Can I Relocate Employees Under FMLA?
The Family and Medical Leave Act was enacted in 1993 and provides fairly generous benefits to employees who need to take extended time off for purposes such as having a baby or getting medical treatment. With its numerous provisions, it can be tough for employers to navigate the FMLA waters. Understand that the purpose of the law is to protect jobs and protect employees from being treated unfairly because of their leave needs. Check with your company counsel for specific advice, but know you should generally treat the employee taking FMLA as you would any other employee.
Other People Are Reading
-
FMLA Coverage
-
To make a determination about your obligations under the FMLA, you should first be sure the FMLA applies to your company. The FMLA generally covers all employers with 50 or more employees who worked 20 or more workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year. The law also applies to all public agencies and all public and private elementary and secondary schools. Your state may have different provisions over and above the FMLA, and you are bound to follow those rules too. Laws may differ about the kind of benefits employees are entitled to, leave time lines, and the responsibilities you have as an employer.
Transfers
-
As an employer, you may transfer your leave-taking employee to another position, which may be in another location of "reasonable" proximity to the employee's previous worksite. In many instances, the FMLA uses 75 miles for many geographical determinations. You may require the employee to transfer temporarily under certain conditions, such as when the employee needs intermittent leave, during recovery from a foreseeable medical treatment, to care for a serious injury or illness of a spouse or child, or for intermittent leave following childbirth or adoption. The purpose of these provisions is to move the employee to a better accommodating, available position during the periods of leave. The FMLA also has the benefit of allowing you as an employer to temporarily place someone in the old position of the leave-taking employee to avoid burdening your operations.
-
Relocation
-
Except in special cases of school, airline and military employment, relocation is a request, not a mandate. If you are asking other employees of the same status to also relocate, you may also extend the offer to an employee who is taking FMLA leave. Alternatively, even if the relocation is for one position and that relocation would have happened regardless of whether the person in it took a leave, you are on sure ground but be prepared to prove your case. The reason for the relocation may not be related to the leave. You can't single out any employee because he uses FMLA benefits. You can't discriminate, fire or make it so an employee is forced to leave because she used FMLA leave.
FMLA Enforcement
-
FMLA requires only that you restore the employee to the same or equivalent position, with the same pay, benefits, terms and conditions, upon return from leave. That doesn't necessarily mean the same office or location, but the equivalent position can't be "a significant distance away from the employee's normal job location." You can be fairly certain that if only people taking leave are affected by your relocation request, you may soon be defending yourself. The U.S. Department of Labor enforces the provisions of the FMLA. It allows employees to file complaints with the agency or file a lawsuit against employers.
-
References
Resources
- U.S. Department of Labor: Employee Rights and Responsibilities under the Family and Medical Leave Act
- Society for Human Resource Management: Relocation: Relocation Policy and Procedures (Sample Policy)
- ERI Distance Learning Center: Relocating Employees
- Cartus: Emerging Trends in Global Mobility: U.S. Domestic Relocation Policy Topline Results 2009
- Photo Credit Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images
