...Issues, Solutions, Pros & Cons: Everything You Should Know About The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Traci Johnson ENG.215: Research and Writing Prof. D. Meadows What is FMLA? How does it work? These questions are very common when it comes to FMLA. Many people do not understand the fundamentals of this act, nor the effects that it can have on the employer as well as the employee, and fellow employees. Throughout this paper, you will learn what FMLA is, how it works, the issues, pros, and cons of this act, as well as solutions that could better this act, and help it to be more easily understood and beneficial to all parties involved. What is FMLA? FMLA is the abbreviation for the Family and Medical Leave Act; which is a bill that was passed in 1993. This bill states that federal law required companies and employers, who employ more than 50 employees, must provide their employees with 12 work weeks of job-protected and unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons. However, not all employees will qualify to receive leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. There are several qualifying factors that determine whether or not the employee is eligible for leave under this act, and whether or not a company is even required to honor leave under this act. It is required by law that all public, state, local, federal, and educational agencies, and all private sector employers who employ 50 or more people for at least 20 workweeks in a 12 months year...
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...The What, Why, How, and Who of the Family Leave and Medical Act Douglas E. Jones MGMT 5843 Current Issues in Human Resource Management Abstract The Family Leave and Medical Act is one of the acts approved by Congress to allow for an employee to have a certain amount of time to deal with a medical emergency. In this informa-tional paper, I will discuss the 4 major reasons for implementing of the FMLA. I will begin with what is FMLA, that is a thorough definition of FMLA and what it was originally intended for. Then I will proceed with the why of FMLA. Why was this act proposed and why was it passed into law. Next, I will discuss how the FMLA works. How is it supposed to work and is it actual-ly working? Included in this, I will present some case studies to that will present different as-pects of FMLA. And finally I will discuss who uses FMLA. Who was it intended to help, who it is actually helping and who it is harming. Also, I will present case studies that will either confirm or deny if the FMLA is working. Finally I will offer some possible solutions to help to fix what is broken with FMLA and even possibly offer some suggestions for further research on FMLA. Introduction FMLA is designed to allow certain family members up to 12 weeks unpaid leave for family emergencies. It was enacted in 1993 but has had some changes made to it due to legisla-tion. FMLA was originally designed to cover both employees and employers. Since its inception, there were...
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...Abstract What is human resource management? Human resource management is the process of acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating, employees, and attending to their labor relations, health and safety, and fairness concerns. A manager is the person responsible for the accomplishing of the organization’s goals. The management process consists of various functions which are: planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. Each manager should know about equal opportunity and affirmative action, employee health and safety, and handling grievances and labor relation. When in a manager position, these items are important to know because you don’t want your company in a litigation issue due to discrimination issues or any unfair labor practices. A manager’s role is defined by there results, If you are managing your own company, it is a good practice to know and understand the human resource management process. Equal Employment Opportunity Act, Title states that an employer can’t discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Affirmative action is steps that are taken for the purpose of eliminating the present effects of past discrimination Explain why and how the human resource management function should be reorganized. Bandag Automotive is a fairly large company. When you have a organization of 100 or more employees, you should have a good human resource team. A good human resource team is worth its weight and gold, it will keep you out of...
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...regulations by reciepients is a common practice that affects those who depend on the regulation. When Interminttent FMLA leave is requested, employers often find employees abusing the leave, when the leave is not necessary. When Intermintent FMLA leave is exploited, it affects those who do not abuse the regulation; by adding more stipulations to time allowences and even lessening the time granted for those who do not abuse the leave. This has become a major problem with employers and employees. The Family and Medical Leave Act must be changed, in order for it to protect those who it is intended for, and not as a “work when I want” for those who it is not intended for. The history of FMLA started in 1984 when the first draft of the legislation was written by The National Partnership for Women and Families. The Family and Medical Leave Act passed in Congress in January 1993 with bipartisan support. President Clinton signed the act with it being one of his first accomplishments of his administration. The FMLA genrally qualifies an individual that has a serious health condition such as an illness, injury, imparement, or mental condition that prevents the employee from performing routine tasks at his/her job. The request to receive FMLA has increased since 2007 (refer to image on pg. 9). One of the issues that needs to be addressed is the...
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...employee and the employer, there is a fine line between the when, what, where, why and how life's unexpectancies are dealt with in accordance to maintaining a common working ground that is suitable for the two to be successful. A balance between work and family responsibilities are essential for an employee's job success in the ever changing business world of today. Not knowing the unknown is where the ultimate preparation rest for employees as they implement measures in their daily lives to accommodate and handle such adversity that they may face to balance their time and maintain their employment. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was established in 1963 by congress to provide certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year and requires that their group health benefits be maintained during the leave (U.S. Department of Labor). The U.S. Department of Labor (n,d.) stated, "FMLA is designed to help employees balance their work and family responsibilities by allowing them to take reasonable unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons and it also seeks to accommodate the legitimate interests of employers and promote equal employment opportunity for men and women." This paper will explain if it matters that a parent literally had nothing to do with a biological child in order for the child to take advantage of the FMLA to care for that parent. Next, we look at a case to explain whether...
