Under regulations of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, in Indiana, if an employee takes FMLA leave he or she is guaranteed job protection upon returning to work.  The employee can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave with the assurance that when he or she returns she will return to the job with the same benefits, pay and working conditions the employee had before going on leave.

Suppose Pam is an administrative assistant for a mid-sized accounting firm.  She takes 10 weeks of FMLA leave upon the birth of her child.  During her absence, the office manager, Tim, hires Suzy, to handle Pam’s duties.  Although Suzy is not as experienced as Pam, she is as capable.

Tim likes Suzy’s work and decides to keep her on and transfer Pam to a lower-paid job in another department.  When Tim checks the decision with the Human Resources department, they tell him that would not be legal.  Even though from a cost-saving point of view, he might save money, Pam is entitled to the same job she had before she went on FMLA leave.  She cannot be transferred simply because while she was gone on FMLA leave her boss found someone he liked better. 

If Tim tried to justify his decision by stating that he did not like the extra work he had to do to fill in for Pam this would also not be legal because someone’s FMLA leave cannot be the basis for a negative employment decision.  Tim, and Suzy, should know that the new work situation is only temporary and when Pam returns she has the legal right to have her old position with the same pay, working conditions and benefits the she had before she left. 

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This entry was posted on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 5:58 am and is filed under FMLA - Family Medical Leave Acts, Labor & Employment Laws. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.