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Paid Time Off and FMLA in Kansas

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If an employee uses paid time off for a serious medical problem, such as sick time or short-term disability, can that be counted towards their 12 weeks of unpaid leave under FMLA in Kansas?

Paid time off may be deducted from a worker’s 12 weeks of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in Kansas and elsewhere, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. But the employer must have a policy requiring that, and must make the policy clear to the worker before the paid leave begins. It is recommended that the employee receive this information in writing.

There are five states that mandate a short-term disability leave. Those states are Rhode Island, New Jersey, California, New York, and Hawaii. The laws vary from state to state, so feel free to post a question for us and mention your state. For example, California allows up to a full year of disability, provided the worker has a certificate from a doctor showing that he or she has a condition making it impossible to work.

The Labor Department says companies may set policies that require workers to use up their paid leave – sick time, personal days, vacation, or short-term disability when available – before using their unpaid FMLA. Companies may allow their workers to exhaust their vacation or short-term disability, and then begin to use their FMLA.

Whatever approaches a company may use, its policy must be applied consistently to each and every employee. In other words, an employer may not deduct paid time off from one worker’s FMLA but not another’s.

The federal FMLA guarantees all workers a full 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave.

By job-protected, the law means that the worker has the right to the same job or one with similar benefits, pay, and working conditions, when she or he returns from leave.

FMLA is used when a worker has a serious illness or must care for an immediate family member who is gravely ill. Workers may use it when recovering from childbirth. It is also permissible to use FMLA to care for a new child. It applies whether the child is a newborn, a newly adopted child, or a new foster child. JH