to RJB – STD is an “insurance”, to pay for time off. FMLA is a leave designation. As indicated by Mary, they can and should go hand in hand (run concurrent) if the reason for STD meets FMLA leave criteria (i.e. “Employee’s own serious health condition, including pregnancy related conditions”). FMLA was in-acted to protect the employee from job loss and disciplinary issues surrounding the absence.

The other side of FMLA is protection for the employer. FMLA restricts the amount of “protected” time off an employee can take for specifically designated reasons. Prior to recent changes, if your policies required the use of paid time (i.e.; vac, sick leave and PTO), and they should, concurrent with the FMLA, then your total loss of that employee in any one 12 month period was 12 weeks. That has now changed with the new military leave categories and in certain circumstances an employee may get more than 12 weeks.

As an employer in Oregon, a VERY employee friendly state, our state leave laws are much broader and by law we have to follow whichever is more beneficial to the employee. Quite often the two leaves (FMLA and OFLA) can run concurrent. However, there are different leave types that are protected by one and not the other resulting in expanding the amount of time any one employee can be away from their job while maintaining their protected status. In addition it makes the whole designation/tracking process that much more confusing.

I find the whole federal and state leave process confusing at best. And don’t even get me started on “intermittent leave” (lol). The best advice I can give is to verify each leave type (state/federal) seperately, then and only then look at them together. This way helps ensure that you are meeting the criteria of both leaves and not running afoul of one or the other. And be sure not to get protected leave confused with other items (STD & LTD insurance).

djc

FMLA should run concurrent to STD. You need to make sure you offer it and do the appropriate paperwork. It doesn’t hurt to do it, even if you are sure the employee’s job is completely safe.

Sad…..

…unfortunately I think many people who respond here forget what the purpose of this website is…at least what I thought it was for. I thought it was to train and educate employers and HR reps on labor law and personnel issues. While we may not like some of the laws, they are the law and to avoid lawsuits, we need to know how to operate within the law.

I did not think this was meant to be a forum to discuss the pros and cons of today’s politics. I came here to learn, not to be preached to. Problem is though…..

1) Most of the time we are presented with an inflamed snap shot of the situation – note – “Manager’s Generosity Backfires – lands company in court!” Could this be intentional?

2) As a result it sets many people off, on assumptions, accusations and eventually political diatribe. After a while it all gets so tiring.

I guess this isn’t the site for me and it is time to cancel my subscription. Too bad….I really hoped I had found a place that could help me and teach me. A place where I could rely on others experience and professionalism. Apparently anger and accusations tend to be more the norm here.