Human Resource Blog

Florida Intermittent Unscheduled FMLA

	Attendance Management
Vacation Request / Response Form Weekly Time Sheets Attendance Calendar for 2008, 2009, or 2010 Annual Attendance Tracker Vacation Request Form for 2008, 2009, 2010 (Calendar) Detailed Absence Report

	Benefits
Total Compensation Summary Performance Improvement Plan Performance Appraisal and Review Employee Payroll Status/Change Form Employee Change Form

	Compensation
Employee Payroll Action Form W-4 Employee Withholding Allowance Cert. Employee Payroll Status/Change Form Direct Deposit Form Total Compensation Summary

	Hiring and Staffing
Complete Business Forms Kit CD Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Employment Application Long Form Substance Testing Consent Form Pre-Employment Reference and Background Check Employment Offer/Acknowledgment Receipt of Employee Handbook New Hire Survey

	HR Management
Confidential Employee Folder Confidential Employee Medical Folder Job File Worksheet Folder Daily EEO Applicant Flow Log Workplace Information Sheets Request to Inspect Personnel Files

	Labor Laws
Complete State & Federal Labor Law Posters 1 Year Compliance Protection Plan State ONLY Labor Law Posters Federal Labor Law Posters

	Performance Management
Performance Appraisal Review Employee Performance Evaluation Form Performance Improvement Plan Employee Warning Notice Employee Counseling Report Employee Final Warning Notice

	Termination
Employee Warning Notice Employee Final Warning Notice Employee Resignation Form Exit Interview Questionnaire Separation Checklist

	Workplace Management
Attendance Organizer for 2008, 2009, or 2010 Employee Warning Notice Employee Counseling Report Performance Improvement Plan Employee Performance Evaluation Form Employee Final Warning Notice Separation Checklist Harassment Prevention Kit

One of our pregnant employees is has severe morning sickness. She has come to work at our

Florida company 2 or 3 hours late several times. She wants to use FMLA for that time, but I thought FMLA was only used for weeks at a time. Who is right? 

The FMLA law permits workers to take their 12 weeks of unpaid and job-protected leave even in partial days. Unless a state has its own maternity leave or disability leave laws, it is covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. Florida and 38 other states do not have their own laws. So your employee is correct. She is entitled to use the leave sporadically.

If she has nausea and vomiting serious enough to take time off, if it’s pregnancy-related, and if she has a doctor’s statement, she qualifies. She must also have worked for you at least 1,250 hours during the last 12 months in order to qualify. But once those qualifications are met, the leave may be taken either in full or partial days.

Consider the case of a worker who must take time off for chemotherapy. Those sessions may require his absence 2 hours a day. As a consequence, that worker may take the FMLA leave in 2-hour segments, up to the annual cap of 480 hours or 12 weeks.

Your employee should keep in mind that the time she takes off for pregnancy-related ailments before the birth of her baby count toward the total. So if, for example, she takes off 80 hours for morning sickness, she has only 400 hours of leave remaining after the birth.

During this period, you must also insure that her company health insurance coverage does not lapse.

Many employers are concerned about their employees’ option to take this leave in segments of less than a day at a time. In fact, the U.S. Labor Department lists it as the number one issue among employers around the country. Some believe the original law was not intended for intermittent leave, and there is an indication that in the future the legislation will be rewritten to address the matter.

The Family and Medical Leave Act applies to all businesses with 50 or more employees with a radius of 75 miles.