1 in 5 employers violate FMLA?
June 18, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: FMLA, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Training
A new study says 20% of companies could be sued for FMLA violations. Is that possible?
The estimate comes from a recent report released by the Family and Work Institute. They say about 21% of employers don’t offer employees the full 12 weeks of FMLA leave.
The study’s gotten a lot of press. But some folks aren’t buying it, including those at the Department of Labor. A DOL spokesperson said it’s difficult to measure compliance rates and there isn’t enough data in the report to judge its validity.
One possibility is that the managers surveyed answered questions incorrectly because they weren’t completely familiar with the law’s requirements. That in itself may not lead to actual violations, but it raises a point about the importance of supervisor training.
You can download the entire study here. What do you think? Can that many companies be breaking the law?
Tags: compliance, Families and Work Institute, FMLA, training
June 25th, 2008 at 10:23 am
The sad truth is some supervisors don’t know or don’t care for FMLA. They expect their workers to be there every day. Even though employees know their rights, the fear of losing thier jobs takes a higher priority than taking a leave.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:20 am
I have seen first hand where an employee was on FMLA, however, the managers kept contacting the employee with work related questions. This is also a violation of FMLA, but I can understand that sometimes a person who is on leave may have the answer to a question in order for the organization to continue running. So what does a company do? they want to follow the law, but they also want to make sure their business doesn’t slow down when someone is on a necessary leave?