Intermittent FMLA & CA

[Guest Greta]

An employee approached me regarding an issue. I have very little to go on, so bear with me. Her sister is a manager in CA and one of her employees is taking intermittent FML to care for a sick parent. It sounds like most of these leaves are taking his parent to the doctor. However, he comes and goes as he pleases due to this leave and won't let the manager know his schedule. The manager has talked to the HR dept but she has received very little information or help from them. The CFR states:

Employees needing intermittent FMLA leave or leave on a reduced leave schedule must attempt to schedule their leave so as not to disrupt the employer's operations.

I wanted to know if I'm interpretting this incorrectly or if CA interpreted this another way. They seem to be more generous when it comes to adjusting laws.

Thanks for any insight! Greta

[Harwood]

http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/Statutes/cfraNotification.asp

"An employee must give advance notice if he/she wants to take a CFRA leave

An employee shall provide at least verbal notice sufficient to make the employer aware the employee needs CFRA qualifying leave. The notice shall state the reason for the leave and its anticipated timing and duration. An employer may require 30 days advance notice before CFRA leave is to begin if the need for the leave is foreseeable. If 30 days is not feasible (e.g., not knowing when leave will be required to begin, a change in circumstances, or a medical emergency), notice must be give as soon as feasible."

[jsb]

The manager sister needs to start managing! If her company's HR department can't/won't help, ... oh well. Perhps she should look for a new position with a better organization.

(I'd hazard a guess that this is not the first challenge that the sister/manager has had with this employee. If there was a good working relationship, an intermittent FMLA should not be the cause of this level of frustration.)

[Guest Greta]

Thanks for the good information!

I know, I know - I was reading between the lines too. But since I'm not Judge Judy and I only received one side of the story, I didn't think it would be fair to comment.

Thanks again!

[Jbentz]

I would have your sister look at the company's leave policy and attendence policy. She might get more help from written documentation than an HR person. Depending on the employee's status, the company has the right to track all time for the intermittent leave. Just because it is not a block of time does not mean they get more than 12 weeks in a rolling calendar for the FMLA.

I would also keep going up the HR ladder, this has the potential to be an HR nightmare.

[Jbentz]

I would have your sister look at the company's leave policy and attendence policy. She might get more help from written documentation than an HR person. Depending on the employee's status, the company has the right to track all time for the intermittent leave. Just because it is not a block of time does not mean they get more than 12 weeks in a rolling calendar for the FMLA.

I would also keep going up the HR ladder, this has the potential to be an HR nightmare.