Top FMLA mistakes: Misunderstanding eligibility 

Ellen McCann, a national expert on leave management joins us to give an overview to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). She unpacks the most common eligibility errors that employers make while administering the FMLA – and why correctly determining eligibility is such a crucial first step. 

Top takeaways:

• Be sure to take all required factors into account when determining whether an employee is eligible for FMLA leave. It’s your crucial first step in FMLA compliance. [01:39]
• Once an employer is covered for one year, they’re covered for two years. Check your math: Did you have at least 50 employees on your payroll for at least 20 weeks this year or last year? [04:03]
• The only employees you don’t count are expats and independent contractors. You do need to count temps. [05:20]
• Remember there are different standards for covered employers and covered employees. You may have no covered employees, but as an employer you may still have obligations. [06:34]
• You don’t have to count leaves of absence in your hours worked, apart from instances of military leave. However, be careful to count hours worked by temp workers. [10:05]

To understand more about employee eligibility and the risks of improperly deeming eligibility, listen to next week’s show, “Deeming when you shouldn’t.” 

About the speaker:
Ellen McCann
Assistant Vice President, Legal Counsel, Unum’s Employment Law Group

Ellen McCann is an acclaimed national speaker on leave management issues including FMLA and ADA. She is also a certified trainer for SHRM and CE credit. As Assistant Vice President, Legal Counsel for Unum’s Employment Law Group, Ellen advises Human Resources on all employment-related legal issues. She also provides daily legal support to Unum’s Absence Management Center, which provides leave administration services to its customers. Presently, Unum’s leave administration product includes administration of over 200 state leave laws in addition to FMLA and covers over 2.2 million lives. 

Resources:
Download our FMLA Handbook here.
What state laws apply to your business? Get the facts.

Get in touch:
[email protected]
(207) 200-6685