Does Independence Day count as FMLA leave?
Independence Day falls on a Friday this year. Because of this, employers with employees taking leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) might wonder whether they must count that day as FMLA leave or not.
Counting the days
Whether employers count a holiday as FMLA leave will depend on whether the employee is taking leave in full weeks, or on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis.
If an employee is taking FMLA leave continuously, the fact that the holiday occurs within that week has no effect; employers would count the entire week as FMLA leave.
If, however, an employee is using FMLA leave intermittently or on a reduced schedule (in small chunks), employers don’t count the holiday as FMLA leave unless the employee was otherwise scheduled to work on the holiday and didn’t because of an FMLA-qualifying reason.
Putting it into practice
If, for example, Jo Employee will be on FMLA leave for the first full three weeks of July, the employer would count the entire week during which Independence Day falls as FMLA leave.
If, on the other hand, Jo is on FMLA leave only on the Monday and Tuesday before Independence Day, works Wednesday, and is not scheduled to work Friday of that week, the employer would count only Monday and Tuesday as FMLA leave.
If Jo also needed Friday off that week for an FMLA-qualifying reason, and were scheduled to work on that day, the employer would also count Friday as FMLA leave.
Keeping the records straight
Employers must keep records of the dates on which employees take FMLA leave. When employees take small chunks of FMLA leave, employers must record the minutes or hours of leave employees take. Employers must identify the leave as FMLA leave in the records. They may not include leave required under state law or an employer plan that isn’t also covered by FMLA.
Employers can find such information from time records, requests for leave, etc., making it beneficial, then, to know how to track FMLA leave when a holiday is involved.
Happy Independence Day!
Key to remember: Whether employers should count time off as FMLA leave around a holiday will depend upon some specifics, such as whether the employee takes leave in full weeks or not.