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...Section 6, page 1 Event Planning: Steps to Planning a Successful Event The key to any good event is brainstorming what will work best on your campus or in your community and then, Think Bigger! While you are planning make sure you also think about a budget. Remember most colleges or universities have funds to bring speakers to campus but you must have a formal budget and outline to garner those funds. Make a list of committees you will need to plan the event. Committees should work closely with the FMLA Event Chair, Treasurer, Recruitment Chair, and Publicity Chair. Committees might include: Logistics Speaker / Performer Publicity / Outreach Press / Media Finance / Fundraising Set your goals! Sometimes there are multiple goals for event. Identify and prioritize all your goals. Think about what you want to accomplish i.e. raising awareness or open dialogue about an issue, affect campus policy, public education, obtaining signatures for a national petition drive, raising funds, etc. Set solid goals for the number of people you want to attend the event. This helps direct your publicity and media efforts. Identify your target audience. Who do you think would be most interested in attending the event? While you want EVERYONE to come, identifying your target audience will help direct your publicity and outreach efforts. For example, if you are planning an event about women in politics, approach Political Science, Sociology, Women’s Studies, or other Social Sciences departments for...
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...takeaway of what this law means to this situation. First, “Eligible employees can take unpaid, job-protected leave (they can return to their position). When they return from leave, FMLA guidelines require that companies return employees to their former position, assuming they are able to perform the essential functions of that position. If the employee is no longer able to perform his or her previous job, an alternative position with the same benefits, salary, and work hours must be provided to the disabled employee.” (FMLA Online) Second, Their insurance coverage stays as if they had not taken leave, COBRA does not take effect. And, “the leave can be tailored to fit the needs of the individual.” (FMLA Online) The law allows for the employee to take unpaid time to be able to care for his family without the need to stress that there will not be a job waiting with the same pay. The other part about this that is awesome is the fact that the employee’s insurance coverage stays intact without the need to involve COBRA. This law can also be tailored to the needs of the individual. If they need to have a continuous full 12 weeks, they can; if they need the leave to be split in different blocks of time, they can; lastly, they can take a reduced schedule where they can pair the appropriate number of hours in a day to work or the amount of days in a week they can work. FMLA 1993 applies to Situation A because the employee is asking to be home with his wife and newborn twins and FMLA allows...
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...that a parent literally had nothing to do with a biological child in order for the child to take advantage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to care for that parent. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides an entitlement of up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave during any 12-month period to eligible, covered employees for the following reasons: 1) birth and care of the eligible employee's child, or placement for adoption or foster care of a child with the employee; 2) care of an immediate family member (spouse, child, parent) who has a serious health condition; or 3) care of the employee's own serious health condition. It also requires that employee's group health benefits be maintained during the leave. The FMLA is administered by the Employment Standards Administration's Wage and Hour Division within the U.S. Department of Labor. Application of the FMLA can also be impacted by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 (COBRA), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Parents not literally caring for the biological child has no resolve as to whether the child should be granted leave to care for the biological parent. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) do not place stipulations on granting leave for a parent based upon financial or physical responsibilities. As stated by Halbert & Ingulli...
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...advantage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to care for that parent. Whether a parent had anything to do with the child or not is not relevant. The qualifications to participate in Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 are as follows the FMLA does not apply to all employees, or to all employers. The FMLA only covers employers with 50 or more workers, who have employed 50 or more workers for at least the past 20 weeks. It also applies to public agencies, regardless of the number of employees, and to elementary and secondary schools, both public and private. The FMLA only applies to employees who have worked for a covered employer for a minimum of 12 months, although these 12 months do not need to be consecutive. Additionally, the employee must have worked at least 1,250 hours for the employer during the previous 12 months, at a site where the employer has 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius (McLaren, 2011). Once the neglected child decides to take on the responsibility of caring for the parent the employer is obligated to observe the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. Although employers are required to observe the law the employer can not be bias concerning the employee’s situation. The law is not base on whether the employer agrees or disagrees with what, why or who the employer’s only concern is the observation of the law. The employer’s only concern if the company falls under the requirement is to follow the FMLA or face persecution. There is no mention...
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...opportunities. Absenteeism causes throuput to be interupted because of less talented employees having to step up. Quality suffers, createing unsatisfied customers. Also, Overtime is generated due to rework or additional production, this is a financial hit on the bottom line, and the extra manpower generate additional cost of salary and benefits Attendance policies vary from one manufacturing facility to another. The effects are over whelming to each group for a variety of reasons. Whether union or non-union, these policies allow companies to curtail an attendance problem, which allows for a minimum back lash from shareholders, due to declining profits resulting from poor attendance. Our recommendation to tighten the attendance policy and FMLA policy will enhance attendance, adding a raise in bonus for end of year perfect attendance will give incentive to employees to come to work TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY …………………………………………………………………I INTRODUCTION: CAUSES FOR...
