Paid Time Off and FMLA in New York
|
Benefits |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Labor
Laws |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
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 New York?
Depending on the state the employee is working in and on company policy, paid leave may be deducted from a worker’s 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA.
The U.S. Department of Labor considers it entirely legal. Companies may set up policies that say workers must first use their paid leave, whether vacation, sick time, personal days, or short-term disability, if it is available, before using unpaid FMLA.
Paid time off may be counted against the FMLA time. But the employer must set up a policy, and must make the policy very clear to the worker at the beginning of the FMLA leave. Most companies find it best to do this in writing.
Five states mandate short-term disability leave. Those states are Hawaii, California, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. In California, workers are allowed up to a full year of disability providing she or he has documentation from a doctor certifying inability to work. Rules vary from state to state.
How does the FMLA work?
Employees are legally entitled to a full 12 weeks of unpaid leave under certain conditions. It is allowable if the employee faces a grave illness, or must care for an immediate member of the family who is seriously ill. The time may also be used for recovery from childbirth. Workers also take the time to care for a newborn child, a new foster child, or a newly adopted child.
Under FMLA, the employee’s job is protected. This means that at the end of the leave, he or she must be returned to the same job or one with similar working conditions, benefits, and pay. But if the worker uses up all 12 weeks and takes more time off after that, the employer is under no obligation to reinstate. Some employers do, and some do not. But a company’s policy must be consistently applied to each worker. JH
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 at 3:47 pm and is filed under
Benefits, Labor Laws.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
One Response to “Paid Time Off and FMLA in New York”
Leave a Reply
-
Ask a Question
Categories
- Attendance Management (797)
- Benefits (1209)
- Compensation (1185)
- Employment Training (292)
- Hiring and Staffing (715)
- Human Resources Management (1873)
- Labor Laws (1031)
- Management / Leadership Development (292)
- Performance Management (177)
- Structural Development (41)
- Termination (419)
- Workplace Health & Safety (218)
- Workplace Management (392)
Blogroll
Archives
Recent Posts
-
Employee Separation
November 20th, 2008 -
Maternity leave
November 20th, 2008 -
What comes next…after you terminate an employee?
November 20th, 2008 -
When can you implement a salary cap on a position whether it\’s exempt or non exempt?
November 20th, 2008 -
What is COBRA and who gets it?
November 20th, 2008 -
FMLA backdating guidelines in Las Vegas, Nevada
November 19th, 2008 -
Sick Pay
November 19th, 2008
Pages
November 29th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
[…] Paid Time Off and FMLA in New York By Rachel Depending on the state the employee is working in and on company policy, paid leave may be deducted from a worker’s 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA. The US Department of Labor considers it … […]