As a Human Resource professional, it is part of your job to be able to understand, describe and interpret complex concepts such as discrimination, harassment, and other employment law issues. It often falls to you to help other managers clarify and interpret complex laws that guide employment practices.
Choose a concept from your readings, your own experience, and/or your own research. Discuss a concept you feel would be the most challenging to create a manager training/professional development session and provide some strategies for how you might meet this challenge.
I work in IT services sector. At times we work in projects which require us to stretch or work extended hours. And we work in team. So, every individual plays a specific role and everyone is a critical part of the team. From my experience FLMA is challenging to explain to the team, especially when everyone needs to work extended hours except one team member. Per FMLA or Family and Medical Leave Act, an employee who needs to take care of a family member or who is eligible for FMLA leave, that is has worked for at least 1 year can get FMLA. This is applicable for organizations which employ more than 50 people ( thehrspecialisst.com, 2009).
While the law says any employee who is eligible for FMLA entitled can take the leave, but the team sometimes perceive this special treatment towards one individual. While I have seen in some teams where team members know each other for a while and where there is a mutual trust, one person taking FMLA does not cause any friction. But, in newly formed teams, where people do not know each other and where trust level is low, one person taking FMLA is interpreted differently. And manager and supervisors can sometimes share the same view.
The employee who needs FMLA in form of extended leave or may be daily 1 hour leave to visit doctor or weekly day offs need the team’s support. The manager / supervisor needs to remember this is a medical leave and approved by law. The organization legally cannot discriminate against the employee. It is not about granting the leave, but supervisor’s dissatisfaction can reflect during performance review too or I have seen, the employee is dropped from the team, which was really demoralizing. As a HR, I would work with managers to make sure the employee who needs FMLA, is treated fairly and with dignity.
Managers and supervisors need to be trained or given overview of the laws, HR department knowing the law does not always address the problem the employee faces from the team or from the supervisor. If one employee has a preexisting need for FMLA, the organization can find projects where the employee can contribute and the project does not demand too much from the employee.
Otherwise, supervisors and managers will be trained to arrange cross training among team members, so that when one team member goes on FMLA the whole team does not suffer. And the delivery does not suffer. And supervisors and managers would need to be trained to make them understand that providing a bad performance review or releasing the employee who needs FMLA is not only unfair , it does not solve any problem. As a matter of fact, the employee can feel discriminated against and can probably file a lawsuit against the organization.
But, that is just one part, as the other team members might still get frustrated if they need to fill in or put extra effort for the employee on leave. Supervisors need to be trained to handle the situation. The employees or team members who are contributing most can be rewarded with a bigger bonus. But initially, those employees / team members need to be applauded for filling in and doing the additional work needed from their part. Acknowledgement and recognition becomes very critical for making sure that the team is not demotivated and constantly encouraged and motivated and does not feel that their effort is going unnoticed. I believe as long as the supervisors / managers are trained to handle the employee who needs FMLA and the team, everything should be alright. In case, there is a huge pressure and the employee goes on leave for long term, then the team can find a new resource who will take up some work, so that in absence of the employee on FMLA rest team members do not get exhausted. But, that has to be supervisors’ decision. As HR we can train the managers about these options and help them understand the consequences.
Nowak and Morris has some tips to train the managers and supervisors about FMLA (Tornone, 2018)
1. Teach managers about differences between FMLA leave and sick days
2. Get them to ask right questions to determine if employee is eligible for FMLA
3. Educate managers about intermittent leave
4. Show them where to direct potential FMLA leave requests
5. Insist that managers enforce policies consistently
6. Get them to “Own” requests
7. Keep them from displaying their emotions
8. Train them to leave the “leave takers” alone
References –
Retrieved on 3/2/19. Retrieved from https://www.thehrspecialist.com/3473/the-10-employment-laws-every-manager-should-know
Tornone, K ( June,2018). How managers cause FMLA lawsuits — and 10 ways to get them to stop. Retrieved from https://www.hrdive.com/news/how-managers-cause-fmla-lawsuits-and-10-ways-to-get-them-to-stop/525942/
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