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...Family Related Issues Derrick Dingle Professor Myers-Nelson Law and Ethics in the Business Environment 1. Explain if it matters that a parent literally had nothing to do with a biological child in order for the child to take advantage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to care for that parent. The type of relationship or lack thereof between a child and their biological parent has no bearing on whether an employee is eligible for FMLA. An employee can ask to use FMLA to care for a family member (whether they had nothing to do with them), for their own physical/mental health care and after the birth or adoption of a child. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides an entitlement of up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave during any 12-month period to eligible, covered employees and employers must grant eligible employee this right for one or more of the following reasons, the birth and care of a newborn child, placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care, care for a spouse, son, daughter or parent with a serious health condition, medical leave when an employee is unable to work due to a serious health condition, qualifying exigencies arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter or parent is on active duty or call to active duty status as a member of the National Guard or Reserves in support of a contingency operation. A spouse means a husband or wife as defined or...
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...implementation processes, and effects of implementation one is able to weigh the pros with the cons. Is simply having FMLA in place enough? Is it a policy that is too easy abused? The FMLA entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave each year for specified family and medical reasons. The FMLA applies to all government workers and private sector employers that employ 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius (Barth, S. & Hayes, D. K. 2009). Having this particular benefit, allows for employees to take time off in order to care for loved ones. This also guarantees the employee will not lose their job. Besides sick time, having additional benefits such as FMLA can help the employee deal with any family emergency. To be eligible for these benefits, an employee must have worked for an employer for a total of 12 months (not necessarily consecutively) and must have worked for the organization at least 1,250 hours in the past 12 months. These employees are generally guaranteed their current job, or one equal to it, on their return. If, however, an organization can show that it will suffer significant economic damage by having a “key” employee out on FMLA leave, the organization may deny the leave (DeCenzo, D. A. & Robbins, S. P. 2007). There are some guidelines to taking FMLA, and for good reasons. In order to take the FMLA benefit, the...
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...Reflective Summary: Review and reflect on the Health Insurance Billing and Reimbursement Discussion Board. Based on your review and reflection of new learnings in this course, write at least 400–600 words on the following: * What have you learned from others' responses? * What were the most compelling points from the interaction with your fellow students? * How did participating in this discussion help in your understanding of the Discussion Board task? * What approaches could have yielded additional valuable information in the students' networking? * What is still unclear after the discussion with your classmates that needs to be clarified? During week ones discussion board assignment, we discussed the different types of health insurance billing and reimbursement methods. This discussion board assignment required taking the time to research the history of health insurance and how it has evolved over the years to the system that we know it as today. By utilizing the discussion board portion of this class, I was able to learn many things from my classmates’ postings. I learned the many different methods of healthcare reimbursement that is still currently used today. I learned the history of health insurance, and why it was developed for the patients in the first place. I also learned many different views and opinions of my classmates that allowed me to reconsider and further educate myself on the views of the future of the healthcare industry. The most...
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...Five Reasons to Discharge Contracts | Contracts are a means to an end, not an end in themselves. They represent a promise to do something or to refrain from doing something. When both parties to a contract fulfill their promises, the contract has served its purpose and is terminated or discharged.However, if one or more of the parties to a contract are unable to perform what they promised and there is no legal excuse for this inability to perform, there is a breach of the contract. There are five valid reasons to terminate, or discharge, contracts. These five reasons are discussed below.1. Material breach Material breach occurs when one party to a contract doesn't fulfill the essential terms of the contract. It is so-called because it occurs when the contract is not met in a material way. It goes against the terms of the contract and has a material impact on the other party. This discharges the other party from its contractual obligations. Consequently, the other party may have grounds to sue for damages.2. Minor breach Minor breach occurs when the essential terms of the contract have been fulfilled but the other party is inconvenienced rather than suffering loss or damages. The nonbreaching party still has contractual obligations, but could suspend performance of the contract.3. Anticipatory breach Anticipatory breach occurs if one of the parties to the contract states, before the breach occurs, that it will not be able to fulfill its contractual obligations. Anticipatory...
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...Why the Current FMLA Policy is not Enough? Annette Fininen Prof. Davenport ENG 215 May 26, 2013 Why the Current FMLA policy is not Enough? The dynamics of the American family have changed. No longer is a working father, stay at home mother, and kids considered the norm. Even the definition of “family” has changed dramatically. Changes in the American “norm” raise an important question, “Should the Family and Medical Leave Act be changed?” to meet our communities evolving needs. In the United States, the current Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) only provides up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave, but compared to other counties with similar policies the act does not have enough coverage to protect the average worker and should be changed. A woman walks into her human resources office crying, asking to speak to someone. She is currently on FMLA leave to care for her sick child who has been diagnosed with leukemia. She is a single parent with two other children at home to care for as well. Even with insurance coverage, the bills are mounting because FMLA is unpaid and she has exhausted all of her personal time off (PTO). With her steady income cut-off, she is concerned how she will pay her bills. She has no close family to turn to for support and does not qualify for government assistance. Her story is just one example. According to the United State Census, in 2010 single parent households comprised about 9.6 percent of the total...
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