The Family Medical Leave Act is a U.S. federal piece of legislation under the US Department of Labor which is aimed at providing employees with job security. It is designed to protect employees from any adverse actions by their employers whenever they are absent from work due to child adoption, child birth, serious personal illness or that of a close member of the family and moral support for a member of the army who has been called to active duty (Susser, 2004, p. 172). It provides an unpaid leave that guarantees an employee’s reinstatement to the same position they held immediately before going on leave.
Fire departments such as the City of Pompano Beach Fire Department can require their employees to use their sick time, compensation time and vacation time first before going on unpaid leave under the FMLA. The Act require employers to ensure that their employees first use and exhaust their paid leave first before going for the unpaid leave so that they can run concurrently according to 29 C.F.R. § 825.207 (c) of the Act. Employees must use up their paid leave first in order to enable the unpaid and paid leave to run simultaneously. However, accrued paid leave may be used by the employee any time during the unpaid leave and employers may not put a restriction on how this time is used by the employee.
The CFR regulation that allows this practice is the 29 CFR 825.207 which provides for substitution of paid leave. According to this Susser (2004), the substitution terms and conditions will be determined by the employer’s policy on leave. Yes, my agency requires this practice as indicated in the City of Pompano Beach Fire Department Leave Policy. This policy provides for eligibility for leave, benefits and instructions and guidelines on how to apply for leave.
Reference(s)
Susser, P. A. (2004). The employer perspective on paid leave & the FMLA. Washington University Journal of Law & Policy, 15, 169-192.
