As reported on National Public Radio’s (NPR) this morning, twenty years ago today President Bill Clinton signed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) into law. For companies with 50 or more employees, FMLA guarantees eligible employees the right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave in a 12-month period for certain medical and family-related reasons.
According to NPR, FMLA works pretty well for new parents, but medical leave can be a nightmare for employers to track. And the recordkeeping task is especially challenging when workers use FMLA intermittently, sometimes with little or no advance notice. NPR reported that the Society for Human Resource Management says FMLA is consistently the top issue for employers who call its hotline. Among caller questions: Which employees are eligible? and Which illnesses are “serious health conditions”?
I have to wonder why more businesses don’t outsource the management of their FMLA program. After all, when employers outsource FMLA their HR professionals are free to focus on other important business functions. Meanwhile, by ensuring their FMLA program’s compliance, these savvy employers are reducing the possibility of associated liability and violations of federal law. Protected Health Information (PHI) is more secure, employee abuse of FMLA is reduced, and the “personal” nature of FMLA administration is removed from HR staff.
When considering assistance with FMLA, employers should accept nothing less than an administrator who provides a full review of FMLA eligibility and entitlement, one which fairly applies FMLA regulations and policies, tracks employee leaves, and documents all communications. In addition, superior administrators will offer online FMLA activity reports, multiple methods for reporting an FMLA event, and immediate notification of FMLA denial. TASC offers all of these features, but we don’t stop there. We train supervisors and managers on topics like company procedures and FMLA state and federal regulations, we provide consultative sessions to review leave policies, and we stand behind our robust hold-harmless guarantee.
Are you struggling with FMLA? Outsourcing may be the answer.
