Category: Leave Issues

“Penalizing” Employee for Using Leave, Quirky Question # 64

“Penalizing” Employee for Using Leave, Quirky Question # 64

Quirky Question # 64: We have a number of programs at our company that are designed to reward employee behaviors that are important to the success of our company.  For example, we provide a financial benefit to employees who have 100 percent attendance annually.  Another example is that we provide our employees a bonus based on a combination of factors,...

Abusing PTO Policies, Quirky Question # 60

Abusing PTO Policies, Quirky Question # 60

Quirky Question # 60: We are having trouble managing exempt employees’ paid time off (PTO).  Our current policy allows new employees to begin earning PTO right away, with the potential to earn up to 120 hours of PTO per calendar year.  PTO that is earned but not used is paid out or carried over at the end of each calendar...

Rights Provided by Employee Handbook, Quirky Question # 54

Rights Provided by Employee Handbook, Quirky Question # 54

Quirky Question # 54: We have an employee who has missed a fair amount of work due to various surgeries.  As set forth in our handbook, we offer FMLA leave for employees who have worked 1250 hours in the preceding 12 months.  When we were informed that our employee would need to miss additional time due to some follow-up surgeries,...

Faking Illness to Avoid Shift, Quirky Question # 47

Faking Illness to Avoid Shift, Quirky Question # 47

Quirky Question # 47: Our company uses rotating shifts, one of which starts at 11:00 p.m. and continues through 7:00 a.m.  Every employee is asked to work that shift, one day, every other week.  Every time a particular employee is asked to work that shift, she takes a day of FMLA leave, claiming that she has migraine headaches.  She jokes...

Working Another Job While Taking “Leave,” Quirky Question # 40

Working Another Job While Taking “Leave,” Quirky Question # 40

Quirky Question # 40: We have an employee who is claiming she has a serious health condition as a result of work-related stress and has given us a note from a nurse practitioner saying she should be off work for a month.  We don’t believe she has a serious medical condition, in part because we’ve heard that she is working...

Voluntary Leave Policy, Quirky Question # 35

Voluntary Leave Policy, Quirky Question # 35

Quirky Question # 35: I am the HR Director for a large company with operations in Alaska.  Our Alaska-based employees work on a rotating schedule of two weeks on / two weeks off.  Many of these employees commute from the Outside (Lower 48) for their two-week rotations.  During their rotation, these employees live in company provided housing and are transported...