FMLA News: Failure to Define "Year" is Costly to Employer

By Sally Piefer

Employers covered by the federal FMLA are required to provide eligible employees with 12 work weeks of leave during any 12-month period. However, the 12-month period was not defined by Congress, leaving that to the Department of Labor (DOL) to sort out. The regulations promulgated by the DOL provide four alternatives from which employers could choose how to calculate the 12-month period.

DOL regulations require the employer to not only choose which method they will use, but to also inform employees of the applicable method. The FMLA policy of Detroit's Marygrove College provided that employees had the right to take up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave "per year." However, the College did not define whether the phrase "per year" referred to its fiscal year or its calendar year.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan found that Marygrove College violated the FMLA by firing its director of student affairs for a medical absence because its employee handbook failed to define the term "leave year." The court found that the college's failure to make an "open" announcement of its method of accounting for leave entitled the employee to opt for a calendar year calculation that showed she was fired before her annual maximum FMLA leave was exhausted.

Based on this decision, it is imperative that Employers carefully review their FMLA policies to ensure compliance with the requirements of the FMLA and to have legal counsel also review those policies to ensure compliance with the law.

Published: 09/2008