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[Guest]

[Guest jfgc]

Our company has short term disability for 26 weeks and then long term disability is available. How do companies integrate FMLA? For example, an employee goes out on maternity and files for short term disability. When would FMLA begin? Also, if you discover that an employee is out on leave, how long do you have to notify them of their FMLA rights?

[Guest EmmaJayne]

jfgc, our company chooses to run its Disability concurrent with FMLA. So, for example (say its a maternity leave) if the employee goes out on leave 2 weeks prior to the birth their STD and FMLA clocks start ticking. They are out 2 weeks (receive one week of sick pay - disability kicks in on the 8th day) they have the baby - they then get 6 or 8 weeks after the birth (they are now up to 8 or 10 weeks of FMLA so technically under FMLA - we as a company only have to provide them with 2 more weeks of leave. (paid or unpaid). I'll quote my boss as she always says, "We can always be MORE gernerous than the law - but we are required to follow it". And she is right - we could give the employee more unpaid time off if we felt the business could handle it however are not required to do so. Hope this helps.

[KIP KRAUS]

Q&A Section 825.208 essentialy says that an employer has two business days to notify an employee that he is on FMLA upon rceiving knowledge that the employee's leave should be designated as FMLA leave.