With summer behind us, there is only one thing on everyone’s mind: when is the next holiday? However, from an employer’s perspective, administering holiday time and holiday leave isn’t quite so exciting, especially where the Family and Medical Leave Act is concerned.
Porter Wright Morris & Arthur’s Sara Hutchins Jodka has some thoughts on figuring out how the FMLA jibes with holidays:
- Do holidays count against FMLA leave entitlement? The answer: yes and no. Jodka explains, “The key here is whether or not the employee is absent for the entire week in which the holiday is observed.” So, for example, if the person was gone the entire week in which Thanksgiving falls, that would count as leave. However, if he or she was just gone for a day or two during that week, only those days are calculated against the total leave time.
- What if the plant, office or school is closed? If there is a weeklong closure of the business in which employees aren’t expected to work, this can’t count against the FMLA allotment, says Jodka.
- What about holiday pay? Jodka says this is an extremely confusing issue, but generally FMLA leave should be treated as any type of comparable leave. Therefore, it depends on what the company’s policies are. Jodka suggests ensuring they’re clearly set out for employees.
