Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

They don't disclose that they have that because they're afraid they won't get hired.

Once they get hired, they're very protective about it, and if they have emergencies, They just have FMLA, which is meant to deal with incidents.

And, you know, this is an ongoing thing.

And I don't know how much FMLA or how it works or how much time.

Twelve weeks a year.

Okay.

that all of us have needed, a little bit of leave, a little bit of time off.

All of us for different reasons, right? PTO, we got your bereavements, you've got your FMLA's, you've got all that good stuff.

But let's talk about, obviously, there was something that triggered this conversation.

And I'm gonna try to find it while we're talking about it.

Yep.

And we did our hardest to make sure we did not publicize that.

Again, it's slippery slope, right? It becomes what do we give the human that we would give our dog or cat, whatever? But I want to hear from Mama Mel because we get the bonding time, right? FMLA bonding time if you use it, men.

But you have to recover, Mel.

Three weeks in, his work has fully stalled and other teammates are picking up slack without complaint.

For now, HR has to introduce structure and support like FMLA, EAP, a real plan into a situation that everyone's been managing through sheer compassion instead of process before the goodwill runs out and someone else files a complaint about the imbalance.

So before we get into some of the specifics about what could be going right, what could be going wrong, what stands out to you and as the most risky or unclear in this scenario as it's laid out?

I think it's really the piece about the manager that's been trying to be empathetic is what I would guess.

Do you need an actual leave of absence? Is it covered under FEMLA? Do we, you know, do we need to provide a personal leave? You know, there's all kinds of considerations to make.

And I find that letting, you know, the employee kind of guide and be part of the process is really helpful.

yeah and this is where we can really play translator too because it's like we can sort of ask the employee in just plain language what is it that you need do you need to do you need more time off do you need fewer hours do you need a lighter workload like you can sort of ask it in sort of just plain language questions that apply to their specific situation and then our job is to then translate that into okay that's fmla that's this that's that like That's where employees don't need to be the ones to formally know to request leave or request FMLA.

Sometimes they do because they know maybe they've done their research, they've experienced it before.

I will tell you it comes as a shock to many short-term disability policy holders that benefits can be limited to just six weeks for a vaginal birth or eight weeks for a C-section.

And it doesn't matter how long your employer might offer you maternity leave or the fact that you might be on unpaid FMLA.

They're not the same thing as a short-term disability policy or plan.

So you really need to understand the terms of your policy, how long you're going to be entitled to short-term disability benefits after a normal labor and delivery so you're prepared financially.

And remember, FMLA is not the same thing as disability.

short-term disability.

Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that your disability plan or policy won't be extended to the maximum period of short-term disability benefits if you have other health conditions or complications from labor and delivery, including postpartum depression or anxiety.

And so I put my case together, and I dropped the bomb, and I left.

And I went on FMLA.

And I really was angry.

I really had snapped.

We'll just do it.

When would my, no, because I would have to go on FMLA because that way my job is protected.

Otherwise, if it's just I'm taking PTO for four months, I would not blame them if they replace me.

Oh, well, so what's, what do you think that line is? Like how much could you take before they replace you? Let's play this game.

And again, that's hard as well.

And so there's so many different avenues that can help people like ADA, FMLA, and really looking into the offerings that a company has.

Because what I think so often happens is there's resources that even within the employee's health plan that are available.

So I'll give you an example.

Now, there's other things that protect the civilians.

You have OSHA, you have FMLA and things like that.

Right.

So that ankle sprain that I just went to the doctor for a veteran is still marching another two, three miles, jumping up and down.