health condition that makes the employee unable to do his or her job (Solis). This law applies to any employer “engaging in commerce” ...
...mployees for longer periods of time. These benefits give certain assurances for both the employee as well as the employer, therefore should remain the obligation of both the individual and the business providing them.
“The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was created in 1938 to establish a minimum wage and a limit on the number of hours which may be worked in a standard work week. It also provides standards for equal pay, overtime pay, record keeping, and child labor.” This law was created during a time period of great financial and political turmoil.
The Family and Medical Aid Act (FLMA), of 1993, provides for 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave for certain specified events (8). Whilst one could refer to this as maternity or paternity leave if taken because of a pregnancy, this would not be strictly true. Where maternity and paternity leave are offered around the world, they are separate from any other leave due to medical or family reasons. The leave in the U.S. provided through the FLMA is also, as mentioned, unpaid. This creates a number of issues for the expectant family as, regardless of their job being safe for the time taken off, without the income it may be harder to look after the new born child as a couple of unpaid parents, than one parent not taking leave, or neither taking leave and relying on relatives to care for the child as much as possible.
This section of the paper will outline the services and benefits provided by Employment Insurance (EI). The policy’s main objective is to provide temporary income assistance for citizens unemployed through no fault of their own. Benefits are also provided to individuals unable to work due to illness, child rearing or providing care for a fatally ...
While the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act theoretically guarantees all workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a new child or sick family member, it applies only to businesses with more than 50 employees, only covers workers that have been with their employer for at least one year, and doesn’t extend to part-time workers. These exemptions are significant; they ensure that just over half of American workers and less than a fifth of all new mothers are actually covered by FMLA. And they disproportionately affect low-income workers, who are more likely to work for small businesses, change employers frequently, and piece together multiple part-time
The article for “Shirking: the War on Hooky” explained the difficult decision that a managers have to face with they coworkers abuse of absenteeism at work. Also the article evaluate how it causing companies billions of dollars when employees are taking advantage of the sick day policy and it decrease the productivity of the company workforce. The keys questions we have to keep in mind is sick day is generated from absenteeism, also it is part of any new or old employee orientation benefit package when they start working for an employer? The paper will describe different approached manager can used to reduce absenteeism among they coworkers. In how Human Resource should work with the managers to put in place a strong sick policy that represent the company needed and objective.
Schliwen, A., Earle, A., Hayes, J. and Heymann, S., 2011. The administration and financing of paid sick leave. International Labour Review, 150 (1-2), pp. 43-62.