Medical Leave Costs Employers Billions
If your an employer or Human Resource professional with more than 50 employees, than you're probably already familiar with the term "Family Medical Leave." In it's original intent, FMLA seemed pretty straight forward. Asking employers to support workplace policies that help their employees balance work, family and personal needs was fair and perhaps overdue. However, the Department of Labor's broad interpretation of FMLA has proven to have a substantial adverse impact. The DOL's regulations simply allow too much room for abuse. Conservative estimates suggest the cost to employers has topped $20 billion annually in lost productivity, continued health benefits and labor replacement. In addition, studies show that about 25 percent of all FMLA leave reflects misuse or abuse of the law. Consequently, there is an urgent need to address deficiencies in the Family Medical Leave Act through legislation and or regulation.
Serious Medical Condition
One of the biggest problems employers face around FMLA is the broad definition of the term "serious medical condition" and it's expansive interpretation by the DOL. The regulations are written so broadly that minor illnessess such as a migrane headache, cold and flu or even a toothache are being catergorized as a serious medical condition which FMLA is available with just a single doctor's visit, if it includes a perscription or other indicia of continued care and lasts for three days or more. There are several acceptable ways to address this issue. One suggestion would be to create an itemized list of "minor illnesses" and simply state that they woud not meet the definition of a "serious medical condition," unless complications arise. Some HR professionals have suggested setting a more reasonable time limit so that conditions lasting fewer than a certian number of days would not be covered. Although current regulations call for three days, a more appropriate time limit might be the point at which short term disability plans are typically triggered. Regardless, clarity around what defines a serious medical condition would go a long way in addressing the misuse and abuse of FMLA.
Intermittent Leave
The second major problem employers are facing is with the use of intermittent leave and the administrative burdens imposed by the regulations in tracking it. Intermittent leave accommodates those employees with legitimate health conditions requiring periodic time off from work, such as chemo-therapy or dialysis. Unfortunatly, the current regulations around intermittent FMLA allows for abuse to cover otherwise poor attendance that is not a result of a chronic health condition. There are two real areas of concern for employers around intermittent FMLA. First, the administrative cost and complexity of tracking banks of intermittent FMLA have not only become costly but time consuming. Secondly, intermittent leave provisions can be a real management dilemma, particularly in team-oriented settings such as manufacturing or in industries that are experiencing worker shortages, such as health care. Human resource managers for health care facilities say that at times, shifts go uncovered because of the worker shortages. Manufacturers stressed the chaos that FMLA creates when workers call in the same day or when they use the act’s provisions to avoid being tardy or to leave work early. Once again, the lack of clariety around what defines a serious medical condition is leaves the door open for for misuse and abuse of intermittent leave.
