How Do We Count FMLA When We Have a Paid Company Holiday? Is it Different if We Close Our Business?

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is nuanced, if anything.  One of the many nuances that regularly confuse employers is calculating the amount of leave used by employees.  We could fill the remainder of the year with Tips on this one topic alone (as appealing as that sounds).

On the first question – when the employee is taking a full week of FMLA leave the holiday, paid or not, has no impact on her calculation of leave.  That is to say, the entire week counts against the employee’s FMLA allotment.  If, however, the employee is not taking a full week, but instead is taking a partial week of FMLA including intermittent leave, the holiday does not count toward the employee’s FMLA bank.  It is, therefore, critical to understand the nature of the employee’s use of the FMLA when determining how much of their entitlement they are using over holiday weeks.

On the second question – here we look at the nature of the cessation of business operations, because the answer may be different.  Businesses often close for periods.  When a business ceases operations temporarily, the period of the cessation of operations when the employee on FMLA would not have been expected to report to work will not count against her leave bank.  Thus, even if the employee is in the midst of an extended period of FMLA and the business closes for just one week in the middle of such leave it should not count as a week of FMLA against that employee’s entitlement.   

Thompson Coe and myHRgenius Tip of the Week is not intended as a solicitation, does not constitute legal advice, and does not establish an attorney-client relationship.