Intermittent FMLA leave

[usound76]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kentucky, my employer is in Ohio

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the correct place.

I work 4 days a week for a company that contracts imaging services to rural hospitals and physician offices. Every 6 months I submit the paperwork for intermittent FMLA leave because I have a handicapped daughter that has ongoing medical apointments. Currently she is in an intensive PT program 3 afternoons a week for 7 weeks. My employer modified my schedule so I could leave 30 minutes early one day, and 90 minutes early another day. The third session in on my off day. I scheduled her appointments for the last time slot of the day. I agreed to work 3 hours on my day off to make up the hours the 2 total hours the client lost on the other days.

My daughter's therapist told me that she will qualify to enter the program again 6 months after the end of this session. I notified my employer right away that I will need to do this schedule again in the not-so-distant future. I was informed by my employer that this isn't working out for the client, so my request will be denied. My question is this: can they deny my the time to take my daughter to physical therapy when I have intermittent FMLA leave documents in place? I have nowhere near exhausted my 12 weeks. I am currently not taking any FMLA leave for her therapy becuase they modified my schedule (working my day off).

Thank you in advance for your responses.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[cbg]

Just to be sure we're all on exactly the same page, please confirm that all of the following is true:

1.) You have worked for this employer for more than 12 months
2.) In the last 12 months, you worked a minimum of 1,250 hours
3.) Your employer has more than 50 employees within 75 miles of your location.

I'm confirming this only because "FMLA" has become, to many people, an umbrella word meaning any kind of medical leave, whereas FMLA is a very specific form of medical leave, and the answer depends on whether we're talking "real" FMLA as opposed to "umbrella" FMLA.

Assuming that this is the real thing, EXACTLY what did the doctor indicate you would need in the way of time off when you submitted the last set of FMLA forms?

 

[usound76]

cbg,

Answers to your questions:
1. Worked there for over 6 years.
2. Work over 1600 hours per year.
3. Over 1000 employees in company.

The physican indicated intermittent time off for physician, testing, and therapy appointments, as well as illnesses arising from her disabilities. Physician also indicated the "duration of illness" as "lifelong". (she has multiple physical and mental disabilities).

I am due to re-submit the forms in September to the company's Disibility Determination Review Board. Since this next therapy session will take place after that, can the review board just deny the FMLA forms?

 

[cbg]

Okay, I guess I didn't make it clear what I was looking for, and reading over it, it's my fault.

What I was looking for is how often the doctor said you would need time off. Is the only thing he said, intermittent, or did he say something like, up to six times a month, or something of that nature?

 

[usound76]

It didn't specify. It only states "as needed".

 

[cbg]

Okay, good. As long as your FMLA documents are current, they are in violation if they do not allow you to leave when necessary. They are, however, not legally obligated to change your schedule; only to let you take time off as required by the FMLA documentation.

 

[usound76]

That's what I needed to know. When they told me that the client was not happy with this schedule, I told my employer that next time I would just take days off for her therapy (full or half days, whichever worked best for them). That's when they told me there wasn't adequate staffing for me to take time off either. I asked my manager about it, she said "we'll just have to see. You may not get to do the therapy next time around".

So let me just make sure I'm reading you right. They MUST let me have the time off for her therapy, correct. Can the review board just deny the applications every 6 months to get around this?

 

[cbg]

They MUST allow you time off as designated by the physician. You are limited to the equivalent of 12 weeks in a 12 month period. YOU, in turn, are responsible for making sure that they have updated and complete FMLA information at all times.

They are allowed to schedule you for any schedule that they find necessary for business reasons. They cannot punish you for taking FMLA by changing your schedule, but they don't have to give you the schedule you want if there are business reasons for having it otherwise either.

I am making a distinction between time off and schedule. If what works for the client is Monday-Thursday between 8 - 4, and you would prefer to work Tuesday - Friday 9 - 5, that's just too bad, even if your daughter has a doctor's appointment every other Monday at 3:00. They're not scheduling you to work Mondays as punishment for taking FMLA - they're scheduling you to work Mondays because there is a business reason to do so - that's what works for the client. But if that means that you have to take every Monday off from 2 - 4, they MUST allow that whether the client likes it or not.

On the other hand, if the client doesn't really care whether you work Monday through Thursday, or Tuesday through Friday, and you are being scheduled for Mondays deliberately to make it hard for you because of your daughter's appointments, THAT'S illegal.

Get the difference?

 

[usound76]

OK, I follow you. They are trying to tell me that I just cannot do another round of therapy with her because it will interfere with the contracted schedule with the client. Her therapy is scheduled at 4:00 Mon, Wed, & Fri. They don't have anyone to cover my shift, so they're solution is "you can't have the time off". From what I reading from you, that's not going to fly with the law. How do I go about fighting this? I cannot afford to lose my job, and especially my health insurance!!

 

[cbg]

The regulatory agency for FMLA is the US DOL. You would file a complaint with them. You might want to run the whole scenario past an employment law attorney, but you don't need an attorney to file with the DOL.

 

[usound76]

Thank you so much for your help!! I feel much better knowing that I am not asking too much from my employer. Thank you again for your quick responses!