Simple no legalese, Professor asked that we not use any of this terminology. CAS E 7. 1 Maternity Leave Ann Cassidy had worked in the mortgage department at Republic Bank for a little over two years. She was expecting her first baby and planned to be out on maternity leave after having the baby in late October or early November of 2009. She planned on using some of her vacation and sick time to be paid for a portion of her leave and to take FMLA leave for the remainder. Cassidy’s supervisor, Linda Lopez, supported this plan and had already planned for and scheduled the mortgage department to accommodate Cassidy’s proposed leave. The bank employs 50 people and uses a rolling year for purposes of the FMLA. Cassidy was a full time employee and had worked 1,950 hours in the past year. She proposed to take 12 weeks of leave. However, just before she took her leave, Cassidy noticed in the Employee Handbook that the definition of a “year” for FMLA was not specified. She assumed that it was a calendar year since the bank followed a calendar year for all of its fiscal calculations. She then asked her supervisor if she could take a few additional weeks of FMLA leave into 2010. Lopez agreed to let Cassidy take a total of 18 weeks of FMLA time, a portion in 2009 and the remainder in 2010. However, the HR Vice President rejected this request as being contrary to bank policy and refused to make an exception in Cassidy’s case. She noted that past FMLA leave for other employees had always been on a rolling year basis.
Can the bank accommodate Cassidy’s request? Should it? Why or why not?
Resources:The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) The Family and Medical Leave Act was signed by President Clinton in 1993, although the Department of Labor regulations implementing the Act were not promulgated until 1995. The Act provides workers with up to 12 weeks of leave per year for personal illness or the illness of an immediate family member. The regulations define an immediate family member as a spouse, child, or parent. Leave may be utilized to care for an elderly parent, the birth of a child, or the adoption of a child. Workers are entitled to a continuation of all employer-provided benefits while on FMLA leave and to reinstatement to the same or a similar position when they return from leave. Employees may not be disciplined or retaliated against for utilizing or requesting leave. The employer is required to post a notice of the protections afforded by the Act and the procedures for obtaining leave. If the employer has a handbook, a provision describing FMLA must be included The Family and Medical Leave Act covers all public employers and private employers who employ at least 50 employees during at least 20 workweeks in the current or previous calendar year. To be eligible for leave, an employee must have been employed for at least one year and have worked a minimum of 1,250 hours during the previous year. The employer is permitted to use the calendar year, a fiscal year, or a rolling year beginning with the employee’s first utilization of leave in determining the minimum hours worked for eligibility.
